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Poster Session B: Wednesday, August 13, 1:00 – 4:00 pm, de Brug & E‑Hall

Neural Dynamics and Representational Content across Abstract and Concrete Concepts

Mancano Martina¹, Paolo Belardinelli, Costanza Papagno; ¹University of Trento

Presenter: Mancano Martina

Concrete concepts are represented in the brain according to linguistic, experiential and taxonomic organizational principles, but it is not clear how much these principles contribute to the representation of the abstract domain. Moreover, compared to their spatial location in the brain, little is known about the temporal unfolding of these processes. In this study, we use Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and semantic models to investigate the localization and temporal unfolding of concrete and abstract concepts. Concrete and abstract words were presented visually to the participants during MEG recording. Data were analyzed through Representational Similarity Analysis (RSA), separately for concrete and abstract words. The semantic models were based on linguistic, experiential, and taxonomic information. We collected data from 6 participants, and data collection is ongoing. We expect significant correlations between the MEG signal and the distributional model for abstract and concrete concepts. This correlation is expected to temporally precede correlations with the experiential models. Concrete concepts signal is expected to correlate with the sensorimotor experiential model, while abstract concepts signal with the emotional one. Taxonomic models are expected to correlate with concrete but not with abstract concepts signal.

Topic Area: Language & Communication

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