The cerebellum and embodied semantics: Evidence from a case of genetic ataxia due to STUB1 mutations

ADOLFO M. GARCÍA; SOFÍA ABREVAYA; GISELE KOZONO; INDIRA GARCIA CORDERO; MARTA CORDOBA; MARCELO KAUFFMAN; PAUTASSI R.M.; LUCAS SEDEÑO

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS

B M J PUBLISHING GROUP

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2017 vol. 54 p. 114 - 124

0022-2593

Abundant research on lexicosemanticprocessing indicates that damage tomovement-related regions (the motor andpremotor cortices, Broca?s area and the basalganglia1) distinctively impairs processing ofaction verbs, that is, verbs denoting bodilymotion. Moreover, such deficits could behereditary,2 suggesting an association withgenetic factors. We, thus, hypothesised thatgenetically based deterioration of othermotor regions could involve similar impairments.In particular, through a combinationof structural and functional MRI (fMRI)with genetic and behavioural analysis, thiscase study indicates that distinctive actionverbdeficits can also be linked to geneticmutations affecting the cerebellum, a keymotor hub implicated in balance, postureand movement coordination. Accordingly, inline with the embodied cognition framework,our data illuminate a potential functionalspecialisation of the cerebellum withinthe lexicosemantic domain.