CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Recent studies suggest that action-verb processing is particularly affected in early stage Parkinsons disease, highlighting the potential role of subcortical areas in language processing and in the semantic integration of actions. However, this disorder-related language impairment is frequently unrecognized by clinicians and often remains untreated. Early detection of action language processing deficits could be critical for diagnosing and developing treatment strategies for Parkinsons disease. In this article we review how action-verb processing is affected in Parkinsons disease, and propose a model in which multiple and parallel circuits between the cortex and the basal ganglia provide the anatomic substrate for supporting action-language processing. We hypothesize that action-language networks are partially dependent on cortical-subcortical integration, and not only on somatotopic motor cortical organization. This hypothesis is supported by both experimental and clinical evidence. Theoretical implications for clinical assessment and for models of action-language interaction (action-perception cycle theories, mirror system models of language, and embodied cognition approaches to language) are discussed.