Workshops

Segregation and overlap between action and language: Neurobiological and theoretical perspectives

Giorgio Papitto, Patrick C. Trettenbrein, Angela D. Friederici, Emiliano Zaccarella

### Workshop with a call for papers ###

It has been put forward in the literature that the ontogeny, phylogeny, and phenotypic expression of language and action are connected. The assumed similarities between both domains have usually been inferred either from formal comparisons between the abstract structures of language and action or from the observation that both recruit partially overlapping neural resources, especially in the inferior frontal cortex (i.e. Broca’s area). Recent work has called these assumptions into doubt, both on formal and neuroanatomical grounds. In line with this, neuroimaging studies indicate that potentially shared neural resources between language and action are not located in Broca’s area but may instead be found in the phylogenetically older subcortex. This neuroanatomical segregation between different types of combinatorial systems is complemented by data from sign language processing, which recruits portions of Broca’s area implicated in spoken and written language processing but not those implicated in action processing. Finally, beyond Broca’s area, the (sub-)cortical networks recruited for action and language processing may differ in functional and/or structure, even if a functional overlap in some of the involved regions and structures can be observed.

In this workshop, we will seek to collaboratively re-examine the similarities and differences between language and action on theoretical and neurobiological grounds by bringing together current perspectives from action, language, and sign language processing, as well as from comparative neuroanatomy. Our invited speakers will each cover one specific topic in the domain of language and action processing. To establish the foundations of the workshop and ensure that all participants have a shared set of definitions at their disposal, the first speakers will offer a formal perspective and comparison of language and action. The following speakers will then each cover a different aspect of language, action, and their overlap or segregation on a neurobiological level.

List of the contributors (Names with * are confirmed speakers)

Yannick Becker*, Siham Bouziane, Eloise Disarbois, Amelie Picchiottino, Solène Brunschvig, Romane Phelipon, & Adrien Meguerditchian

Cas Coopmans*, Karthikeya Kaushik, & Andrea E. Martin

Giorgio Papitto*

Emiliano Zaccarella* & Patrick C. Trettenbrein*

Simon Thibault*, Raphaël Py, Angelo Mattia Gervasi, Martin Lövden, Véronique Boulenger, Alice C. Roy, & Claudio Brozzoli