Embodiment of action-related language in the native and a late foreign language – An fMRI-study

Theories of embodied cognition postulate that language processing activates similar sensory-motor structures as
when interacting with the environment. Only little is known about the neural substrate of embodiment in a
foreign language (L2) as compared to the mother tongue (L1). In this fMRI study, we investigated embodiment of
motor and non-motor action verbs in L1 and L2 including 31 late bilinguals. Half had German as L1 and French as
L2, and the other half vice-versa. We collapsed across languages to avoid the confound between language and
order of language acquisition. Region of interest analyses showed stronger activation in motor regions during L2
than during L1 processing, independently of the motor-relatedness of the verbs. Moreover, a stronger involvement
of motor regions for motor-related as compared to non-motor-related verbs, similarly for L1 and L2, was
found. Overall, the similarity between L1 and L2 embodiment seems to depend on individual and contextual
factors.