Functional interactions during the encoding of conceptual action knowledge: an fMRI study

Introduction: Impaired retrieval of conceptual knowledge for actions has been associated with lesions in left premotor, left parietal and left middle temporal areas (Tranel et al., 2003). We aimed at exploring the neural network that is active in healthy subjects during the encoding of conceptual knowledge about actions. Methods: During functional magnetic resonance imaging three different categories of pictograms (whole-body actions, manipulable objects, non-manipulable objects) were presented. A conjunction analysis of the neural activation elicited by all three pictogram categories revealed a bilateral inferi…