Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Processing of Phrasal Verb and Prepositional Verb Sentences: An fMRI Study

• 발행기관: 한국영어학학회
• 저자명: Haeil Park Jae-Young Lee
• 간행물 정보: 『영어학연구』제31권 1호, 27~49쪽, 전체 23쪽
• 주제분류: 어문학 > 영어와문학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2025.02.28

국문 초록

This study investigates the neural correlates of the processing of idiomatic phrasal verb and literal prepositional verb constructions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Under the embodied cognition framework, we hypothesized that literal prepositional verb constructions would robustly activate sensory-motor regions due to their concrete and action-oriented nature, whereas idiomatic phrasal verb constructions, being abstract and conventionalized, would not engage sensorimotor systems but instead recruit regions associated with the strategic control of semantic memory and processing. Twenty right-handed, native English-speaking adults participated in the study, which involved 40 sentences divided into two conditions: phrasal verb and prepositional verb sentence. The fMRI results revealed increased activation in sensory-motor areas, such as the left premotor cortex (PMC) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL), for the prepositional verb sentences. In contrast, the phrasal verb sentences elicited increased activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG), and anterior superior temporal gyrus (aSTG), regions known for their roles in the cognitive control of semantic memory and processing. These findings highlight the flexible and context-sensitive nature of semantic processing, supporting a continuum perspective of conceptual embodiment.

목차

1. Introduction

2. Previous Studies

3. Methodology

4. Results

5. Discussion

6. Conclusion

References

키워드

phrasal verbs prepositional verbs fMRI embodied cognition figurative action language