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Existing evidence has shown that adjectives modulate the grasp-compatibility effect elicited by object nouns. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of syntax on the sensorimotor activation elicited by nouns in a grasp-compatibility task. We assessed two languages with different syntactic rules, Italian in Experiment 1 and English in Experiment 2. In both experiments, an adjective-noun pair was shown on the screen. The adjective was always in a pre-nominal position and denoted either a disadvantageous quality of the object graspability (e.g., sharp) or the object colour (e.g., reddish). Participants had to categorize the object nouns as natural or artifact, performing a precision or a power reach-to-grasp movement. On different trials, the grasp response was compatible or incompatible with the grip typically used to manipulate the object indicated by the noun. In Experiment 1 (Italian language) the adjective-noun order violated the syntactic order and no difference emerged between reaction times on compatible and incompatible trials (no grasp compatibility effect). In Experiment 2 (English language), the adjective-noun order followed the syntactic rule. Results showed a grasp-compatibility effect when a colour adjective was presented before a natural object noun. When a disadvantageous adjective preceded an artifact or a natural object noun, an inverted grasp-compatibility effect emerged with slower responses on compatible than incompatible trials. Taken together, these findings suggest that adjectives can shape the sensorimotor activation elicited by nouns of graspable objects only when the syntax is correct. Results are discussed with respect to embodied cognition theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many daily face-to-face interactions, people are able to take the perspective of others, for example, coding right and left based on point-of-view of others. In the present study, we investigated whether observers are able to take the perspective of a non-human figure such as a cat, observing the same effects obtained with human or robot avatars. In both experiments, we used a centrally presented stimulus (i.e. a cat), with its tail lateralized to the left or to the right. Participants had to respond to the side of the tail with a lateralized keypress. In Experiment 1 (spatial perspective taking task), participants were required to explicitly adopt the cat's perspective to respond, whereas in Experiment 2 (SR compatibility task), this was not explicitly required. In both experiments, faster RTs are obtained when the cat is presented back, with a greater difference between front and back views when the tail is on the right; furthermore, there is no temporal modulation of the back–front effect. These common results between the two experiments are interpreted on the basis of the spatial perspective taking processes, elicited voluntarily (Experiment 1) or spontaneously (Experiment 2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Facial mimicry is crucial in the recognition of others' emotional state. Thus, the observation of others' facial expressions activates the same neural representation of that affective state in the observer, along with related autonomic and somatic responses. What happens, therefore, when someone cannot mimic others' facial expressions? Methods: We investigated whether psychophysiological emotional responses to others' facial expressions were impaired in 13 children (9 years) with Moebius syndrome (MBS), an extremely rare neurological disorder (1/250,000 live births) characterized by congenital facial paralysis. We inspected autonomic responses and vagal regulation through facial cutaneous thermal variations and by the computation of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). These parameters provide measures of emotional arousal and show the autonomic adaptation to others' social cues. Physiological responses in children with MBS were recorded during dynamic facial expression observation and were compared to those of a control group (16 non-affected children, 9 years). Results: There were significant group effects on thermal patterns and RSA, with lower values in children with MBS. We also observed a mild deficit in emotion recognition in these patients. Conclusion: Results support "embodied" theory, whereby the congenital inability to produce facial expressions induces alterations in the processing of facial expression of emotions. Such alterations may constitute a risk for emotion dysregulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]