EXPRESS: Do Motor Representations Influence Declarative Memory for Graspable Objects? A Test with Action Priming and Short-Term Hand Nonuse.

Abstract

The present study addressed the role of motor representations in declarative memory (i.e., semantic and episodic). Based on embodied and grounded theories of cognition, it is often suggested that motor representations contribute to declarative memory. According to the action priming effect, graspable objects are categorized faster when primed by pictures of a congruent hand grip, as motor representations (how to grasp it) and semantic information (what it is) are closely related. Moreover, motor representations may contribute to episodic memory functioning. We immobilized participants' dominant hand for 24 hours to impair their processing of hand-related motor representations. This method is known to elicit rapid updating of cortical hand representations, and a slowdown in cognitive tasks linked to hand-related motor cognition. We expected to observe a decreased action priming effect following short-term hand nonuse. We further predicted that in a subsequent recognition task, objects that had been encoded following congruent action priming would be recognized faster by controls, but not by previously immobilized participants. Results did not show any effect of hand nonuse on action priming, suggesting that motor representations are not a decisive factor for this effect. Nonetheless, prime congruence influenced subsequent recognition. Immobilized participants were slower to recognize objects previously seen with an unrelated hand grip prime compared to a congruent one. This result suggests a contribution of motor representation to declarative memory, in particular when the sensorimotor system has previously been impaired.