Cognitive embodiment: how sensorimotor experience shapes perception

Cognitive neuroscience and philosophy have attributed a special role to our own body and actions during visual perception. This phenomenon is called embodiment. In this talk, I will present different properties of embodiment (at the neural and cognitive levels) in a series of studies that explore (a) the impact of physical/motor expertise (e.g. dancers) in action observation, (b) the role of our own body in the recognition and memory of emotion and actions, (c) and the impact of embodiment on very specifically human ways of seeing (i.e. aesthetic perception).

Biography
Dr Beatriz Calvo-Merino is a cognitive neuroscientist working at the Psychology Department, City, University of London. She trained at University College London (UCL) and Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain). Her research has focussed on investigating the neurocognitive mechanisms involved in action observation, often working with sensorimotor experts (i.e. professional dancers). She employs neuroimaging methods such as fMRI, EEG or TMS. Current lines of research focus on how sensorimotor experience and embodiment mechanisms participate in other visual process such as emotion perception, visual encoding and memory of actions and aesthetic experience.