Abstract vs Concrete: In Search for Neurocognitive Justification of the Linguistic Dichotomy

Abstract

The article presents a detailed review of the studies by foreign authors on the subject of the neurophysiological substrate of abstract words. It analyses the main differences between abstract and concrete words, and the ways in which they are categorized. The article also investigates the notion of semantic association of abstract concepts. Semantic association, or associated words, are the words whose meanings are not synonymous, but which are often linked together in the real world or context. The study of memory representations that support the use of abstract knowledge in context shows significant deviation from the previous studies focusing on linguistic or other processing that occurs quickly and similarly for many different abstract concepts. Much attention is currently being paid to the research of the deeper, context-based processing of abstract words, which is central to understanding of human thought, reasoning, and decision-making processes. An extensive foreign research program over the past two decades has focused on the role of the brain’s modal sensory, motor, and affective systems in the storage and retrieval of conceptual knowledge. The article considers the works by foreign authors who conducted their research based on neuroimaging methods, experiments in free reproduction, reproduction on command, pair-associated recognition, and laboratory studies. As the result, conclusions were drawn regarding clear criteria for distinguishing between abstract and concrete concepts.