Reading 'kick' lights up the brain's leg-motor map

Correct: B — Somatotopically distinct motor regions corresponding to the legs, hands, and mouth

Hauk, Johnsrude, and Pulvermüller (2004) found that passively reading verbs referring to leg, arm, or mouth actions ('kick', 'pick', 'lick') engaged motor and premotor regions in roughly the same somatotopic pattern as actually moving those body parts — though more weakly. The result supports embodied or grounded theories of semantics in which conceptual knowledge reuses sensorimotor systems rather than residing in a fully amodal symbolic store. How necessary that motor activation is for understanding remains debated — patients with motor impairments can comprehend action verbs, suggesting motor activation is at least partly contributory rather than strictly required.