This study examined whether systematic whole-body stimulation and increased attention to
visuospatial motion patterns can enhance the appraisal of action meanings evoked by naturalistic
texts. Participants listened to action and neutral (non-action) narratives before and after videogamebased bodily training, and responded to questions on information realized by verbs (denoting abstract
and action processes) and circumstances (conveying locative or temporal details, for example).
Strategically, we worked with dyslexic children, whose potential comprehension defcits could give
room to post-training improvements. Results showed a selective boost in understanding of action
information, even when controlling for baseline performance. Also, this efect proved uninfuenced by
short-term memory skills, and it was absent when training relied on non-action videogames requiring
minimal bodily engagement. Of note, the movements described in the texts did not match those
performed by participants, suggesting that well-established efector- and direction-specifc language
embodiment efects may be accompanied by more coarse-grained sensorimotor resonance, driven by
activation of motor and visuospatial sensory systems. In sum, the stimulation of movement-related
mechanisms seems to selectively boost the appraisal of actions evoked by naturalistic texts. By
demonstrating such links between two real-life activities, our study ofers an empirical tie between
embodied and situated accounts of cognition.
