WORD AS ACTION: CLINICAL EVIDENCE OF EMBODIED SIMULATION DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MCGILL PAIN QUESTIONNAIRE

A. Di Dio¹, A. Barbagallo², F. Bonanno¹, F. Cavallaro¹, G. Bova² | ¹Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Italy; ²Pain Therapy Unit, San Vincenzo Hospital, ASP Messina, Italy

Introduction. In neurocognitive rehabilitation based on the Perfetti model, recovery is understood as a learning process in which language exerts a direct influence on the body (1). According to the theory of Embodied Cognition, the comprehension of words linked to somatic sensations requires mental simulation and the recruitment of the very same somatotopic, motor and sensory areas that recorded that experience (2). This study investigates whether the administration of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (3) can act as a neurocognitive input capable of evoking involuntary motor responses.
Methods. An observational study was conducted on 45 patients attending the Pain Therapy Unit at Taormina Hospital (ASP Messina). During the administration of the McGill scale, the clinician carried out a behavioural and kinesthetic analysis of the patient. Specifically, the occurrence of spontaneous motor reactions (manipulative gestures, mimicking of the painful sensation) was monitored in conjunction with the reading of specific verbal descriptors from the scale, without any input or prompt for movement from the examiner.
Results. The qualitative analysis of patient behaviour revealed an immediate top-down motor resonance phenomenon induced by the word. Whilst acknowledging that mental simulation may occur purely implicitly, macroscopic responses were observed in a subset of the sample: In response to the verbal cue “TIRA”, three patients with chronic neck pain simultaneously touched their neck region and mimicked the gesture of mechanical traction with their fingers. In response to the verbal cue “FASCIANTE”, one patient with chronic lower back pain used their hands to mimic the exact outline of the painful lumbar region.
Conclusions. The results suggest that speech acts as an activator of somatotopic cortical maps. The act of involuntarily mimicking the descriptor demonstrates that verbal input evokes an embodied motor and sensory simulation. This phenomenon supports the theoretical rationale of the neurocognitive approach: the ability of language to access somatosensory maps and interact with the altered body schema suggests its value as a potential therapeutic tool (e.g. in telerehabilitation). Language thus emerges as a cognitive access channel complementary to manual intervention, useful for remodelling kinesophobia, reducing rigidity and cognitively repositioning the affected body.