Funding: TÜBİTAK 1001 Scientific Research Program

This research aims to understand how individuals process words as they age, focusing on how motor-related words (e.g., to walk, hammer) are represented and accessed in the brain.

Grounded in the theory of Embodied Cognition, the study assumes that understanding word meaning relies not only on abstract mental structures but also on bodily experiences. The project involves Turkish native speakers from three age groups, examining how motor-related and non-motor-related words are processed in two different experimental tasks.

The findings will shed light on how aging influences linguistic and cognitive mechanisms and will represent one of the first experimental investigations of age-related language processing in Turkish.

By providing new insights into motor-semantic processing, the study will contribute to fields such as language therapy, age-friendly education design, and digital learning development. Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, the project aims to generate both theoretical contributions and social impact by deepening our understanding of the interaction between aging, language, and cognition.