Figure 1
A simple schema of an emulator in motor control. A desired movement is converted into a motor command via the inverse model. A copy of the motor command generated by the inverse model (“efference copy’) feeds into the emulator. Its output is used for internal feedback control. A (delayed) copy of the output of the forward model is compared with the sensory feedback and is used to adapt the emulator and inverse model (modified from Blazquez & Pastor 2013).
Figure 2
A schematic presentation of the Ling-Sim model displayed with the schema from Figure 1. The central element of the model is the linguistic system Ling, which coordinates the emulator Sim. Sim is decoupled from the rest of the motor loop. Language processing always starts in Ling, which holds schematic parametric knowledge (rules/grammar) and provides linguistic cues for how to understand a verbal message. When Ling detects that the verbally depicted situation focuses on an action or a perceptible entity, it will initiate simulations in Sim by way of APCs. The link between Ling and Sim is bidirectional, allowing the conversion of associative memories into a format that is suitable for language use (see text). Note that Ling exploits nonlinguistic brain systems other than Sim. The arrows pointing away from Ling at the bottom of the figure serve to suggest such links and highlight that we model only one particular aspect of language processing that specifically addresses the function of LIAMBS.