From action to spatial cognition: the rehabilitation program based on SaM Method

Background: Research from Neuroscience highlights that motor experiences underlie cognition (Gallese and Lakoff 2005) and cover a key role for intentional action and sensorimotor integration in the dynamic spatial processing (Fogassi et al. 1996). Aims: The goal is to introduce SaM Method, an innovative neuropsychological rehabilitation program, in which the embodied perspective plays a central role (Risoli 2019). Specifically, the intentional action is a fundamental element both for the processing of spaces (personal, peripersonal, extrapersonal) and for the activation of implicit and explicit learning, which support the cognitive processing of integrated abstraction levels. Methods: SaM Method operates through two types of activities, namely Basic Activities, using errorless learning techniques, and Multimodal Integration Activities, based on sensorimotor experiences affecting executive functions. They act in three different spaces: personal space (promoting mental representations concerning the body schema), peripersonal space (increasing the repertory of motor acts, the ability to carry out actions and to plan complex behaviors), extrapersonal space (contributing to plan and perform operations on mental imagery). Results: SaM Method is addressed both to subjects in developmental age and to adults. Clinical evidence supports the use of the Method with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as DCD, and traumatic brain injuries, promoting improvements in cognitive abilities, motor skills and daily activities, i.e., swimming, using phone and money (for a single case, see: Risoli et al. 2015). Conclusion: SaM Method, with a restitutive approach, is focused on enabling and improving the spatial cognition ability, starting from the body experience.