Representation of action semantics in the motor cortex and Broca's area.

•Somatotopic activation within the motor cortex was revealed for observed actions.•Somatotopic activation for action verbs was not found within the motor cortex.•Action-related and unrelated videos elicited distinct activation in Broca’s area.•Activation was not separable for action-related and unrelated verbs in Broca’s area.