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Related Experiment Videos

Digit representation is more than just hand waving.

James C Thompson1, David F Abbott, Kylie J Wheaton

  • 1Brain Sciences Institute, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia.

Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research
|October 30, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Viewing lip movements and hand gestures for numbers activates distinct brain regions. However, common areas in the right intraparietal region (IPR) are engaged when processing semantic information from both fingers and lips.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Neuroimaging

Background:

  • Nonverbal cues like lip movements and hand gestures enhance speech comprehension, especially in noisy environments.
  • Understanding the neural basis of processing semantic information from different human movements is crucial for cognitive neuroscience.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether the brain processes semantic information from lip movements and finger movements in common or distinct neural regions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
  • To identify specific brain areas involved in decoding numerical information conveyed through visual speech (lip movements) versus visual gestures (finger movements).

Main Methods:

  • An fMRI study was conducted where subjects viewed videos of a hand and a face presenting numerical information through finger and lip movements, respectively.

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  • Control stimuli included meaningless finger and lip movements to isolate semantic processing.
  • Data analysis involved comparing brain activation patterns for lip-reading numbers, finger-spelling numbers, and control stimuli.

    • Main Results:

    • Lip-reading numbers specifically activated the left posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS).
    • Identifying numbers presented by finger movements bilaterally activated the intraparietal region (IPR).
    • A conjunction analysis revealed common activation in the right IPR for both finger- and lip-presented numbers.

    Conclusions:

    • The brain's left hemisphere decodes human movements conveying semantic information, with specific regions engaged depending on the moving body part.
    • Distinct brain regions (left STS for lips, bilateral IPR for fingers) are involved in processing semantic information from different modalities.
    • Shared neural resources, particularly in the right IPR, support the processing of semantic information regardless of whether it is presented via lip or finger movements.