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Author Spotlight: Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Gesture in Communication
Published on: January 26, 2024
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Perceived communicative intent in gesture and language modulates the superior temporal sulcus
Elizabeth Redcay1, Kayla R Velnoskey1, Meredith L Rowe2
1Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
Human Brain Mapping
|May 31, 2016
Summary
Gesture and language processing share brain regions, particularly the superior temporal sulcus (STS), for understanding communicative intent. This research utilized fMRI to map neural overlap in processing both gestures and sentences.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
Background:
- Behavioral evidence suggests gesture and language share a cognitive system.
- Previous research shows overlap in perisylvian cortex but limited individual-level functional segregation.
- Less is known about shared regions for processing communicative intent.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate shared neural activation for processing communicative gestures and language.
- To identify brain regions involved in processing communicative intent at an individual level.
- To explore functional segregation within the perisylvian cortex for gesture and language.
Main Methods:
- Functional and structural MRI data from 24 adults.
- Participants viewed communicative gestures (PDG), self-adaptor gestures (SG), participant-directed sentences (PDS), third-person sentences (3PS), and Jabberwocky (JW).
- Surface-based conjunction and individual functional region of interest analyses were performed.
Main Results:
- Conjunction analysis of gesture (PDGvsSG) and 3PS vs JW revealed overlap in left anterior and posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS).
- Gesture and PDS vs 3PS analysis identified regions sensitive to communicative intent: left middle/posterior STS and left inferior frontal gyrus.
- Left posterior STS showed sensitivity to perceived communicative intent in gesture.
Conclusions:
- The superior temporal sulcus (STS) plays a crucial role in processing participant-directed communicative intent via both gesture and language.
- Findings highlight the STS's involvement in a shared neural network for communicative intent.
- Individual-level analysis revealed specific sensitivity within the posterior STS for perceived communicative intent.
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