Sign, language, and gesture in the brain: Some comments
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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Author Spotlight: Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Gesture in Communication
Published on: January 26, 2024
1Division of Psychology and Language Sciences,University College London,London,WC1E 6BT,England,United Kingdom.r.campbell@ucl.ac.ukb.woll@ucl.ac.uk.
Abstract:
In contrast with two widely held and contradictory views - that sign languages of deaf people are "just gestures," or that sign languages are "just like spoken languages" - the view from sign linguistics and developmental research in cognition presented by Goldin-Meadow & Brentari (G-M&B) indicates a more complex picture. We propose that neuroscience research suggests that a similar approach needs to be taken and offer some examples from research on the brain bases of sign language perception.
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