Multimodal communication in aphasia: perception and production of co-speech gestures during face-to-face conversation

Preisig, Basil C.; Eggenberger, Noëmi; Cazzoli, Dario; Nyffeler, Thomas; Gutbrod, Klemens; Annoni, Jean-Marie; Meichtry, Jurka R.; Nef, Tobias; Müri, René M.

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00200

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Journal article

Multimodal communication in aphasia: perception and production of co-speech gestures during face-to-face conversation

Preisig, Basil C. Perception and Eye Movement Laboratory, Department of Neurology and Clinical Research, University of Bern Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland - Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Eggenberger, Noëmi Perception and Eye Movement Laboratory, Department of Neurology and Clinical Research, University of Bern Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland
Cazzoli, Dario Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Switzerland
Nyffeler, Thomas Perception and Eye Movement Laboratory, Department of Neurology and Clinical Research, University of Bern Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland - Center of Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Luzern, Switzerland
Gutbrod, Klemens University Neurorehabilitation Clinics, Department of Neurology, University of Bern Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland
Annoni, Jean-Marie Neurology Unit, Laboratory for Cognitive and Neurological Sciences, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Science, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Meichtry, Jurka R. Perception and Eye Movement Laboratory, Department of Neurology and Clinical Research, University of Bern Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland - University Neurorehabilitation Clinics, Department of Neurology, University of Bern Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland
Nef, Tobias Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Switzerland
Müri, René M. Perception and Eye Movement Laboratory, Department of Neurology and Clinical Research, University of Bern Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland - Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Switzerland - University Neurorehabilitation Clinics, Department of Neurology, University of Bern Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland

14.06.2018

Published in:

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. - 2018, vol. 12, p. 200

English The role of nonverbal communication in patients with post-stroke language impairment (aphasia) is not yet fully understood. This study investigated how aphasic patients perceive and produce co-speech gestures during face-to-face interaction, and whether distinct brain lesions would predict the frequency of spontaneous co-speech gesturing. For this purpose, we recorded samples of conversations in patients with aphasia and healthy participants. Gesture perception was assessed by means of a head-mounted eye-tracking system, and the produced co-speech gestures were coded according to a linguistic classification system. The main results are that meaning-laden gestures (e.g., iconic gestures representing object shapes) are more likely to attract visual attention than meaningless hand movements, and that patients with aphasia are more likely to fixate co-speech gestures overall than healthy participants. This implies that patients with aphasia may benefit from the multimodal information provided by co-speech gestures. On the level of co-speech gesture production, we found that patients with damage to the anterior part of the arcuate fasciculus showed a higher frequency of meaning-laden gestures. This area lies in close vicinity to the premotor cortex and is considered to be important for speech production. This may suggest that the use of meaning-laden gestures depends on the integrity of patients’ speech production abilities.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Médecine 3ème année

Language