Functional neuroanatomy of gesture-speech integration in children varies with individual differences in gesture processing.

ABSTRACT: Gesture is an integral part of children's communicative repertoire. However, little is known about the neurobiology of speech and gesture integration in the developing brain. We investigated how 8- to 10-year-old children processed gesture that was essential to understanding a set of narratives. We asked whether the functional neuroanatomy of gesture-speech integration varies as a function of (1) the content of speech, and/or (2) individual differences in how gesture is processed. When gestures provided missing information not present in the speech (i.e., disambiguating gesture; e.g., "pet" + flapping palms = bird), the presence of gesture led to increased activity in inferior frontal gyri, the right middle temporal gyrus, and the left superior temporal gyrus, compared to when gesture prov

SUBMITTER: Demir-Lira OE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6959524 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature