CRL Newsletter

The relationship between language and coverbal gesture in aphasia

Eva Schleicher

Department of Psychology, University of Vienna; Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego

The relationship between language and gesture constitutes an intriguing field of interest and has attracted considerable research on aphasic as well as healthy individuals. In this paper controversial positions on gesture use in aphasia shall be presented, addressing the issue to what extent aphasics are able to employ the nonverbal channel as a means of compensation for purposes of communication and speech production. Neuropsychological findings on the role of coverbal gesture in the speech production process will be discussed. Finally a short presentation of recent research on the mirror neuron system as a possible neural substrate for both language and gesture shall open new ways to look at the issue of debate.

Introducing the Gesture Norming Study: A tool for understanding on-line word and picture processing

Analía Arévalo^1,2, Andrew C. Butler³, Daniela Perani⁴, Stefano Cappa⁴ & Elizabeth Bates⁵

¹Center for Research in Language, University of California, San Diego; ²SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language & Communicative Disorders; ³Washington University in St, Louis; ⁴Università Vita-Salute, Milan, Italy ; ⁵Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego