Motor-Iconicity of Sign Language Does Not Alter the Neural Systems Underlying Tool and Action Naming

Autor/inn/en	Emmorey, Karen; Grabowski, Thomas; McCullough, Stephen; Damasio, Hannah; Ponto, Laurie; Hichwa, Richard; Bellugi, Ursula
Titel	Motor-Iconicity of Sign Language Does Not Alter the Neural Systems Underlying Tool and Action Naming
Quelle	In: Brain and Language, 89 (2004) 1, S.27-37 (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0093-934X
DOI	10.1016/S0093-934X(03)00309-2
Schlagwörter	American Sign Language; Language Processing; Brain; Nouns; Verbs + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sprachverarbeitung; Gehirn
Abstract	Positron emission tomography was used to investigate whether the motor-iconic basis of certain forms in American Sign Language (ASL) partially alters the neural systems engaged during lexical retrieval. Most ASL nouns denoting tools and ASL verbs referring to tool-based actions are produced with a handshape representing the human hand holding a tool and with an iconic movement depicting canonical tool use, whereas the visual iconicity of animal signs is more idiosyncratic and inconsistent across signs. We investigated whether the motor-iconic relation between a sign and its referent alters the neural substrate for lexical retrieval in ASL. Ten deaf native ASL signers viewed photographs of tools/utensils or of actions performed with or without an implement and were asked to overtly produce the ASL sign for each object or action. The control task required subjects to judge the orientation of unknown faces. Compared to the control task, naming tools engaged left inferior and middle frontal gyri, bilateral parietal lobe, and posterior inferotemporal cortex. Naming actions performed with or without a tool engaged left inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral parietal lobe, and posterior middle temporal gyrus at the temporo-occipital junction (area MT). When motor-iconic verbs were compared with non-iconic verbs, no differences in neural activation were found. Overall, the results indicate that even when the form of a sign is indistinguishable from a pantomimic gesture, the neural systems underlying its production mirror those engaged when hearing speakers name tools or tool-based actions with speech. (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10