Gestures make memories, but what kind? Patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehension
Hand gesture, a ubiquitous feature of human interaction, facilitates communication. Gesture also facilitates new learning, benefiting speakers and listeners alike. Thus, gestures must impact cognition beyond simply supporting the expression of already-formed ideas. However, the cognitive and neural...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2014.01054/full |
| _version_ | 1819060857196249088 |
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| author | Nathaniel Bloem Klooster Nathaniel Bloem Klooster Susan Wagner Cook Susan Wagner Cook Ergun Y. Uc Ergun Y. Uc Melissa C. Duff Melissa C. Duff Melissa C. Duff Melissa C. Duff |
| author_facet | Nathaniel Bloem Klooster Nathaniel Bloem Klooster Susan Wagner Cook Susan Wagner Cook Ergun Y. Uc Ergun Y. Uc Melissa C. Duff Melissa C. Duff Melissa C. Duff Melissa C. Duff |
| author_sort | Nathaniel Bloem Klooster |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hand gesture, a ubiquitous feature of human interaction, facilitates communication. Gesture also facilitates new learning, benefiting speakers and listeners alike. Thus, gestures must impact cognition beyond simply supporting the expression of already-formed ideas. However, the cognitive and neural mechanisms supporting the effects of gesture on learning and memory are largely unknown. We hypothesized that gesture’s ability to drive new learning is supported by procedural memory and that procedural memory deficits will disrupt gesture production and comprehension. We tested this proposal in patients with intact declarative memory, but impaired procedural memory as a consequence of Parkinson’s disease, and healthy comparison participants with intact declarative and procedural memory. In separate experiments, we manipulated the gestures participants saw and produced in a Tower of Hanoi paradigm. In the first experiment, participants solved the task either on a physical board, requiring high arching movements to manipulate the discs from peg to peg, or on a computer, requiring only flat, sideways movements of the mouse. When explaining the task, healthy participants with intact procedural memory displayed evidence of their previous experience in their gestures, producing higher, more arching hand gestures after solving on a physical board, and smaller, flatter gestures after solving on a computer. In the second experiment, healthy participants who saw high arching hand gestures in an explanation prior to solving the task subsequently moved the mouse with significantly higher curvature than those who saw smaller, flatter gestures prior to solving the task. These patterns were absent in both gesture production and comprehension experiments in patients with procedural memory impairment. These findings suggest that the procedural memory system supports the ability of gesture to drive new learning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T14:33:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cc3ddc0191014fdb81c13b29b2a5477d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T14:33:39Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-cc3ddc0191014fdb81c13b29b2a5477d2022-12-21T19:00:25ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612015-01-01810.3389/fnhum.2014.01054112529Gestures make memories, but what kind? Patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehensionNathaniel Bloem Klooster0Nathaniel Bloem Klooster1Susan Wagner Cook2Susan Wagner Cook3Ergun Y. Uc4Ergun Y. Uc5Melissa C. Duff6Melissa C. Duff7Melissa C. Duff8Melissa C. Duff9University of IowaUniversity of IowaUniversity of IowaUniversity of IowaUniversity of IowaVeterans Affairs Medical CenterUniversity of IowaUniversity of IowaUniversity of IowaUniversity of IowaHand gesture, a ubiquitous feature of human interaction, facilitates communication. Gesture also facilitates new learning, benefiting speakers and listeners alike. Thus, gestures must impact cognition beyond simply supporting the expression of already-formed ideas. However, the cognitive and neural mechanisms supporting the effects of gesture on learning and memory are largely unknown. We hypothesized that gesture’s ability to drive new learning is supported by procedural memory and that procedural memory deficits will disrupt gesture production and comprehension. We tested this proposal in patients with intact declarative memory, but impaired procedural memory as a consequence of Parkinson’s disease, and healthy comparison participants with intact declarative and procedural memory. In separate experiments, we manipulated the gestures participants saw and produced in a Tower of Hanoi paradigm. In the first experiment, participants solved the task either on a physical board, requiring high arching movements to manipulate the discs from peg to peg, or on a computer, requiring only flat, sideways movements of the mouse. When explaining the task, healthy participants with intact procedural memory displayed evidence of their previous experience in their gestures, producing higher, more arching hand gestures after solving on a physical board, and smaller, flatter gestures after solving on a computer. In the second experiment, healthy participants who saw high arching hand gestures in an explanation prior to solving the task subsequently moved the mouse with significantly higher curvature than those who saw smaller, flatter gestures prior to solving the task. These patterns were absent in both gesture production and comprehension experiments in patients with procedural memory impairment. These findings suggest that the procedural memory system supports the ability of gesture to drive new learning.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2014.01054/fullCommunicationLearningParkinson’s diseasedeclarative memorymemory systemsprocedural memory |
| spellingShingle | Nathaniel Bloem Klooster Nathaniel Bloem Klooster Susan Wagner Cook Susan Wagner Cook Ergun Y. Uc Ergun Y. Uc Melissa C. Duff Melissa C. Duff Melissa C. Duff Melissa C. Duff Gestures make memories, but what kind? Patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehension Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Communication Learning Parkinson’s disease declarative memory memory systems procedural memory |
| title | Gestures make memories, but what kind? Patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehension |
| title_full | Gestures make memories, but what kind? Patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehension |
| title_fullStr | Gestures make memories, but what kind? Patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehension |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gestures make memories, but what kind? Patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehension |
| title_short | Gestures make memories, but what kind? Patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehension |
| title_sort | gestures make memories but what kind patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehension |
| topic | Communication Learning Parkinson’s disease declarative memory memory systems procedural memory |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2014.01054/full |
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