Gesture and metaphor comprehension: Electrophysiological evidence of cross-modal coordination by audiovisual stimulation

In recent years, studies have suggested that gestures influence comprehension of linguistic expressions, for example, eliciting an N400 component in response to a speech/gesture mismatch. In this paper, we investigate the role of gestural information in the understanding of metaphors. Event related...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain and cognition 2009-06, Vol.70 (1), p.42-52
Main Authors: Cornejo, Carlos, Simonetti, Franco, Ibáñez, Agustín, Aldunate, Nerea, Ceric, Francisco, López, Vladimir, Núñez, Rafael E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis of Variance
Audiovisual Aids
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - physiology
Comprehension - physiology
Electroencephalography
Electrooculography
Electrophysiology
Evoked Potentials
Female
Figurative Language
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gesture
Gestures
Holistic Approach
Humans
Language
Linguistics
LPC
Male
Metaphor
Multimodal integration
N400
Nonverbal Communication
Production and perception of spoken language
Psycholinguistics
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reaction Time
Stimuli
Stroke
Task Performance and Analysis
Video
Young Adult
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Summary:In recent years, studies have suggested that gestures influence comprehension of linguistic expressions, for example, eliciting an N400 component in response to a speech/gesture mismatch. In this paper, we investigate the role of gestural information in the understanding of metaphors. Event related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants viewed video clips of an actor uttering metaphorical expressions and producing bodily gestures that were congruent or incongruent with the metaphorical meaning of such expressions. This modality of stimuli presentation allows a more ecological approach to meaning integration. When ERPs were calculated using gesture stroke as time-lock event, gesture incongruity with metaphorical expression modulated the amplitude of the N400 and of the late positive complex (LPC). This suggests that gestural and speech information are combined online to make sense of the interlocutor’s linguistic production in an early stage of metaphor comprehension. Our data favor the idea that meaning construction is globally integrative and highly context-sensitive.
ISSN:0278-2626
1090-2147
DOI:10.1016/j.bandc.2008.12.005