202506.24
Beyond Words: How Gestures Shape Speech Comprehension and Retention in the Bilingual Brain
Posted in RESEARCH
I have attended the Organisation for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) this year, aiming to share my recent research findings and to learn from the works of other fellow researchers across disciplines. My research explores how gestures—an inherently human, spontaneous, and multimodal form of communication—support speech comprehension and memory, particularly in a second language (L2) context. While previous studies have identified key neural substrates such as the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and parahippocampal regions in integrating gesture and speech in one’s native language (L1), the neural mechanisms in L2 remain less clear. My study investigated these mechanisms and revealed that gestures are particularly beneficial for L2 speech processing, especially as activation in the left posterior middle MTG appears to play a critical role in supporting L2 verbal memory.
OHBM, as a multidisciplinary conference, brought together researchers from fields such as computer science, functional connectivity, and cognitive neuroscience. I was pleasantly surprised to see how people from diverse backgrounds resonated with the universality of gesture in human interaction. Many raised thought-provoking and insightful questions about my experiment design, results, and the broader implications for multilingual communication.
The opening keynote by Dr. Paul Thompson was especially memorable. He traced the evolution of brain mapping, starting from Jean Talairach’s pioneering work on standardizing brain space, to the frontiers of modern neuroscience empowered by AI—such as brain decoding, AI-based mental state classification, and even the recreation of facial features from genetic data. What resonated most deeply with me was his reflection on the human aspect of science: "It is not just data. Collaborators bring thousands of years of collective expertise, diverse perspectives, and new insights.”
Attending OHBM was not only intellectually enriching but also reaffirmed the importance of interdisciplinary dialogue in advancing our mutural understanding of the human brain.
I have attended the Organisation for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) this year, aiming to share my recent research findings and to learn from the works of other fellow researchers across disciplines. My research explores how gestures—an inherently human, spontaneous, and multimodal form of communication—support speech comprehension and memory, particularly in a second language (L2) context. While previous studies have identified key neural substrates such as the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and parahippocampal regions in integrating gesture and speech in one’s native language (L1), the neural mechanisms in L2 remain less clear. My study investigated these mechanisms and revealed that gestures are particularly beneficial for L2 speech processing, especially as activation in the left posterior middle MTG appears to play a critical role in supporting L2 verbal memory.
OHBM, as a multidisciplinary conference, brought together researchers from fields such as computer science, functional connectivity, and cognitive neuroscience. I was pleasantly surprised to see how people from diverse backgrounds resonated with the universality of gesture in human interaction. Many raised thought-provoking and insightful questions about my experiment design, results, and the broader implications for multilingual communication.
The opening keynote by Dr. Paul Thompson was especially memorable. He traced the evolution of brain mapping, starting from Jean Talairach’s pioneering work on standardizing brain space, to the frontiers of modern neuroscience empowered by AI—such as brain decoding, AI-based mental state classification, and even the recreation of facial features from genetic data. What resonated most deeply with me was his reflection on the human aspect of science: "It is not just data. Collaborators bring thousands of years of collective expertise, diverse perspectives, and new insights.”
Attending OHBM was not only intellectually enriching but also reaffirmed the importance of interdisciplinary dialogue in advancing our mutural understanding of the human brain.