Cologne Aachen Gesture Colloquium

Pierre Feyereisen (Université catholique de Louvain):

Gesture Use by Persons with Aphasia – An Overview

3 June, 2014, 2.00 p.m.

Senatssaal, IG II, Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln, Am Sportpark Müngersdorf 6, 50933 Köln

A Cooperation between German Sport University Cologne and RWTH Aachen University

Abstract: The idea that close links exist between language and action control has gained much popularity in the cognitive neurosciences. From such a perspective, it is interesting to analyse the use of gestures by persons suffering from brain damages. The presentation will consist of four parts. First, background information will be given on the varieties of aphasias and on the models of the relationships between gestures and speech. Second, disorders of elicited production of autonomous gestures (pantomimes, emblems, signs) in cases of apraxia will be examined in relation to language impairments. Third, we will compare spontaneous use of speech-related gestures in persons with aphasia and healthy control participants. Fourth, we will present some studies in which gestures were the target of aphasia therapies. Emphasis will be given on the utility of single-case methodology to conclude that data from language uses with aphasia help us to understand the relationships between gestures and speech.