Gesture production patterns in aphasic discourse: In-depth description and preliminary predictions

Abstract

Background: Gesture frequently accompanies speech in healthy speakers. For many individuals with aphasia, gestures are a target of speech-language pathology intervention, either as an alternative form of communication or as a facilitative device for language restoration. The patterns of gesture production for people with aphasia and the participant variables that predict these patterns remain unclear. Aims: We aimed to examine gesture production during conversational discourse in a large sample of individuals with aphasia. We used a detailed gesture coding system to determine patterns of gesture production associated with specific aphasia types and severities. Methods & Procedures:We analysed conversation samples from AphasiaBank, gathered from 46 people with post-stroke aphasia and 10 healthy matched controls all of whom had gestured at least once during a story re-tell task. Twelve gesture types were coded. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the patterns of gesture production. Possible significant differences in production patterns according to aphasia type and severity were examined with a series of analyses of variance (ANOVA) statistics, and multiple regression analysis was used to examine these potential predictors of gesture production patterns. Outcomes & Results: Individuals with aphasia gestured significantly more frequently than healthy controls. Aphasia type and severity impacted significantly on gesture type in specific identified patterns detailed here, especially on the production of meaning-laden gestures. Conclusions: These patterns suggest the opportunity for gestures as targets of aphasia therapy. Aphasia fluency accounted for a greater degree of data variability than aphasia severity or naming skills. More work is required to delineate predictive factors.

Co-verbal gestures among speakers with aphasia: Influence of aphasia severity, linguistic and semantic skills, and hemiplegia on gesture employment in oral discourse

“…However, one should also note that contradictory results have also been reported in the literature (e.g., Feyereisen, 1983; Sekine & Rose, 2013; Sekine, Rose, Foster, Attard, & Lanyon, 2013). In particular, Cicone, Wapner, Foldi, Zurif, and Gardner (1979) found that speakers with relatively preserved expressive language ability produced more gestures than those with impaired expressive language.…”

“…In contrast, those with anomic and transcortical motor aphasia demonstrated a profile of gesture employment similar to unimpaired control speakers who used fewer iconic gestures, although transcortical motor aphasia exhibited more concrete deictic and pointing-to-self gestures. In a related study by Sekine et al (2013), a relationship between the frequency of gesture production and aphasia severity was also reported. Specifically, speakers with a higher degree of severity, as reflected by a lower Aphasia Quotient of the Western Aphasia Battery, had a tendency to use fewer referential but more concrete deictic gestures.…”

Effects of regiolects on the perception of developmental foreign accent syndrome

“…People with aphasia (PWA) use various gesture types when they communicate, amongst these are iconic gestures and pantomimes (Sekine, Rose, Foster, Attard, & Lanyon, 2013). Whereas iconic gestures can be used for referring to characters, objects or movement-trajectories, pantomimes can be employed for the imitation of complex motor actions (De Ruiter, 2000;McNeill, 1992 To determine to which extent PWA are able to compensate for their verbal limitations by using gesture, it is crucial to study if PWA can use gestures effectively when communicative demands increase.…”

A Comparison of Coverbal Gesture Use in Oral Discourse Among Speakers With Fluent and Nonfluent Aphasia

“…In this view, gesture production is not adversely affected by linguistic deficits, and gestures can be used as a complement in cases of verbal deficits, such as in naming impairment. Evidence supporting the sketch model has been provided by Sekine, Rose, Foster, Attard, and Lanyon (2013), who suggested that people with aphasia (PWA) tended to use gestures to compensate for difficulties in communication and/or lexical retrieval.Due to the close relationship between the production of coverbal gestures and word-finding behaviors that occur during communication, Kendon (1988) proposed a method to systematize gestures along a continuum, which ranges from gesticulation, pantomime, and emblems to sign language, to allow a better understanding of gesture use with and without accompanying language. In particular, although gesticulation refers to idiosyncratic hand and arm movements that cannot exist without verbal output, pantomime depicts objects and actions in which the presence of language production is unnecessary.…”

“…In this view, gesture production is not adversely affected by linguistic deficits, and gestures can be used as a complement in cases of verbal deficits, such as in naming impairment. Evidence supporting the sketch model has been provided by Sekine, Rose, Foster, Attard, and Lanyon (2013), who suggested that people with aphasia (PWA) tended to use gestures to compensate for difficulties in communication and/or lexical retrieval.…”