Energy flows in gesture-speech physics: The respiratory-vocal system and its coupling with hand gestures

Expressive moments in communicative hand gestures often align with emphatic stress in speech. It has recently been found that acoustic markers of emphatic stress arise naturally during steady-state phonation when upper-limb movements impart physical impulses on the body, most likely affecting acoustics via respiratory activity. In this confirmatory study, participants (N = 29) repeatedly uttered consonant-vowel (/pa/) mono-syllables while moving in particular phase relations with speech, or not moving the upper limbs. This study shows that respiration-related activity is affected by (especially high-impulse) gesturing when vocalizations occur near peaks in physical impulse. This study further shows that gesture-induced moments of bodily impulses increase the amplitude envelope of speech, while not similarly affecting the Fundamental Frequency (F0). Finally, tight relations between respiration-related activity and vocalization were observed, even in the absence of movement, but even more so when upper-limb movement is present. The current findings expand a developing line of research showing that speech is modulated by functional biomechanical linkages between hand gestures and the respiratory system. This identification of gesture-speech biomechanics promises to provide an alternative phylogenetic, ontogenetic, and mechanistic explanatory route of why communicative upper limb movements co-occur with speech in humans. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

El gesto como facilitador y precursor del desarrollo del lenguaje

Els estudis sobre desenvolupament del llenguatge típicament s'han centrat en l'anàlisi de la parla. Tanmateix, hi ha altres elements comunicatius que són una peça fonamental en la comunicació i cognició humanes: els gestos. Aquests elements visuals estan íntimament integrats amb la parla des del punt de vista temporal i des del punt de vista semanticopragmàtic, i fan que es pugui parlar del llenguatge i la comunicació com uns fets multimodal. En aquest article posem a l'abast dels lectors un resum dels estudis més recents sobre adquisició del llenguatge des d'una perspectiva multimodal, tot i emfasitzant el rol dels gestos com a facilitadors i precursors del llenguatge no només en les etapes més primerenques sinó també en etapes de desenvolupament pragmàtic més tardà. Els estudis demostren que el gest és un component central de l'adquisició del llenguatge i que actua com a precursor i predictor de l’aprenentatge del vocabulari, de la sintaxi, així com del desenvolupament pragmàtic i discursiu.  Finalment apuntem les àrees de recerca més actuals i innovadores i el possible impacte d'aquesta recerca en l'àmbit de la rehabilitació del llenguatge. Studies of language development have typically focused on speech analysis. However, there are other communicative elements that are a fundamental piece in human communication and cognition: gestures. These visual elements are intimately integrated with speech from temporal and semanticopragmatic points of view, and make it possible to speak of language and communication as multimodal facts. In this article we provide readers with a summary of the most recent studies on language acquisition from a multimodal perspective, while emphasizing the role of gestures as facilitators and precursors of language in both the earliest stagesand later stages of pragmatic development. Studies show that gesture is a central component of language acquisition and that it acts as a precursor and predictor of vocabulary learning, syntax, pragmatic and discursive development. Finally, we identify the most current and innovative areas of research and the possible impact of this research in the field of language rehabilitation. Los estudios sobre desarrollo del lenguaje típicamente se han centrado en el análisis del habla. Sin embargo, hay otros elementos comunicativos que son una pieza fundamental en la comunicación y cognición humanas: los gestos. Estos elementos visuales están íntimamente integrados con el habla desde el punto de vista temporal y desde el punto de vista semanticopragmàtic, y hacen que se pueda hablar del lenguaje y la comunicación como unos hechos multimodales. En este artículo ponemos al alcance de los lectores un resumen de los estudios más recientes sobre adquisición del lenguaje desde una perspectiva multimodal, aunque enfatizando el rol de los gestos como facilitadores y precursores del lenguaje no sólo en las etapas más tempranas sino también en etapas de desarrollo pragmático más tardío. Los estudios demuestran que el gesto es un componente central de la adquisición del lenguaje y que actúa como precursor y predictor del aprendizaje del vocabulario, de la sintaxis, así como del desarrollo pragmático y discursivo. Finalmente apuntamos las áreas de investigación más actuales e innovadoras y el posible impacto de esta investigación en el ámbito de la rehabilitación del lenguaje

How 3D printing could tackle PPE shortages during a future pandemic

The PPE shortage in 2020 led to worldwide shortages and rocketing prices. Jean-Charles Bricongne (Aix-Marseille University and Business to Ideas consortium) and members of the CAR3D consortium explain how 3D printing could enable countries to scale up their production during health emergencies

Lipoatròfia semicircular: protocol d'actuació 2015

Lipoatròfia semicircular; Prevenció; Procediments d'actuacióLipoatrophia semicircularis; Prevention; ProceduresLipoatrofia semicircular; Prevención; Procedimientos de actuaciónRecull detallat de les mesures preventives, de les actuacions en cas de lipoatròfia semicircular i tot allò relacionat amb l'obtenció de dades per a la notificació i seguiment de la malaltia

What Paves the Way to Conventional Language? The Predictive Value of Babble, Pointing, and Socioeconomic Status

A child's first words mark the emergence of a uniquely human ability. Theories of the developmental steps that pave the way for word production have proposed that either vocal or gestural precursors are key. These accounts were tested by assessing the developmental synchrony in the onset of babbling, pointing, and word production for 46 infants observed monthly between the ages of 9 and 18 months. Babbling and pointing did not develop in tight synchrony and babble onset alone predicted first words. Pointing and maternal education emerged as predictors of lexical knowledge only in relation to a measure taken at 18 months. This suggests a far more important role for early phonological development in the creation of the lexicon than previously thought

The preparatory Set: A Novel Approach to Understanding Stress, Trauma, and the Bodymind Therapies

Basic to all motile life is a differential approach/avoid response to perceived features of environment. The stages of response are initial reflexive noticing and orienting to the stimulus, preparation, and execution of response. Preparation involves a coordination of many aspects of the organism: muscle tone, posture, breathing, autonomic functions, motivational/emotional state, attentional orientation, and expectations. The organism organizes itself in relation to the challenge. We propose to call this the preparatory set (PS). We suggest that the concept of the PS can offer a more nuanced and flexible perspective on the stress response than do current theories. We also hypothesize that the mechanisms of body-mind therapeutic and educational systems (BTES) can be understood through the PS framework. We suggest that the BTES, including meditative movement, meditation, somatic education, and the body-oriented psychotherapies, are approaches that use interventions on the PS to remedy stress and trauma. We discuss how the PS can be adaptive or maladaptive, how BTES interventions may restore adaptive PS, and how these concepts offer a broader and more flexible view of the phenomena of stress and trauma. We offer supportive evidence for our hypotheses, and suggest directions for future research. We believe that the PS framework will point to ways of improving the management of stress and trauma, and that it will suggest directions of research into the mechanisms of action of BTES

La integración de gestos y habla en el discurso

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