People use gestures in some type of way throughout their daily lives, whether that is for recalling information or trying to solve a math problem. Many research talks about the effects of gesture in learning and how learning techniques involving the motor system should be used more often (Gelitz, 2021). Actively learned information has a greater impact in sensory and motor areas than passively learned information (Wakefield et al., 2019). Linking together information and gesture allows for better recalling of information, therefore, a better memory. Different research on gesture learning focuses on its different aspects and tries to figure out what brain mechanisms play a role in gesture learning.
“Learning math by hand: The neural effects of gesture-based instruction in 8-year-old children” is one of the first studies to explore the neural mechanisms of learning through gesture, and Wakefield et al. (2019) looks at how gesture contributes in learning math. Children, 7 to 9 years old, were taught to solve equations either with speech alone or with both speech and gesture. Later, the children were asked to solve the equations. The number of correct answers from the kids from the two groups did not differ significantly. The study did not focus on whether the children could learn, rather they focused on how the children were learning. The group that learned using both gesture and speech showed a greater activation in their parietal cortex extending into frontal motor regions. They have concluded that gesture learning leads to a lasting neural trace of motor system involvement (Wakefield et al., 2019, p. 2252). They found that the children who learned how to solve equations using gesture had motor system activation when they were solving equations even when they were not using gesture.
Gesture is helpful when learning math, but it is also a helpful tool in other areas. The news article “How Certain Gestures Help You Learn New Words” looks at a study designed by Mathias et al. that sent weak magnetic pulses to the primary motor cortex of the participants to test whether gesture helps in learning new vocabulary or not (Gelitz, 2021). They found out that participants had difficulty recalling the words when their primary motor cortex was disrupted with magnetic pulses; however, they were able to recall the words better once the interfering signals were cut off. The Gelitz study concluded that the primary motor cortex is involved in gesture learning. This study reveals that primary motor cortex functions in gesture learning and that disruptions to this brain area disrupts the recalling of information acquired using gestures. It does not reveal whether these participants performed better compared to people who use other methods to learn new vocabulary.
In patients with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI), episodic memory, encoding for verbal information, is often impaired while procedural memory, which involves automatic skills that reflect a ‘know how’ ability, is preserved for the most part (Sgard, 2021). In “Gesturing helps memory encoding in aMCI”, Sgard et al. looks at whether or not gestures can improve verbal episodic memory in patients exhibiting an aMCI cognitive profile. The participants, consisting of both patients with aMCI and healthy elders, learned a number of words using either a verbal encoding or bimodal (verbal and motor imitation) procedure. The results revealed that participants learning with gestures that accompany the words were better able to recall the words in both groups. This study is important as it focuses on using gestures to make up for a damaged verbal memory. The study suggests that gesture learning can be used to decrease the effects of impairment in episodic memory.
The studies mentioned above have shown that gesture learning helps better acquiring knowledge. This knowledge can be of any type, but the studies mentioned have mostly used simple information like new vocabulary or solving an equation. The studies clearly reveal that gesture is an effective learning tool and should be utilized in learning environments. Using gesture more often in classrooms and providing schools and other education centers with more resources that will make gesture learning more accessible and effective can be incorporated in our education system. There is still so much to learn about gesture learning, and as gesture learning becomes more common, we can uncover many other aspects of it and how we can use it to enhance learning abilities.
References
Gelitz, C. (2021, November 12). How Certain Gestures Help You Learn New Words. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-certain-gestures-help-you-learn-new-words/
Wakefield, E. M., Congdon, E. L., Novack, M. A., Goldin-Meadow, S., & James, K. H. (2019). Learning math by hand: The neural effects of gesture-based instruction in 8-year-old children. Attention, perception & psychophysics, 81(7), 2343–2353. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-019-01755-y
Sgard, C., Bier, J. C., & Peigneux, P. (2021). Gesturing helps memory encoding in aMCI. Journal of neuropsychology, 15(3), 396-409. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnp.12238
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