Spontaneous gestures following right hemisphere infarct

Lee Xenakis Blonder, Allan F. Burns, Dawn Bowers, Robert W. Moore, Kenneth M. Heilman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

Neurobehavioral studies of gesturing have been largely limited to left hemisphere damaged (LHD) patients. We compared spontaneous gesturing in seven right hemisphere damaged (RHD) patients, seven LHD patients, and seven normal controls (NHD) during videotaped interviews. Two judges coded symbolic, expressive, grooming, and fidgeting gestures in 120 10-sec intervals of videotape per patient. We found that RHD patients made significantly more total gestures and grooming gestures with the hand ipsilateral to their lesion than did LHD patients. Furthermore, RHD patients made more total and grooming gestures with their right hand than NHD subjects did with either hand. There were no differences in gesture production between the right and left hands of NHD patients. These results suggest that RHD produces enhanced gesturing, particularly involving grooming behavior.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)203-213
Number of pages11
JournalNeuropsychologia
Volume33
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1995

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledoements--Supported in part by Grant MH40214 from the National Institutes of Mental Health, the Medical Research Service of the Veterans Administration, and the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, Division of Aging and Adult Services of the State of Florida; as well as a Small Research Project Grant from the Medical Center Research Fund at the University of Kentucky and an NINDS FIRST Award R29NS29082 to Dr Blonder.

Keywords

  • cerebral infarction
  • gestures
  • grooming
  • lateralization
  • nonverbal behavior

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

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