Watching Gestures during Learning about Movements with Dynamic Visualization Activates the Human Mirror Neuron System: A fNIRS Study
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: This study investigates whether viewing human gestures facilitates learning about non-human biological movements and whether correspondence between gesture and to-belearned movement is superior to non-correspondence.Functional near-infrared-spectroscopy was used to address whether gestures activate the human mirror-neuron-system (hMNS) and whether this activation mediates the facilitation of learning.During learning participants viewed triples of visualizations (animation -gesture video -animation).Results showed that for low-visuospatial-ability learners corresponding gestures led to higher cortical activation in the inferior-frontal cortex (part of the hMNS) and better learning outcomes, whereas for high-visuospatial-ability learners the type of gesture had no influence.Furthermore, results showed that -if presented with non-corresponding gestures -only low-visuospatial-ability learners who activated their inferiorparietal cortex (also part of the hMNS), improve their learning.Thus, activating the hMNS facilitates learning about movements and stimulating the hMNS via gestures seems to be an adequate instructional strategy to enhance learning with dynamic visualizations for low-visuospatial-ability learners.
Institution: University of Tübingen
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2400006277