Body representation (BR) refers to the mental representation of motor, sensory, emotional and semantic information about the physical body. This cognitive representation is used in our everyday life, continuously, even though most of the time we do not appreciate it consciously. In some cases, BR is vital to be able to communicate. A crucial feature of signed languages (SLs), for instance, is that body parts such as hands are used to communicate. Nevertheless, little is known about BR in SL: is the communicative function of the body overwriting the physical constraints? Here, we explored this question by comparing twelve British Sign Language (BSL) learners to seventeen tango dancers (body expertise but not for communication) and fourteen control subjects (no special body expertise). We administered the Body Esteem Scale (BES), the Hand Laterality Task (HLT) and the Mental Motor Chronometry (MMC). To control for visual imagery, we administered ad hoc control tasks. We did not identify parameters able to differentiate between SL users and the other groups, whereas the more implicit parameters distinguished clearly tango dancers from controls. Importantly, neither tasks on visual imagery nor the BES revealed differences. Our findings offer initial evidence that linguistic use of the body not necessarily influences the cognitive components we explored of body representation.

身体表征（BR）是指有关身体的运动，感觉，情感和语义信息的心理表征。即使大多数时候我们不自觉地欣赏它，这种认知表现仍在我们的日常生活中不断使用。在某些情况下，无线电通信对于能够进行通信至关重要。例如，手语（SL）的一项重要功能就是使用身体部位（例如手）进行交流。然而，对于SL中的BR知之甚少：身体的交流功能是否覆盖了身体的限制？在这里，我们通过比较十二名英国手语（BSL）学习者与十七名探戈舞者（身体专长，但不用于交流）和十四名控制对象（无特殊身体专长）来探讨这个问题。我们执行了身体自尊量表（BES），手侧向任务（HLT）和心理运动计时（MMC）。为了控制视觉图像，我们执行了临时控制任务。我们没有确定能够区分SL用户和其他组的参数，而更隐含的参数则清楚地将探戈舞者与控件区分开。重要的是，视觉图像任务和BES都没有发现差异。我们的发现提供了初步的证据，即身体的语言使用不一定会影响我们探讨的关于身体表征的认知成分。重要的是，视觉图像任务和BES都没有发现差异。我们的发现提供了初步的证据，即身体的语言使用不一定会影响我们探讨的关于身体表征的认知成分。重要的是，视觉图像任务和BES都没有发现差异。我们的发现提供了初步的证据，即身体的语言使用不一定会影响我们探讨的关于身体表征的认知成分。