Introduction

The right hemispheric specialisation for mental rotation suggests a left hand preference for nonverbal gestures that depict spatial information. We therefore hypothesized that nonverbal depictions of spatial information are preferentially demonstrated by the left hand, i.e., are grounded in right hemispheric functions.

Methods

Right-handed participants were asked in two experiments to nonverbally demonstrate how to move tachistoscopically presented (in the left or right visual hemifields) geometric objects of different rotations into an identical final position. Two independent blind raters evaluated the videotaped hand gestures employing the Neuropsychological Gesture (NEUROGES) Coding System.

Results

Pantomime gestures increase in order to rotate gravitationally unstable objects whereas spatial relation presentation gestures increase when to nonverbally demonstrate a gravitationally stable object. Individuals preferred the right hand for pantomime gestures but the left hand for spatial relation presentation gestures.

Discussion

Individuals increase their pantomime gestures to nonverbally depict motion particularly with the right hand, i.e. the left hemisphere. In contrast, increased left hand spatial relation presentations gestures indicate that those gestures are of right hemispheric origin. Thus, the hemispherical lateralization of nonverbal gestures seems to depend on the hands’ functional depiction.

中文翻译：

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半球形专门化，用于描述运动和空间的非语言手势

介绍

右半球的心理旋转专长表明左手偏爱描述空间信息的非语言手势。因此，我们假设空间信息的非语言描述优先由左手演示，即以右半球功能为基础。

方法

在两个实验中，要求惯用右手的参与者非言语地演示如何将用旋转镜显示的（在左侧或右侧视觉半场中）不同旋转的几何对象移动到相同的最终位置。两名独立的盲目评分者使用神经心理学手势（NEUROGES）编码系统评估了录像的手势。

结果

手势手势增加以旋转重力不稳定的对象，而空间关系呈现手势则以非语言方式显示重力稳定的对象时增加。个人更喜欢用右手作手势手势，而用左手作空间关系呈现手势。

讨论

个人增加手势姿势以非言语方式描绘运动，尤其是右手（即左半球）。相反，增加的左手空间关系表示手势表示这些手势是右半球起源。因此，非语言手势的半球偏侧化似乎取决于手的功能描述。