Returning to the audiovisual recordings of conversational speech and gesture used in Hubbard et al. (2009)*, Karen Emmorey and myself are currently developing an fMRI paradigm to investigate the manner and degree to which learning a signed language impacts neural processing of co-speech gesture.  The main planned comparison is that of neural responses to co-speech gesture for two subject groups: CODAs (children of deaf adults) and non-signers.  In this fMRI study, we are also embedding a furtive attempt to compare neural responses to different kinds of co-speech gesture (e.g., rhythmic gesture, iconic gesture, etc.). 

Although gesture categorization in the iconic-metaphoric-beat-deictic framework (cf. McNeill 1992) is a powerful investigative tool, it does not lend itself to comprehensive analysis of everyday co-speech gesture (cf. Goodwin, 2000; McNeill, 2005).  Thus, when using quantitative methods to investigate conversational (i.e., un-cued, unscripted) co-speech gesture, categorization presents a unique challenge.  Preliminary data from a novel approach (designed by Dr. Emmorey and myself) for categorizing everyday co-speech gesture will be presented as well as the process of transforming these data into an fMRI paradigm.