Tohoku University Cognitive Neuroscience Application Center

The impact of gestures on second language (L2) comprehension and memory is not uniform, but rather varies across individuals. At the 89th Annual Convention of the Japanese Psychological Associaition this year, Jiaxin Yan , student of Graduate School of International Cultural Studies presented a poster titled “Individual Differences in Gesture-Enhanced Second Language Memory: The Neural Role of Problem-Solving.” Specifically, we found that participants with higher problem-solving skills benefited more from gestures during L2 listening, compared to non-gesture conditions. At the neural level, this effect was associated with activation in the cerebellum (Lobule VI), a region implicated in higher-order cognitive, timing-related processes and subconscious multisensory-motor integration.

During the poster session, She had the opportunity to engage with researchers from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds. Since her study focuses on cross-cultural communication, receiving feedback from scholars with different perspectives was incredibly valuable. In particular, She had a memorable conversation with a scholar from Belgium, where we discussed frame-switching and the priming of personality traits. We considered how people might use nonverbal cues differently depending on the linguistic and cultural context. She also had an insightful exchange with a brain researcher regarding the cerebellum's role in gesture processing. He pointed out that prior studies have linked beat gestures to regional volume in cerebellar areas involved in discrete motor timing, suggesting that such gestures may reflect the cerebellum’s broader function in coordinating the timing of vocalizations. This perspective provided another angle for her to reflect on and interpret her own finding regarding the involvement of Lobule VI of the cerebellum when gestures were present during communication.

Beyond the poster session, the three days of the conference felt like three weeks in terms of how much She learned. She attended a wide variety of fascinating lectures and workshops, many with titles and themes that were thought-provoking and immediately sparked curiosity. These sessions covered topics as diverse as aesthetics, sociology, and education, showing how even small phenomena from daily life can evolve into meaningful academic inquiries. She was especially inspired by how researchers design clever experiments and surveys to collect data, uncover patterns, and explore theoretical mechanisms.(Jeong)

Jiaxin Yan, Victoria-anne Flood, Motoaki Sugiura,  Hyeonjeong Jeong
Individual Differences in Gesture-Enhanced Second Language Memory: The Neural Role of Problem-Solving
The 89th Annual Convention of the Japanese Psychological Association, Tohoku Gakuin University, Sendai: Japan【Poster】
https://pub.confit.atlas.jp/en/event/jpa2025

Finally, I was deeply moved by the words inscribed on a statue near the entrance of Tohoku Gakuin University, which hosted the event: "Life, Light, Love." These words beautifully captured the spirit of the conference. I hope that through our research, we too can bring life, energy, and meaning into the world.(Jiaxin)