A Cognitive Neuroscience View on Pointing: What is Special About Pointing with the Eyes and Hands?

When interacting with others, we often use bodily signals to communicate. Among these signals, pointing, whether with the eyes or the hands, allows coordinating our attention with others, and the perception of pointing gestures implicates a range of social cognitive processes. Here, we review the b...

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Main Authors: José Luis Ulloa, Nathalie George
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associazione Culturale Humana.Mente 2018-06-01
Series:Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/156
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spelling doaj-c158cb04c9f340b39a73600fadbdcaea2020-11-25T01:49:11ZengAssociazione Culturale Humana.MenteHumana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies1972-12932018-06-01624A Cognitive Neuroscience View on Pointing: What is Special About Pointing with the Eyes and Hands?José Luis Ulloa0Nathalie George1CNRS, Paris, FranceInserm, Paris, France When interacting with others, we often use bodily signals to communicate. Among these signals, pointing, whether with the eyes or the hands, allows coordinating our attention with others, and the perception of pointing gestures implicates a range of social cognitive processes. Here, we review the brain mechanisms underpinning the perception and understanding of pointing, focusing on eye gaze perception and associated joint attention processes. We consider pointing gesture perception, but leave aside pointing gesture execution as it relates to a distinct area of cognitive neuroscience research. We describe the attention orienting effects of pointing and the neural substrates for the perception of biological cues. We consider the multiple high-level social cognitive processes elicited by pointing gesture perception and examine how pointing gestures are related to the general taxonomy of gestures. We conclude by emphasizing that pointing is a social phenomenon and that a full account of pointing will require an integrative approach taking into account the distinct perspectives from which this phenomenon can be investigated. http://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/156GazePointingNeuroimaging
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author José Luis Ulloa
Nathalie George
spellingShingle José Luis Ulloa
Nathalie George
A Cognitive Neuroscience View on Pointing: What is Special About Pointing with the Eyes and Hands?
Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies
Gaze
Pointing
Neuroimaging
author_facet José Luis Ulloa
Nathalie George
author_sort José Luis Ulloa
title A Cognitive Neuroscience View on Pointing: What is Special About Pointing with the Eyes and Hands?
title_short A Cognitive Neuroscience View on Pointing: What is Special About Pointing with the Eyes and Hands?
title_full A Cognitive Neuroscience View on Pointing: What is Special About Pointing with the Eyes and Hands?
title_fullStr A Cognitive Neuroscience View on Pointing: What is Special About Pointing with the Eyes and Hands?
title_full_unstemmed A Cognitive Neuroscience View on Pointing: What is Special About Pointing with the Eyes and Hands?
title_sort cognitive neuroscience view on pointing: what is special about pointing with the eyes and hands?
publisher Associazione Culturale Humana.Mente
series Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies
issn 1972-1293
publishDate 2018-06-01
description When interacting with others, we often use bodily signals to communicate. Among these signals, pointing, whether with the eyes or the hands, allows coordinating our attention with others, and the perception of pointing gestures implicates a range of social cognitive processes. Here, we review the brain mechanisms underpinning the perception and understanding of pointing, focusing on eye gaze perception and associated joint attention processes. We consider pointing gesture perception, but leave aside pointing gesture execution as it relates to a distinct area of cognitive neuroscience research. We describe the attention orienting effects of pointing and the neural substrates for the perception of biological cues. We consider the multiple high-level social cognitive processes elicited by pointing gesture perception and examine how pointing gestures are related to the general taxonomy of gestures. We conclude by emphasizing that pointing is a social phenomenon and that a full account of pointing will require an integrative approach taking into account the distinct perspectives from which this phenomenon can be investigated.
topic Gaze
Pointing
Neuroimaging
url http://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/156
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