PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lorna C. Quandt
AU  - Emily Kubicek
TI  - Sensorimotor characteristics of sign translations modulate EEG when deaf signers read English
AID  - 10.1101/337170
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 337170
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/07/19/337170.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/07/19/337170.full
AB  - Bilingual individuals automatically translate written words from one language to another. While this process is established in spoken-language bilinguals, there is less known about its occurrence in deaf bilinguals who know signed and spoken languages. Since sign language uses motion and space to convey linguistic content, it is possible that action simulation in the brain’s sensorimotor system plays a role in this process. We recorded EEG from deaf participants fluent in ASL as they read individual English words and found significant differences in alpha and beta EEG at central electrode sites during the reading of English words whose ASL translations use two hands, compared to English words whose ASL translations use one hand. Hearing non-signers did not show any differences between conditions. These results demonstrate the involvement of the sensorimotor system in cross-linguistic, cross-modal translation, and suggest that action simulation processes may be key to deaf signers’ language concepts.