Research line: Communication and linguistic skills
Communication fills individuals’ life, representing a form of dynamic exchange that allows the sharing of thoughts, attitudes, and information characterized by a specific meaning. How do neurosciences study communicative processes? In particular, neurosciences investigate the neural correlates of different types of communication (verbal, non-verbal and gestural) observing the pragmatic components of linguistic processes analysis, coding and decoding and cognitive factors underlying communicative processes. Individually, neuropragmatic is considered as the theoretical and empirical study of mental events involved in human communication within different contexts. What are, therefore, the types of communication that allow us to transmit information? Specifically, verbal communication allows to express contents characterized by a specific meaning through words; while, non-verbal communication, on the contrary, consists in the transmission of contents that involve the use of signals expressed through body movements. In this type of communication, gestures play the main role. Indeed, on an analytical level, gestures and its representation are considered part of action dynamics. Furthermore, gestures planning and execution are parallel to linguistic functions, as shown by some brain lesions that compromise verbal communication.
Keywords: Communicative Processes; Verbal, Non-Verbal and Gestural Communication; Neuropragmatics; Linguistic functions