Date of Award

Spring 2026

Abstract

This coordinate-based meta-analysis aimed to identify brain areas that are uniquely active in sign language production during single word/sign production tasks using Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE). Evidence from a pooled ALE of all studies revealed a shared network between sign and spoken language for language, specifically lexical, syntactic, and semantic selection and retrieval, motor planning and execution, sensorimotor integration, phonological working memory, and visual and multimodal processing. The ALE subtraction (sign language > spoken language) did not reveal any significant clusters above the corrected threshold. However, visual inspection of an uncorrected map revealed that regions responsible for language, spatial attention and multimodal sensory integration, and motor planning and execution were activated to a greater extent in the sign language group compared to the spoken language group. The greater engagement of these regions may reflect the unique spatial grammar of sign language, in which language is represented across a three-dimensional space, requiring ongoing integration of visual and proprioceptive feedback of the larger articulators. A shared network suggests that signers and speaker may have similar deficits if they share lesion location, such as a lesion in the left inferior frontal gyrus and therefore speech therapy treatments designed for spoken language may be useful for individuals using sign language. Additionally, a shared network in regions implicated in specific spoken language models suggests that these models may apply to sign language production.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

First Advisor

Amy E. Ramage

Second Advisor

Jill Thorson

Third Advisor

Laura Gonnerman

Degree Name

Master of Science

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