# LANGUAGE MODALITY AND THE BRAIN

> **NIH NIH R37** · SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES · 1994 · $251,903

## Abstract

The general objective of our research is to study the biological
foundations of human language.  We aim to investigate language
and its formal architecture, as well as its representation in the
brain, by studying languages which have arisen outside of the
mainstream of spoken languages, the visual-gestural language of
deaf people.  For the form of its grammatical devices, the
modality in which a language develops makes a crucial difference.
The use of space in the service of syntax is the most highly
modality-determined aspect of American Sign Language.  One of the
central issues in the renewal grant is the consequences of the
spatial realization of syntactic function on mental
representations for language, and on the nature of language
representation in the brain.  We proceed along three major lines
of inquiry:

I.  On-line Processing of ASL Spatial Syntax.  The area where ASL
is most clearly conditioned by the visual modality is in the
spatialized mechanisms for conveying syntax and discourse.  ASL
thus provides a critical vehicle by which to investigate language
processing.  Two uses of space within sign language, for
spatially organized syntax and for topological representations of
space itself, have very different implications for processing.
We use on-line techniques to provide a rigorous assessment of
moment to moment construction of these different linguistic
representations as sentences are parsed.

II.  The Interplay between Spatial Language and Spatial
Cognition.  We investigate modality effects from the converging
perspectives of universals of visuospatial languages and their
spatial cognitive underpinnings.  We examine formal devices for
spatially organized syntax and spatial mapping across ASL and
Chinese Sign Language.  In sign language processing, spatial
perception, memory, and spatial transformations are complex
prerequisites to grammatical processing.  We propose an intensive
investigation of the interplay between spatial language and its
spatial cognitive underpinnings.

III.  Hemispheric Specialization in Deaf Signers.  Language and
spatial representation are attributes for which the two cerebral
hemispheres in hearing people show different predominant
functioning.  We propose experiments that help illuminate the
nature of hemispheric specialization for sign language and for
its cognitive prerequisites.  We propose studies of hemispheric
specialization for spatial cognitive functions in deaf and
hearing signers.  We then investigate specialization for aspects
of sign language structures are unique to a visual-gestural
language, including a differentiation between two uses of space
in the language:  the use of space for syntax and the use of
space for mapping.  These experiments allow us to understand how
linguistic and modality factors determine the specialized
capacities of the two cerebral hemispheres.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2196981
- **Project number:** 4R37HD013249-15
- **Recipient organization:** SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES
- **SAM.gov UEI:** NNJ6BMBTFGN5
- **Principal Investigator:** URSULA BELLUGI
- **Activity code:** R37 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $251,903
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 1979-07-01 → 1998-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2196981

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2196981, LANGUAGE MODALITY AND THE BRAIN (4R37HD013249-15). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2196981. Licensed CC0.

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