Ronnie B. Wilbur

Sean C. Borneman, Julia Krebs, Ronnie B. Wilbur et al.

Human language processing relies on the brain's capacity for predictive inference. We present a machine learning framework for decoding neural (EEG) responses to dynamic visual language stimuli in Deaf signers. Using coherence between neural signals and optical flow-derived motion features, we construct spatiotemporal representations of predictive neural dynamics. Through entropy-based feature selection, we identify frequency-specific neural signatures that differentiate interpretable linguistic input from linguistically disrupted (time-reversed) stimuli. Our results reveal distributed left-hemispheric and frontal low-frequency coherence as key features in language comprehension, with experience-dependent neural signatures correlating with age. This work demonstrates a novel multimodal approach for probing experience-driven generative models of perception in the brain.

Julia Krebs, Evie Malaia, Ronnie B. Wilbur et al.

Across a number of sign languages, temporal and spatial characteristics of dominant hand articulation are used to express semantic and grammatical features. In this study of Austrian Sign Language (Österreichische Gebärdensprache, or ÖGS), motion capture data of four Deaf signers is used to quantitatively characterize the kinematic parameters of sign production in verbs and adjectives. We investigate (1) the difference in production between verbs involving a natural endpoint (telic verbs; e.g. arrive) and verbs lacking an endpoint (atelic verbs; e.g. analyze), and (2) adjective signs in intensified vs. non-intensified (plain) forms. Motion capture data analysis using linear-mixed effects models (LME) indicates that both the endpoint marking in verbs, as well as marking of intensification in adjectives, are expressed by movement modulation in ÖGS. While the semantic distinction between verb types (telic/atelic) is marked by higher peak velocity and shorter duration for telic signs compared to atelic ones, the grammatical distinction (intensification) in adjectives is expressed by longer duration for intensified compared to non-intensified adjectives. The observed individual differences of signers might be interpreted as personal signing style.