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Using wearable MEG to study British Sign Language processing
Poster Session F, Friday, October 2, 2:45 - 4:45 pm, Wangari Maathai
This poster is part of the Sandbox Series.
Meaghan Spedden1, Patrick Rosenburg1, Samuel Evans1, Brennan Terhune-Cotter1, Eva Gutierrez2, Joachim Gross3, Gareth Barnes1, Mairéad MacSweeney1; 1University College London, 2University of Essex, 3University of Muenster
Neuroimaging studies using fMRI and PET consistently show that sign language engages the canonical fronto-temporal language regions (Emmorey et al., 2021, MacSweeney et al., 2008). However, how neural activity unfolds spatio-temporally across comprehension, planning, and production remains poorly understood for signed language due to movement artifacts in traditional neuroimaging techniques. OP-MEG (optically-pumped magnetoencephalography) is a wearable, motion-robust imaging system that has recently been developed (Boto et al., 2018). It allows comprehension, planning, and production to be studied within the same paradigm and is adaptable for use with children. This technique therefore allows new insights into the development of the language network, both sign and speech, in deaf signing children. Here, we present the design of an OP-MEG study to characterise these dynamics in deaf British Sign Language (BSL) signers and hearing English speakers, with the aim of identifying shared and modality-specific neural signatures of lexical processing. This paradigm is designed first for use with deaf adults, with future extension to deaf children in mind, to investigate how sign language exposure shapes the developing language network. OP-MEG data will be collected from 20 profoundly deaf adults who were early signers (exposed to BSL before age 5 years, no cochlear implants) and 20 hearing non-signing adults (English L1). Groups will be matched on age (18–60 years) and education level. The task employs a 2×2 factorial design crossing Group (deaf, hearing) with Lexicality (real word/ sign, pseudo word/ sign). In the real lexical item condition, participants will view a single BSL sign (deaf) or single spoken word (audiovisual; hearing) and are required to produce a semantically related response (e.g., CAT – DOG). In the pseudo condition, they will observe and copy a pseudosign or pseudoword without semantic content. A coloured background, presented before and persisting throughout each trial, will signal to the participant which condition they are seeing. The aim of this is to remove the need for an explicit lexical decision and to reduce cognitive load. Brain imaging data will be acquired using a 64-sensor triaxial (192 channel) OP-MEG system (QuSpin Neuro-1) in a magnetically shielded room. This design allows us to isolate Group × Lexicality interaction effects, reflecting processes that differ between signers and speakers during lexical processing. We predict this interaction will manifest in the following regions: Comprehension: parietal regions, reflecting the spatial nature of sign phonological decoding. Planning: parietal and sensorimotor regions, reflecting the spatial and simultaneous nature of sign phonological encoding and effector-specific motor preparation. Production: sensorimotor regions reflecting effector-specific sensorimotor integration, with parietal involvement reflecting the spatial nature of sign articulatory targets. We acknowledge that language modality and sensory experience are necessarily confounded in this design, and disentangling their contributions will require future studies including hearing signers. Pilot OP-MEG recordings have been acquired, providing initial confirmation of data quality and task feasibility. Data collection is beginning in June 2026.
Topic Areas: Signed Language and Gesture, Multisensory or Sensorimotor Integration