ArticleFrontiers in psychology2017
Make Gestures to Learn: Reproducing Gestures Improves the Learning of Anatomical Knowledge More than Just Seeing Gestures.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effect of embodied learning on students' learning performance: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of binocular disparity on learning anatomy with stereoscopic augmented reality visualization: A double center randomized controlled trial.Anatomical sciences education · 2023Trial
- Teaching Approaches to Learn Theoretical Contents in Physical Education: A Study about Contour Lines.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Brain-to-Brain Coupling Is Associated With the Benefits of Delayed Imitation in Skill Acquisition: An fNIRS Study.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Drawing or gesturing? Prior knowledge moderates the impact of embodied pedagogies.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2026Article
- Optimizing Skull Base Anatomy Education: Qualitative Insights From Learner Interaction With 2D, Monoscopic 3D, and Virtual Reality Models.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2026Article
- Action Predictions Facilitate Embodied Geometric Reasoning.Cognitive science · 2025Article
- Drawing promotes memory retention in a patient with sleep-related anterograde amnesia.Memory & cognition · 2025Article
- Enhancing Clinical Medical Education Through Hand Gesture Analogy Teaching: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2024Review
- Gestures as Scaffolding to Learn Vocabulary in a Foreign Language.Brain sciences · 2023Review
- The Roles of Gestural and Symbolic Schematizations in Inhibition as a Component of Executive Functions.Integrative psychological & behavioral science · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Manual gestures can facilitate problem solving but also language or conceptual learning. Both seeing and making the gestures during learning seem to be beneficial. However, the stronger activation of the motor system in the second case should provide supplementary cues to consolidate and re-enact the mental traces created during learning. We tested this hypothesis in the context of anatomy learning by naïve adult participants. Anatomy is a challenging topic to learn and is of specific interest for research on embodied learning, as the learning content can be directly linked to learners' body. Two groups of participants were asked to look at a video lecture on the forearm anatomy. The video included a model making gestures related to the content of the lecture. Both groups see the gestures but only one also imitate the model. Tests of knowledge were run just after learning and few days later. The results revealed that imitating gestures improves the recall of structures names and their localization on a diagram. This effect was however significant only in long-term assessments. This suggests that: (1) the integration of motor actions and knowledge may require sleep; (2) a specific activation of the motor system during learning may improve the consolidation and/or the retrieval of memories.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.