Talking with our hands: Duke study reveals how culture shapes our gestures

Duke University

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You are having dinner with friends, and the conversation is lively. Do your hands join the chat, or do they stay focused on your knife and fork? 

New research from Duke’s Department of Psychology & Neuroscience shows that gesture is not merely a matter of individual style or habit, but a reflection of cultural expression tied to racial identity.  

The research also suggests that mismatched expectations about gesture may influence the dynamics of interracial communication.   

“The biggest takeaway is we all clearly communicate in very different ways,” said Gaither, Nicholas J. and Theresa M. Leonardy Associate Professor Psychology & Neuroscience and co-author of the paper. “Some of us may talk differently than others. Some of us may use our hands more than others. It doesn’t mean we can’t communicate. When we experience that mismatch in communication, maybe we all need to try a little harder to understand each other across group differences.”  

In a paper published in the November issue of The Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Gaither and lead author Postdoctoral Associate Esha Naidu examined how frequently Black and White Americans use gestures when speaking and how others interpret this non-verbal communication.   

Their findings show consistent patterns suggesting that what feels natural when speaking can differ across racial groups, and that those differences can shape how people perceive one another.  

The paper compiles the results of four studies. In the first one, Naidu and Gaither focused on gesture perception: Black and White study participants observed video clips of Black and White actors who either did or didn’t use frequent gestures while speaking. Consistent with cultural norms, Black viewers found high gesturing to seem more natural — especially for Black speakers — whereas White viewers found lower levels of gesturing to feel more typical of White speakers. Speakers who matched these cultural expectations were also rated as more “positive” and “competent”.   

To understand if speakers adjusted their gesture style depending on the identity of their dialogue partner, the research team analyzed footage from the "Tavis Smiley Show" (a popular television talk show featuring in-depth interviews) to observe gesture use in a natural conversational setting. Their results mirrored their previous findings, showing that the Black host used more hand movements with Black guests than with White guests, suggesting culturally synchronized communication styles. 

Naidu and Gaither then focused on the gesturing itself, comparing gesture frequency and size among monoracial Black and White individuals in a laboratory setting. Once again, Black speakers were shown to both gesture more frequently and use larger gestures than White speakers. 

Finally, the research team extended this work to Biracial (Black/White) individuals. When participants’ Black identity was made more salient, they gestured more frequently and with broader movements. When their White identity was primed, their gestures became more restrained. This suggests that gesture use can shift flexibly with cultural identity, even within the same individual.  

Collectively, these studies highlight that gesture is not only a personal characteristic but also a culturally grounded mode of expression, deeply linked to identity and group norms. The research also underscores how mismatched expectations about nonverbal behavior may affect perceptions and interactions across racial groups.  

“Black and white people gesture and talk differently, and that’s okay,” Naidu said. “But it can make it harder to connect across group lines. If we take a moment to consider why someone may be communicating differently, that increased awareness could lead to better understanding.”  

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Journal

Journal of Experimental Psychology

DOI

10.1037/xge0001862 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Talk to the hand: Black and White cultural differences in gesture use

Article Publication Date

9-Nov-2025

 

How do people learn new movement patterns and alternate between them?

Switching between motor skills is difficult because people tend to stick to the movements they performed before alternating to a different movement pattern

Society for Neuroscience

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In a new JNeurosci paper, Kahori Kita and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University explored how people switch between intuitive motor skills they know and newly learned movement patterns. 

Study volunteers frequently made errors switching between more innate movements and new ones. These errors were largely because people persistently stuck to the movement patterns they used before the switch. Notes Kita, “People made similar errors when switching from the intuitive to the new skill, as when switching from the new skill to the intuitive one.” A second group of people learned two new movement-based skills. It was initially even more difficult for these participants to switch between newly learned movements, but they improved at switching between skills with more training over a couple of days. 

These findings suggest that switching between movement patterns is difficult, especially for newly learned motor skills. However, practice improves the ability to switch between movements. The researchers hope to continue exploring how newly learned motor skills are remembered and how these memories are retrieved to adeptly perform these movements later. 

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Please contact media@sfn.org for full-text PDF. 

About JNeurosci 

JNeurosci was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship. 

About The Society for Neuroscience 

The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 35,000 members in more than 95 countries. 

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Journal

JNeurosci

DOI

10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1311-24.2025 

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Switching Between Newly Learned Motor Skills

Article Publication Date

10-Nov-2025

Phages with fully-synthetic DNA can be edited gene by gene

University of Pittsburgh

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A team led by University of Pittsburgh’s Graham Hatfull has developed a method to construct bacteriophages with entirely synthetic genetic material, allowing researchers to add and subtract genes at will. The findings open the field to new pathways for understanding how these bacteria-killing viruses work, and for potential therapy of bacterial infections.

As phages’ secrets are revealed, researchers will be able to engineer them with genomes tailor-made to attack specific bacteria, leading to new ways to combat the worsening problem of antibacterial resistance. 

Contact Professor Graham Hatfull: gfh@pitt.edu

“This will speed up discovery,” Hatfull said. There is massive variation among phages, but researchers don’t know the roles played by many individual genes. “How are the genes regulated? If a phage has 100 genes, does it need all 10? What happens if we remove this one or that one? We don’t have the answers to those questions,” he said, “but now we can ask–and answer–almost any question we have about phages.”

For this research, the team reconstructed two naturally occurring phages that attack mycobacterium (which include the pathogens responsible for tuberculosis and leprosy, among others) using synthetic material. They then added and removed genes, successfully editing the synthetic genomes of both.  

“And now, the sky's the limit,” Hatfull said. “You can make any genome you want. You're only limited by what you can imagine would be useful and interesting to make.”

Graham collaborated with Ansa Biotech and New England Biolabs, combining their unique techniques for synthesizing and assembling DNA with his expertise in phages and mycobacterium. The results of their work will be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2523871122 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

Genome synthesis, assembly, and rebooting of therapeutically useful high G+C% mycobacteriophages

Article Publication Date

14-Nov-2025

Understanding how bacteria use “sunscreen” to adapt to climate

Using single particle spectroscopy, researchers from the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering revealed insights into how different types of photosynthetic bacteria can use a shared mechanism to protect themselves from too much sunlight

University of Chicago

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image: 

Researchers from the Squires Lab at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, including Asst. Prof. Allison Squires (left) and first author Ayesha Ejaz, PhD'25, have revealed new insights into the mechanisms that cyanobacteria and different types of photosynthetic bacteria use to protect themselves.

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Credit: UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering / John Zich

Cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae, are found almost everywhere in the world—from hot springs to arctic ice to antioxidant smoothies.

Part of their extreme adaptability lies within a unique light-harvesting structure called the phycobilisome. These modular antennae both collect energy from sunlight, and adapt to changing light levels in order to provide a sort of sunscreen for the bacteria. 

One important way that phycobilisomes adapt involves an accessory protein to both sense and protect against too much light. But it’s not clear just how this tiny protein works. 

Understanding photoprotection in phycobilisomes could inspire new biomimetic strategies for engineering plants to improve food security, or even in creating new kinds of adaptable energy technologies.

So when their collaborators in the Kerfeld Lab at Michigan State University reported a surprisingly specific molecular structure for phycobilisomes protected by this protein, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) Asst. Prof. Allison Squires was intrigued.

“There are tons of places where it could bind that look just like the site that our collaborators identified, and phycobilisomes have many different architectures,” she said. “So why did it bind at this one site and not other sites? And what happens in other architectures where this specific site is blocked?”

Combining high-precision spectroscopy experiments with computational modeling, Squires and her team found that in fact, this protein binds to distinct but specific sites in different phycobilisome architectures, yet still seems to work the same way, providing the same level of protection.

“It’s a really lovely example of an adaptable molecular mechanism, where the protein can easily evolve to do its job under conditions that require different phycobilisome structures,” Squires said. “Maybe it started out at one binding site, but then as the architecture changed, it could still do its job at a new site.”

The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

Single photon spectroscopy to understand protein binding

The protein, called orange carotenoid protein, helps harvest light by “quenching” sunlight when necessary. If it’s too sunny for too long, for example, the protein binds to the phycobilisome and dissipates absorbed energy.

“Too much energy can damage the photosynthetic machinery, so having this protein provides a quick way to protect the cyanobacteria from a sudden change in light,” Squires said.

To better understand how the protein bound to the antenna structure, Squires’s team—including recent UChicago PhD graduate Ayesha Ejaz, who was the first author on the research—used single particle spectroscopy. This technology allows them to monitor energy transfer at the nanoscale. The team uses a special setup called an Anti-Brownian ELectrokinetic (ABEL) trap, which suspends their specimen in a solution and uses electrodes within a microfluidic cell to keep it in the center. That keeps the protein in place long enough to get a good signal.

They studied how the protein bound to two different kinds of phycobilisomes—one that has a three-barrel structure, and one with a five-barrel structure—and found that the protein did indeed bind at different sites, though still provided the same quenching effect.

They also ran computer simulations that simulated a photon getting absorbed by the bacteria until it performs photosynthesis or runs into the protein. 

Together, the results showed that the system “balances modularity with site specificity,” Squires said. “That’s pretty common in nature, but it really shows off the exquisite evolvability of this system.”

Next, the team hopes to delve further into the phycobilisome system to better understand how it regulates energy capture and flow. Beyond the protein, the phycobilisome seems to contain other intrinsic “switches” and “fuses” that protect against changing light conditions by breaking at the right time and location to control energy transfer. Squires and her team want to know how these other mechanisms work, and how their function complements their recent findings regarding the role of the orange carotenoid protein.

"It was very gratifying to see how the precise data obtained from the ABEL trap can be used to gain structural insights into this quenching mechanism,” Ejaz said. “I am excited to see what new patterns will emerge once we combine these results with future experiments comparing intrinsic photoprotective mechanisms among phycobilisomes with different structures."

Collaborators on the paper include Markus Sutter, Sigal Lechno-Yossef, and Cheryl A. Kerfeld (Michigan State University and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory).

Citation: “Phycobilisome core architecture influences photoprotective quenching by the Orange Carotenoid Protein.” Ejaz et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Oct. 7, 2025. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2420355122

Funding: U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation

The UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering research team used single particle spectroscopy - a technology that allows them to monitor energy transfer at the nanoscale. 

Credit

UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering / John Zich

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2420355122 

Article Title

Phycobilisome core architecture influences photoprotective quenching by the Orange Carotenoid Protein