  Despite a rise in the use of "learning by doing" pedagogical methods in
praxis, little is known as to how these methods improve learning outcomes. Here
we show that visual association cortex causally contributes to performance
benefits of a learning by doing method. This finding derives from transcranial
magnetic stimulation (TMS) and a gesture-enriched foreign language (L2)
vocabulary learning paradigm performed by 22 young adults. Inhibitory TMS of
visual motion cortex reduced learning outcomes for abstract and concrete
gesture-enriched words in comparison to sham stimulation. There were no TMS
effects on words learned with pictures. These results adjudicate between
opposing predictions of two neuroscientific learning theories: While
reactivation-based theories predict no functional role of visual motion cortex
in vocabulary learning outcomes, the current study supports the predictive
coding theory view that specialized sensory cortices precipitate
sensorimotor-based learning benefits.
