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Bonnì S, Borghi I, Maiella M, Casula EP, Koch G, Caltagirone C, Gainotti G. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Effects on the Neural Substrate of Conceptual Representations. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1037. [PMID: 37508969 PMCID: PMC10376965 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13071037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to shed light on the neural substrate of conceptual representations starting from the construct of higher-order convergence zones and trying to evaluate the unitary or non-unitary nature of this construct. We used the 'Thematic and Taxonomic Semantic (TTS) task' to investigate (a) the neural substrate of stimuli belonging to biological and artifact categories, (b) the format of stimuli presentation, i.e., verbal or pictorial, and (c) the relation between stimuli, i.e., categorial or contextual. We administered anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to different brain structures during the execution of the TTS task. Twenty healthy participants were enrolled and divided into two groups, one investigating the role of the anterior temporal lobes (ATL) and the other the temporo-parietal junctions (TPJ). Each participant underwent three sessions of stimulation to facilitate a control condition and to investigate the role of both hemispheres. Results showed that ATL stimulation influenced all conceptual representations in relation to the format of presentation (i.e., left-verbal and right-pictorial). Moreover, ATL stimulation modulated living categories and taxonomic relations specifically, whereas TPJ stimulation did not influence semantic task performances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Bonnì
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Ilaria Borghi
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Section of Human Physiology, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Michele Maiella
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Elias Paolo Casula
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Giacomo Koch
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Section of Human Physiology, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Carlo Caltagirone
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Guido Gainotti
- Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Institute of Neurology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy
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Disentangling five dimensions of animacy in human brain and behaviour. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1247. [PMCID: PMC9663603 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04194-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractDistinguishing animate from inanimate things is of great behavioural importance. Despite distinct brain and behavioural responses to animate and inanimate things, it remains unclear which object properties drive these responses. Here, we investigate the importance of five object dimensions related to animacy (“being alive”, “looking like an animal”, “having agency”, “having mobility”, and “being unpredictable”) in brain (fMRI, EEG) and behaviour (property and similarity judgements) of 19 participants. We used a stimulus set of 128 images, optimized by a genetic algorithm to disentangle these five dimensions. The five dimensions explained much variance in the similarity judgments. Each dimension explained significant variance in the brain representations (except, surprisingly, “being alive”), however, to a lesser extent than in behaviour. Different brain regions sensitive to animacy may represent distinct dimensions, either as accessible perceptual stepping stones toward detecting whether something is alive or because they are of behavioural importance in their own right.
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Valencia GN, Khoo S, Wong T, Ta J, Hou B, Barsalou LW, Hazen K, Lin HH, Wang S, Brefczynski-Lewis JA, Frum CA, Lewis JW. Chinese-English bilinguals show linguistic-perceptual links in the brain associating short spoken phrases with corresponding real-world natural action sounds by semantic category. LANGUAGE, COGNITION AND NEUROSCIENCE 2021; 36:773-790. [PMID: 34568509 PMCID: PMC8462789 DOI: 10.1080/23273798.2021.1883073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Higher cognitive functions such as linguistic comprehension must ultimately relate to perceptual systems in the brain, though how and why this forms remains unclear. Different brain networks that mediate perception when hearing real-world natural sounds has recently been proposed to respect a taxonomic model of acoustic-semantic categories. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with Chinese/English bilingual listeners, the present study explored whether reception of short spoken phrases, in both Chinese (Mandarin) and English, describing corresponding sound-producing events would engage overlapping brain regions at a semantic category level. The results revealed a double-dissociation of cortical regions that were preferential for representing knowledge of human versus environmental action events, whether conveyed through natural sounds or the corresponding spoken phrases depicted by either language. These findings of cortical hubs exhibiting linguistic-perceptual knowledge links at a semantic category level should help to advance neurocomputational models of the neurodevelopment of language systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela N. Valencia
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Stephanie Khoo
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Ting Wong
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Joseph Ta
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Bob Hou
- Department of Radiology, Center for Advanced Imaging
| | | | - Kirk Hazen
- Department of English, West Virginia University
| | | | - Shuo Wang
- Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
| | - Julie A. Brefczynski-Lewis
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Chris A. Frum
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - James W. Lewis
- Department of Neuroscience, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
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Macoir J, Chagnon A, Hudon C, Lavoie M, Wilson MA. TDQ-30-A New Color Picture-Naming Test for the Diagnostic of Mild Anomia: Validation and Normative Data in Quebec French Adults and Elderly. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2021; 36:267-280. [PMID: 31792492 DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acz048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Revised: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE A reduction in lexical access is observed in normal aging and a few studies also showed that this ability is affected in individuals with subjective cognitive decline. Lexical access is also affected very early in mild cognitive impairment as well as in major neurocognitive disorders. The detection of word-finding difficulties in the earliest stages of pathological aging is particularly difficult because symptoms are often subtle or mild. Therefore, mild anomia is underdiagnosed, mainly due to the lack of sensitivity of naming tests. In this article, we present the TDQ-30, a new picture-naming test designed to detect mild word-finding deficits in adults and elderly people. METHOD The article comprises three studies aiming at the development of the test (Study 1), the establishment of its validity and reliability (Study 2), and finally, the production of normative data for French-speaking adults and elderly people from Quebec (Study 3). RESULTS The results showed that the TDQ-30 has good convergent validity. Also, the TDQ-30 distinguished the performance of healthy controls from those of participants with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, and post-stroke aphasia. This suggests good discriminant validity. Finally, this study provides normative data computed from a study sample composed of 227 participants aged 50 years and over. CONCLUSIONS The TDQ-30 has the potential to become a valuable picture-naming test for the diagnosis of mild anomia associated with pathological aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joël Macoir
- Département de réadaptation, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, G1V 0A6, Québec (QC), Canada.,Centre de recherche CERVO - Brain Research Centre, G1J 2G3, Québec (QC), Canada
| | - Andréanne Chagnon
- Département de réadaptation, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, G1V 0A6, Québec (QC), Canada
| | - Carol Hudon
- Centre de recherche CERVO - Brain Research Centre, G1J 2G3, Québec (QC), Canada.,École de psychologie, Faculté des sciences sociales, Université Laval, G1V 0A6, Québec (QC), Canada
| | - Monica Lavoie
- Département de réadaptation, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, G1V 0A6, Québec (QC), Canada.,Centre de recherche CERVO - Brain Research Centre, G1J 2G3, Québec (QC), Canada
| | - Maximiliano A Wilson
- Département de réadaptation, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, G1V 0A6, Québec (QC), Canada.,Centre de recherche CERVO - Brain Research Centre, G1J 2G3, Québec (QC), Canada
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Gainotti G. Representional and connectivity-based accounts of the cognitive consequences of atrophy of the right and left anterior temporal lobes. Cogn Neuropsychol 2020; 37:466-481. [PMID: 32174279 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2020.1739011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
According to the original "hub-and-spoke" model of conceptual representations, the neural network for semantic memory requires a single convergence zone located in the anterior temporal lobes (ATLs). However, a more recent version of this model acknowledges that a graded specialization of the left and right ATLs might emerge as a consequence of their differential connectivity with language and sensory-motor regions. A recent influential paper maintained that both the format of semantic representations (representational account) and their differential connectivity (connectivity account) could contribute to the cognitive consequences of atrophy to the left versus the right ATL atrophy. That paper, however, also raised questions as to whether the distinction between representational and connectivity accounts is a meaningful question. I argue that an important theoretical difference exists between the representational and the connectivity-based models and that investigations, based on this difference, should allow to choose between these alternative accounts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido Gainotti
- Institute of Neurology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.,Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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Martínez-Cuitiño M, Soriano F, Formoso J, Borovinsky G, Ferrari J, Pontello N, Barreyro JP, Manes F. Procesamiento semántico de conceptos concretos y abstractos en Afasia Progresiva Primaria-variante semántica. REVISTA DE INVESTIGACIÓN EN LOGOPEDIA 2018. [DOI: 10.5209/rlog.59530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
La Afasia Progresiva Primaria-variante semántica (APP-vs) se caracteriza por la afectación progresiva del conocimiento conceptual. Algunas investigaciones han reportado la mayor afectación de los conceptos abstractos en relación con los concretos, es decir, un efecto de concretud. No obstante, otros investigadores dan cuenta de un efecto de concretud inverso, es decir, un mejor desempeño con conceptos abstractos en relación con concretos. En esta investigación se compara el desempeño, por medio en una tarea de juicios de sinonimia, de un grupo de 8 pacientes diagnosticados con APP-vs y un grupo de 20 controles emparejados en edad y nivel educativo. Los resultados dan cuenta de un efecto de concretud, es decir, un mejor desempeño con conceptos concretos tanto con sustantivos como con verbos. Estos hallazgos se alinean con las investigaciones previas en las que se detecta un peor rendimiento de los pacientes con APP-vs con conceptos abstractos. El efecto de concretud encontrado apoyaría la hipótesis de un centro semántico amodal relevante para el procesamiento de conceptos concretos y abstractos. La menor afectación de los conceptos concretos observada podría explicarse por su mayor riqueza semántica.
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Brefczynski-Lewis JA, Lewis JW. Auditory object perception: A neurobiological model and prospective review. Neuropsychologia 2017; 105:223-242. [PMID: 28467888 PMCID: PMC5662485 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.04.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2016] [Revised: 04/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Interaction with the world is a multisensory experience, but most of what is known about the neural correlates of perception comes from studying vision. Auditory inputs enter cortex with its own set of unique qualities, and leads to use in oral communication, speech, music, and the understanding of emotional and intentional states of others, all of which are central to the human experience. To better understand how the auditory system develops, recovers after injury, and how it may have transitioned in its functions over the course of hominin evolution, advances are needed in models of how the human brain is organized to process real-world natural sounds and "auditory objects". This review presents a simple fundamental neurobiological model of hearing perception at a category level that incorporates principles of bottom-up signal processing together with top-down constraints of grounded cognition theories of knowledge representation. Though mostly derived from human neuroimaging literature, this theoretical framework highlights rudimentary principles of real-world sound processing that may apply to most if not all mammalian species with hearing and acoustic communication abilities. The model encompasses three basic categories of sound-source: (1) action sounds (non-vocalizations) produced by 'living things', with human (conspecific) and non-human animal sources representing two subcategories; (2) action sounds produced by 'non-living things', including environmental sources and human-made machinery; and (3) vocalizations ('living things'), with human versus non-human animals as two subcategories therein. The model is presented in the context of cognitive architectures relating to multisensory, sensory-motor, and spoken language organizations. The models' predictive values are further discussed in the context of anthropological theories of oral communication evolution and the neurodevelopment of spoken language proto-networks in infants/toddlers. These phylogenetic and ontogenetic frameworks both entail cortical network maturations that are proposed to at least in part be organized around a number of universal acoustic-semantic signal attributes of natural sounds, which are addressed herein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie A Brefczynski-Lewis
- Blanchette Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA; Department of Physiology, Pharmacology, & Neuroscience, West Virginia University, PO Box 9229, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - James W Lewis
- Blanchette Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA; Department of Physiology, Pharmacology, & Neuroscience, West Virginia University, PO Box 9229, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
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Abstract
An important theory holds that semantic knowledge can develop independently of episodic memory. One strong source of evidence supporting this independence comes from the observation that individuals with early hippocampal damage leading to developmental amnesia generally perform normally on standard tests of semantic memory, despite their profound impairment in episodic memory. However, one aspect of semantic memory that has not been explored is conceptual structure. We built on the theoretically important distinction between intrinsic features of object concepts (e.g., shape, colour, parts) and extrinsic features (e.g., how something is used, where it is typically located). The accrual of extrinsic feature knowledge that is important for concepts such as chair or spoon may depend on binding mechanisms in the hippocampus. We tested HC, an individual with developmental amnesia due to a well-characterized lesion of the hippocampus, on her ability to generate semantic features for object concepts. HC generated fewer extrinsic features than controls, but a similar number of intrinsic features than controls. We also tested her on typicality ratings. Her typicality ratings were abnormal for nonliving things (which more strongly depend on extrinsic features), but normal for living things (which more strongly depend on intrinsic features). In contrast, NB, who has MTL but not hippocampal damage due to surgery, showed no impairments in either task. These results suggest that episodic and semantic memory are not entirely independent, and that the hippocampus is important for learning some aspects of conceptual knowledge.
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Meier EL, Lo M, Kiran S. Understanding semantic and phonological processing deficits in adults with aphasia: Effects of category and typicality. APHASIOLOGY 2015; 30:719-749. [PMID: 27041784 PMCID: PMC4811611 DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2015.1081137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Semantic and phonological processing deficits are often present in aphasia. The degree of interdependence between the deficits has been widely studied with variable findings. Semantic variables such as category and typicality have been found to influence semantic processing in healthy individuals and persons with aphasia but their influence on phonological processing is unknown. AIMS This study examined the nature of semantic and phonological access in aphasia by comparing adults with aphasia to healthy control participants. Semantic and phonological tasks were used to assess the difference in processing requirements between and within each group as well as examine the effects of category and typicality on different stages of semantic and phonological processing. METHODS & PROCEDURES Thirty-two persons with aphasia and ten neurologically healthy adults were administered nine tasks: Category Superordinate, Category Coordinate, Semantic Feature, Rhyme Judgment (No-Name), Syllable Judgment (No-Name), Phoneme Verification (No-Name), Rhyme Judgment (Name-Provided), Syllable Judgment (Name-Provided), and Phoneme Verification (Name-Provided). Accuracy and reaction time data were collected for each of these tasks and between-group and within-group differences were analyzed via MANOVA/MANCOVA and hierarchical clustering analyses. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Persons with aphasia performed with significantly lower accuracy than controls on phonological tasks but performed comparably on semantic tasks. Participants with aphasia were significantly slower than controls on all semantic and phonological tasks. Clustering of the nine tasks by accuracy revealed different processing requirements in the participants with aphasia compared to the control group while clustering by reaction time revealed similar trends in both groups in that phonological (no-name) items required the most processing time. Significant effects of category and typicality were noted in the semantic tasks but not in any of the phonological tasks. CONCLUSIONS Individuals with aphasia demonstrated overall impaired phonological processing with relatively preserved semantic processing as compared to controls. Per accuracy and reaction time measures, distinct trends in processing load for semantic tasks versus phonological tasks were seen in the individuals with aphasia whereas only speed of processing and not accuracy was impacted by phonological processing load in the control group. The results align most closely with discrete serial processing models of lexical processing as category and typicality effects were robust in the semantic tasks but not in any of the phonological tasks. Alternative explanations for these results also are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin L. Meier
- Aphasia Research Laboratory, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, Boston University, 635 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, USA 02215, 617-353-2706
| | - Melody Lo
- South Shore Hospital, 55 Fogg Road, South Weymouth, MA, USA 02190
| | - Swathi Kiran
- Aphasia Research Laboratory, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, Boston University, 635 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, USA 02215, 617-358-5478
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Zannino GD, Caltagirone C, Carlesimo GA. The contribution of neurodegenerative diseases to the modelling of semantic memory: A new proposal and a review of the literature. Neuropsychologia 2015; 75:274-90. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.06.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2015] [Revised: 06/15/2015] [Accepted: 06/17/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Geangu E, Quadrelli E, Lewis JW, Macchi Cassia V, Turati C. By the sound of it. An ERP investigation of human action sound processing in 7-month-old infants. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2015; 12:134-44. [PMID: 25732377 PMCID: PMC4381844 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2015.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2014] [Revised: 11/23/2014] [Accepted: 01/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that human adults perceive human action sounds as a distinct category from human vocalizations, environmental, and mechanical sounds, activating different neural networks (Engel et al., 2009; Lewis et al., 2011). Yet, little is known about the development of such specialization. Using event-related potentials (ERP), this study investigated neural correlates of 7-month-olds' processing of human action (HA) sounds in comparison to human vocalizations (HV), environmental (ENV), and mechanical (MEC) sounds. Relative to the other categories, HA sounds led to increased positive amplitudes between 470 and 570ms post-stimulus onset at left anterior temporal locations, while HV led to increased negative amplitudes at the more posterior temporal locations in both hemispheres. Collectively, human produced sounds (HA+HV) led to significantly different response profiles compared to non-living sound sources (ENV+MEC) at parietal and frontal locations in both hemispheres. Overall, by 7 months of age human action sounds are being differentially processed in the brain, consistent with a dichotomy for processing living versus non-living things. This provides novel evidence regarding the typical categorical processing of socially relevant sounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Geangu
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4YF, United Kingdom.
| | - Ermanno Quadrelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, 20126, Italy
| | - James W Lewis
- Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy, and Center for Advanced Imaging, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
| | - Viola Macchi Cassia
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, 20126, Italy
| | - Chiara Turati
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, 20126, Italy
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Bruffaerts R, De Weer AS, De Grauwe S, Thys M, Dries E, Thijs V, Sunaert S, Vandenbulcke M, De Deyne S, Storms G, Vandenberghe R. Noun and knowledge retrieval for biological and non-biological entities following right occipitotemporal lesions. Neuropsychologia 2014; 62:163-74. [PMID: 25080190 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.07.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2013] [Revised: 07/11/2014] [Accepted: 07/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the critical contribution of right ventral occipitotemporal cortex to knowledge of visual and functional-associative attributes of biological and non-biological entities and how this relates to category-specificity during confrontation naming. In a consecutive series of 7 patients with lesions confined to right ventral occipitotemporal cortex, we conducted an extensive assessment of oral generation of visual-sensory and functional-associative features in response to the names of biological and nonbiological entities. Subjects also performed a confrontation naming task for these categories. Our main novel finding related to a unique case with a small lesion confined to right medial fusiform gyrus who showed disproportionate naming impairment for nonbiological versus biological entities, specifically for tools. Generation of visual and functional-associative features was preserved for biological and non-biological entities. In two other cases, who had a relatively small posterior lesion restricted to primary visual and posterior fusiform cortex, retrieval of visual attributes was disproportionately impaired compared to functional-associative attributes, in particular for biological entities. However, these cases did not show a category-specific naming deficit. Two final cases with the largest lesions showed a classical dissociation between biological versus nonbiological entities during naming, with normal feature generation performance. This is the first lesion-based evidence of a critical contribution of the right medial fusiform cortex to tool naming. Second, dissociations along the dimension of attribute type during feature generation do not co-occur with category-specificity during naming in the current patient sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rose Bruffaerts
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Neurology Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - An-Sofie De Weer
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sophie De Grauwe
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Miek Thys
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Eva Dries
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Vincent Thijs
- Neurology Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Stefan Sunaert
- Radiology Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Mathieu Vandenbulcke
- Brain and Emotion Laboratory Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Psychiatry Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Simon De Deyne
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Gerrit Storms
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Rik Vandenberghe
- Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Neurology Department, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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Ting SKS, Hameed S, Earnest A, Tan EK. Dissociative semantic breakdown in Alzheimer's disease: Evidence from multiple category fluency test. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 2013; 115:1049-51. [DOI: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2012.10.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2011] [Revised: 10/19/2012] [Accepted: 10/28/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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14
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Lin N, Guo Q, Han Z, Bi Y. Motor knowledge is one dimension for concept organization: further evidence from a Chinese semantic dementia case. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2011; 119:110-118. [PMID: 20701959 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2010.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2010] [Revised: 05/01/2010] [Accepted: 07/08/2010] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have indicated that motor knowledge is one potential dimension along which concepts are organized. Here we present further direct evidence for the effects of motor knowledge in accounting for categorical patterns across object domains (living vs. nonliving) and grammatical domains (nouns vs. verbs), as well as the integrity of other modality-specific knowledge (e.g., visual). We present a Chinese case, XRK, who suffered from semantic dementia with left temporal lobe atrophy. In naming and comprehension tasks, he performed better at nonliving items than at living items, and better at verbs than at nouns. Critically, multiple regression method revealed that these two categorical effects could be both accounted for by the charade rating, a continuous measurement of the significance of motor knowledge for a concept or a semantic feature. Furthermore, charade rating also predicted his performances on the generation frequency of semantic features of various modalities. These findings consolidate the significance of motor knowledge in conceptual organization and further highlights the interactions between different types of semantic knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, China
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Gainotti G. The organization and dissolution of semantic-conceptual knowledge: is the 'amodal hub' the only plausible model? Brain Cogn 2011; 75:299-309. [PMID: 21211892 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2010.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2010] [Revised: 11/09/2010] [Accepted: 12/01/2010] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, the anatomical and functional bases of conceptual activity have attracted a growing interest. In particular, Patterson and Lambon-Ralph have proposed the existence, in the anterior parts of the temporal lobes, of a mechanism (the 'amodal semantic hub') supporting the interactive activation of semantic representations in all modalities and for all semantic categories. The aim of then present paper is to discuss this model, arguing against the notion of an 'amodal' semantic hub, because we maintain, in agreement with the Damasio's construct of 'higher-order convergence zone', that a continuum exists between perceptual information and conceptual representations, whereas the 'amodal' account views perceptual informations only as a channel through which abstract semantic knowledge can be activated. According to our model, semantic organization can be better explained by two orthogonal higher-order convergence systems, concerning, on one hand, the right vs. left hemisphere and, on the other hand, the ventral vs. dorsal processing pathways. This model posits that conceptual representations may be mainly based upon perceptual activities in the right hemisphere and upon verbal mediation in the left side of the brain. It also assumes that conceptual knowledge based on the convergence of highly processed visual information with other perceptual data (and mainly concerning living categories) may be bilaterally represented in the anterior parts of the temporal lobes, whereas knowledge based on the integration of visual data with action schemata (namely knowledge of actions, body parts and artefacts) may be more represented in the left fronto-temporo-parietal areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido Gainotti
- Department of Neurosciences, Policlinico Gemelli, Catholic University of Rome, Italy.
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Capitani E, Laiacona M, Mahon B, Caramazza A. WHAT ARE THE FACTS OF SEMANTIC CATEGORY-SPECIFIC DEFICITS? A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE CLINICAL EVIDENCE. Cogn Neuropsychol 2010; 20:213-61. [PMID: 20957571 DOI: 10.1080/02643290244000266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 263] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Laiacona M, Capitani E. A Case of Prevailing Deficit of Nonliving Categories or a Case of Prevailing Sparing of Living Categories? Cogn Neuropsychol 2010; 18:39-70. [DOI: 10.1080/02643290042000035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Simmons WK, Barsalou LW. THE SIMILARITY-IN-TOPOGRAPHY PRINCIPLE: RECONCILING THEORIES OF CONCEPTUAL DEFICITS. Cogn Neuropsychol 2010; 20:451-86. [PMID: 20957580 DOI: 10.1080/02643290342000032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 180] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Lambon Ralph MA, Patterson K, Garrard P, Hodges JR. SEMANTIC DEMENTIA WITH CATEGORY SPECIFICITY:ACOMPARATIVE CASE-SERIES STUDY. Cogn Neuropsychol 2010; 20:307-26. [DOI: 10.1080/02643290244000301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Lewis JW, Talkington WJ, Puce A, Engel LR, Frum C. Cortical networks representing object categories and high-level attributes of familiar real-world action sounds. J Cogn Neurosci 2010; 23:2079-101. [PMID: 20812786 DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2010.21570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
In contrast to visual object processing, relatively little is known about how the human brain processes everyday real-world sounds, transforming highly complex acoustic signals into representations of meaningful events or auditory objects. We recently reported a fourfold cortical dissociation for representing action (nonvocalization) sounds correctly categorized as having been produced by human, animal, mechanical, or environmental sources. However, it was unclear how consistent those network representations were across individuals, given potential differences between each participant's degree of familiarity with the studied sounds. Moreover, it was unclear what, if any, auditory perceptual attributes might further distinguish the four conceptual sound-source categories, potentially revealing what might drive the cortical network organization for representing acoustic knowledge. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to test participants before and after extensive listening experience with action sounds, and tested for cortices that might be sensitive to each of three different high-level perceptual attributes relating to how a listener associates or interacts with the sound source. These included the sound's perceived concreteness, effectuality (ability to be affected by the listener), and spatial scale. Despite some variation of networks for environmental sounds, our results verified the stability of a fourfold dissociation of category-specific networks for real-world action sounds both before and after familiarity training. Additionally, we identified cortical regions parametrically modulated by each of the three high-level perceptual sound attributes. We propose that these attributes contribute to the network-level encoding of category-specific acoustic knowledge representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- James W Lewis
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, PO Box 9229, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
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Spierer L, De Lucia M, Bernasconi F, Grivel J, Bourquin NMP, Clarke S, Murray MM. Learning-induced plasticity in human audition: objects, time, and space. Hear Res 2010; 271:88-102. [PMID: 20430070 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2010.03.086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2009] [Revised: 02/16/2010] [Accepted: 03/03/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The human auditory system is comprised of specialized but interacting anatomic and functional pathways encoding object, spatial, and temporal information. We review how learning-induced plasticity manifests along these pathways and to what extent there are common mechanisms subserving such plasticity. A first series of experiments establishes a temporal hierarchy along which sounds of objects are discriminated along basic to fine-grained categorical boundaries and learned representations. A widespread network of temporal and (pre)frontal brain regions contributes to object discrimination via recursive processing. Learning-induced plasticity typically manifested as repetition suppression within a common set of brain regions. A second series considered how the temporal sequence of sound sources is represented. We show that lateralized responsiveness during the initial encoding phase of pairs of auditory spatial stimuli is critical for their accurate ordered perception. Finally, we consider how spatial representations are formed and modified through training-induced learning. A population-based model of spatial processing is supported wherein temporal and parietal structures interact in the encoding of relative and absolute spatial information over the initial ~300 ms post-stimulus onset. Collectively, these data provide insights into the functional organization of human audition and open directions for new developments in targeted diagnostic and neurorehabilitation strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Spierer
- Neuropsychology and Neurorehabilitation Service, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Vaudois University Hospital Center and University of Lausanne, Switzerland
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Engel LR, Frum C, Puce A, Walker NA, Lewis JW. Different categories of living and non-living sound-sources activate distinct cortical networks. Neuroimage 2009; 47:1778-91. [PMID: 19465134 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.05.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2008] [Revised: 04/28/2009] [Accepted: 05/13/2009] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
With regard to hearing perception, it remains unclear as to whether, or the extent to which, different conceptual categories of real-world sounds and related categorical knowledge are differentially represented in the brain. Semantic knowledge representations are reported to include the major divisions of living versus non-living things, plus more specific categories including animals, tools, biological motion, faces, and places-categories typically defined by their characteristic visual features. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify brain regions showing preferential activity to four categories of action sounds, which included non-vocal human and animal actions (living), plus mechanical and environmental sound-producing actions (non-living). The results showed a striking antero-posterior division in cortical representations for sounds produced by living versus non-living sources. Additionally, there were several significant differences by category, depending on whether the task was category-specific (e.g. human or not) versus non-specific (detect end-of-sound). In general, (1) human-produced sounds yielded robust activation in the bilateral posterior superior temporal sulci independent of task. Task demands modulated activation of left lateralized fronto-parietal regions, bilateral insular cortices, and sub-cortical regions previously implicated in observation-execution matching, consistent with "embodied" and mirror-neuron network representations subserving recognition. (2) Animal action sounds preferentially activated the bilateral posterior insulae. (3) Mechanical sounds activated the anterior superior temporal gyri and parahippocampal cortices. (4) Environmental sounds preferentially activated dorsal occipital and medial parietal cortices. Overall, this multi-level dissociation of networks for preferentially representing distinct sound-source categories provides novel support for grounded cognition models that may underlie organizational principles for hearing perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren R Engel
- Sensory Neuroscience Research Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
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Abstract
One of the most provocative and exciting issues in cognitive science is how neural specificity for semantic categories of common objects arises in the functional architecture of the brain. More than two decades of research on the neuropsychological phenomenon of category-specific semantic deficits has generated detailed claims about the organization and representation of conceptual knowledge. More recently, researchers have sought to test hypotheses developed on the basis of neuropsychological evidence with functional imaging. From those two fields, the empirical generalization emerges that object domain and sensory modality jointly constrain the organization of knowledge in the brain. At the same time, research within the embodied cognition framework has highlighted the need to articulate how information is communicated between the sensory and motor systems, and processes that represent and generalize abstract information. Those developments point toward a new approach for understanding category specificity in terms of the coordinated influences of diverse regions and cognitive systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradford Z. Mahon
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02318
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, CIMeC, University of Trento, Rovereto (TN), Italy 38068
| | - Alfonso Caramazza
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02318
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, CIMeC, University of Trento, Rovereto (TN), Italy 38068
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Rohrer JD, Knight WD, Warren JE, Fox NC, Rossor MN, Warren JD. Word-finding difficulty: a clinical analysis of the progressive aphasias. Brain 2008; 131:8-38. [PMID: 17947337 PMCID: PMC2373641 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awm251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The patient with word-finding difficulty presents a common and challenging clinical problem. The complaint of 'word-finding difficulty' covers a wide range of clinical phenomena and may signify any of a number of distinct pathophysiological processes. Although it occurs in a variety of clinical contexts, word-finding difficulty generally presents a diagnostic conundrum when it occurs as a leading or apparently isolated symptom, most often as the harbinger of degenerative disease: the progressive aphasias. Recent advances in the neurobiology of the focal, language-based dementias have transformed our understanding of these processes and the ways in which they breakdown in different diseases, but translation of this knowledge to the bedside is far from straightforward. Speech and language disturbances in the dementias present unique diagnostic and conceptual problems that are not fully captured by classical models derived from the study of vascular and other acute focal brain lesions. This has led to a reformulation of our understanding of how language is organized in the brain. In this review we seek to provide the clinical neurologist with a practical and theoretical bridge between the patient presenting with word-finding difficulty in the clinic and the evidence of the brain sciences. We delineate key illustrative speech and language syndromes in the degenerative dementias, compare these syndromes with the syndromes of acute brain damage, and indicate how the clinical syndromes relate to emerging neurolinguistic, neuroanatomical and neurobiological insights. We propose a conceptual framework for the analysis of word-finding difficulty, in order both better to define the patient's complaint and its differential diagnosis for the clinician and to identify unresolved issues as a stimulus to future work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D Rohrer
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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26
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Gaffrey MS, Kleinhans NM, Haist F, Akshoomoff N, Campbell A, Courchesne E, Müller RA. Atypical [corrected] participation of visual cortex during word processing in autism: an fMRI study of semantic decision. Neuropsychologia 2007; 45:1672-84. [PMID: 17336346 PMCID: PMC2071933 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2006] [Revised: 12/26/2006] [Accepted: 01/07/2007] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Language delay and impairment are salient features of autism. More specifically, there is evidence of atypical semantic organization in autism, but the functional brain correlates are not well understood. The current study used functional MRI to examine activation associated with semantic category decision. Ten high-functioning men with autism spectrum disorder and 10 healthy control subjects matched for gender, handedness, age, and nonverbal IQ were studied. Participants indicated via button press response whether visually presented words belonged to a target category (tools, colors, feelings). The control condition required target letter detection in unpronounceable letter strings. Significant activation for semantic decision in the left inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann areas 44 and 45) was found in the control group. Corresponding activation in the autism group was more limited, with smaller clusters in left inferior frontal areas 45 and 47. Autistic participants, however, showed significantly greater activation compared to controls in extrastriate visual cortex bilaterally (areas 18 and 19), which correlated with greater number of errors on the semantic task. Our findings suggest an important role of perceptual components (possibly visual imagery) during semantic decision, consistent with previous evidence of atypical lexicosemantic performance in autism. In the context of similar findings from younger typically developing children, our results suggest an immature pattern associated with inefficient processing, presumably due to atypical experiential embedding of word acquisition in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S. Gaffrey
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92120
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
| | - Natalia M. Kleinhans
- Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University and University of California San Diego
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
| | - Frank Haist
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093
| | | | - Ashley Campbell
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92120
| | - Eric Courchesne
- Department of Neuroscience, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093
| | - Ralph-Axel Müller
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92120
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093
- *Corresponding Author: Ralph-Axel Müller, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, 6363 Alvarado Ct., #225 E, San Diego, CA 92120-1863, Tel.: (619) 594-5276, Fax: (619) 594-8707, e-mail: , http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/~amueller/index.html
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27
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Arévalo A, Perani D, Cappa SF, Butler A, Bates E, Dronkers N. Action and object processing in aphasia: from nouns and verbs to the effect of manipulability. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2007; 100:79-94. [PMID: 16949143 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2006.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2005] [Revised: 03/17/2006] [Accepted: 06/01/2006] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The processing of words and pictures representing actions and objects was tested in 21 aphasic patients and 20 healthy controls across three word production tasks: picture-naming (PN), single word reading (WR) and word repetition (WRP). Analysis 1 targeted task and lexical category (noun-verb), revealing worse performance on PN and verb items for both patients and control participants. For Analysis 2 we used data collected in a concurrent gesture norming study to re-categorize the noun-verb items along hand imagery parameters (i.e., objects that can/cannot be manipulated and actions which do/do not involve fine hand movements). Here, patients displayed relative difficulty with the 'manipulable' items, while controls displayed the opposite pattern. Therefore, whereas the noun-verb distinction resulted simply in lower verb accuracy across groups, the 'manipulability' distinction revealed a 'double-dissociation' between patients and control participants. These results carry implications for theories of embodiment, lexico-semantic dissociations, and the organization of meaning in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Arévalo
- Center for Research in Language, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
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28
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Gale TM, Laws KR. Category-specificity can emerge from bottom-up visual characteristics: Evidence from a modular neural network. Brain Cogn 2006; 61:269-79. [PMID: 16540223 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2006.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2005] [Revised: 02/02/2006] [Accepted: 02/03/2006] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The role of bottom-up visual processes in category-specific object recognition has been largely unexplored. We examined the role of low-level visual characteristics in category specific recognition using a modular neural network comprising both unsupervised and supervised components. One hundred standardised pictures from ten different categories (five living and five nonliving, including body parts and musical instruments) were presented to a Kohonen self-organising map (SOM) which re-represents the visual stimuli by clustering them within a smaller number of dimensions. The SOM representations were then used to train an attractor network to learn the superordinate category of each item. The ease with which the model acquired the category mappings was investigated with respect to emerging category effects. We found that the superordinates could be separated by very low-level visual factors (as extracted by the SOM). The model also accounted for the well documented atypicality of body parts and musical instrument superordinates. The model has clear relevance to human object recognition since the model was quicker to learn more typical category exemplars and finally the model also accounted for more than 20% of the naming variance in a sample of 57 brain injured subjects. We conclude that purely bottom-up visual characteristics can explain some important features of category-specific phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim M Gale
- Department of Psychiatry, QEII Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, UK.
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Hammeke TA, Kortenkamp SJ, Binder JR. Normative data on 372 stimuli for descriptive naming. Epilepsy Res 2006; 66:45-57. [PMID: 16140502 DOI: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2005.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2004] [Revised: 03/21/2005] [Accepted: 04/13/2005] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Naming problems are common in patients with dominant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL). Descriptive naming may be an especially useful procedure for the presurgical workup of candidates for ATL, given its sensitivity for detecting subtle naming problems in TLE and its localization to anterior temporal regions that are commonly targeted for resection in ATL. This study provides normative data pertaining to difficulty level (accuracy and reaction time) on 372 descriptive naming items in four conceptual categories: common non-living, common living, unique non-living, and unique living things. These data will be useful to investigators who wish to develop protocols for clinical assessment or stimuli for functional imaging paradigms aimed at assessing the function of the anterior temporal lobes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas A Hammeke
- Division of Neuropsychology, Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
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30
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Gainotti G. Anatomical functional and cognitive determinants of semantic memory disorders. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2006; 30:577-94. [PMID: 16466793 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2005.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2005] [Revised: 09/15/2005] [Accepted: 11/21/2005] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Contemporary debates on the 'semantic memory' construct revolve around three main topics: (1) the functional and anatomical relationships between episodic and semantic memory; (2) the format of semantic representations and their relationships with the underlying sensory-motor processes; (3) the categorical organization of semantic memory. The aim of the present review is to demonstrate that there is a common thread linking these different aspects of semantic memory. This thread is represented by the interdependence of mechanisms involved in the construction of semantic memory and the content of semantic representations. In particular, I suggest there is a continuity between: (a) the mechanisms of acquisition of episodic and semantic memory; (b) semantic representations and sensory-motor processes preliminary to the acquisition of these representations. This continuity has important implications for the format of semantic representations and the brain structures subserving the organisation of various categories of knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido Gainotti
- Neuropsychology Service of the Catholic University of Rome, Policlinico Gemelli, Largo A. Gemelli, 8-00168 Roma, Italy.
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Brooks BE, Cooper EE. What types of visual recognition tasks are mediated by the neural subsystem that subserves face recognition? ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006; 32:684-98. [PMID: 16822140 DOI: 10.1037/0278-7393.32.4.684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Three divided visual field experiments tested current hypotheses about the types of visual shape representation tasks that recruit the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying face recognition. Experiment 1 found a right hemisphere advantage for subordinate but not basic-level face recognition. Experiment 2 found a right hemisphere advantage for basic but not superordinate-level animal recognition. Experiment 3 found that inverting animals eliminates the right hemisphere advantage for basic-level animal recognition. This pattern of results suggests that the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying face recognition are recruited when computational demands of a shape representation task are best served through the use of coordinate (rather than categorical) spatial relations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian E Brooks
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Graduate Program, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
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Zannino GD, Perri R, Pasqualetti P, Caltagirone C, Carlesimo GA. (Category-specific) semantic deficit in Alzheimer's patients: The role of semantic distance. Neuropsychologia 2006; 44:52-61. [PMID: 15904938 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2004] [Revised: 03/01/2005] [Accepted: 04/19/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
A semantic battery comprising items from living and nonliving categories was administered to a sample of subjects suffering from probable Alzheimer's type dementia (n=20). The results were analyzed to test the role of semantic distance in predicting group accuracy and its possible causal link with the phenomenon of a category-specific deficit for living things in the experimental population. Our findings confirm a category effect favoring nonliving items (over and above the role of confounding variables) in patients with Alzheimer's disease and support the major role of an imbalance of semantic distance in the testing material in the genesis of this phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gian Daniele Zannino
- I.R.C.C.S. Santa Lucia, Laboratorio di Neurologia Clinica e Comportamentale, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy.
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Barbarotto R, Laiacona M, Capitani E. Objective versus estimated age of word acquisition: A study of 202 Italian children. Behav Res Methods 2005; 37:644-50. [PMID: 16629297 DOI: 10.3758/bf03192735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
We provide objective data concerning the age of acquisition (AoA) of words from 202 Italian children 34-69 months of age. We investigated picture naming with 80 concrete words belonging to eight semantic categories that are included in a widely used battery for the study of naming and semantic memory. For each word, we calculated three different indices: two directly expressing the age at which a picture was given the correct name by at least 75% of the subjects, and one expressing the overall percentage of our children who were correct in the task. (For the latter index, we provide separate values for boys and girls.). The correlation between objective indices of AoA and adult estimates culled from the literature was not very high. Moreover, objective indices showed low correlations with frequency and familiarity, in contrast to adult ratings. We conclude that adult estimates of AoA present validity problems and should be used with caution. The full set of stimuli is available at www.psychonomic.org/archive.
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Lowe C, Knapp S, Lambon Ralph MA. Relative preservation of 'animate' knowledge in an atypical presentation of herpes simplex virus encephalitis. Neurocase 2005; 11:157-66. [PMID: 16006337 DOI: 10.1080/13554790590944591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
A comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests designed to assess primary cognitive functions, including language and semantic memory, was given to MG, a patient with confirmed herpes simplex virus encephalitis. MG's initial jargon aphasia resolved over time to leave her with a mild phonological impairment. She had a very mild amnesia that was worse for verbal material and a category-specific impairment of semantic memory. This latter impairment resulted in a significant anomia that was worse for manmade/artefact items than for animate kinds. Her naming difficulties were associated with a mild impairment in comprehension that was not specific to category or feature type. MRI revealed a strongly asymmetric and atypical distribution of pathology in MG with the disease affecting the left medial temporal lobe, temporal pole, left frontotemporal and temporoparietal regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Lowe
- Department of Psychology, University of Manchester, UK.
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35
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Gainotti G. The influence of gender and lesion location on naming disorders for animals, plants and artefacts. Neuropsychologia 2005; 43:1633-44. [PMID: 16009245 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2004] [Revised: 01/12/2005] [Accepted: 01/18/2005] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this systematic review of single case studies of patients showing a category-specific disorder was to evaluate the influence of gender and lesion location on category-specific disorders for biological versus artefact categories and, within the former, for animals versus plant life categories. Two complementary studies were made, taking into account all the available single case reports of category-specific disorders found in the literature. The first study consisted of an overall statistical evaluation of the influence that gender and lesion location can have upon naming scores obtained with these different categories in patients selected only because they showed some kind of category-specific disorder. The second study assessed the influence of these variables on more selected groups of patients, contrasting those showing a categorical impairment for living things versus artefacts and, respectively, for animals versus plant life categories. Results of these studies consistently showed that: (a) Lesion location has a strong influence on the distinction between biological and artefacts categories, but not on that between animals and plant life domains. In patients with a prevalent impairment either for animals or for plant life items, lesions usually encroach upon the anterior or the posterior parts of the ventral stream of visual processing, whereas in patients with a prevalent impairment for artefacts they are located elsewhere (usually on more dorsal structures of the brain). (b) Gender, on the contrary, does not influence the distinction between living and non-living things, but, within the living entities, has a strong influence on the distinction between animals and plant life. Consistent with data obtained in normal people, which show that men are more familiar with animals and women with fruit and vegetables, men were, indeed, more impaired with plant life categories, whereas women were more impaired with animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido Gainotti
- Neuropsychology Service of the Catholic University of Rome, Policlinico Gemelli, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Rome, Italy.
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Abstract
Category-specific disorders are perhaps the archetypal example of domain-specificity--being typically defined by the presence of dissociations between living and nonliving naming ability in people following neurological damage. The methods adopted to quantify naming across categories are therefore pivotal since they provide the criterion for defining whether patients have a category effect and necessarily influence the subsequent direction and the interpretation of testing. This paper highlights a series of methodological concerns relating to how we measure and define category (or any) dissociations. These include the common failure to include control data or the use of control data that is inappropriate e.g. at ceiling, unmatched. A review of past cases shows that the overwhelming majority suffers from these problems and therefore challenges conclusions about the purported empirical demonstrations of dissociations and double dissociations in the category specific literature. This is not a refutation of category deficits, but skepticism about the current existence of any convincing empirical demonstrations of category specific double dissociations. As a potential solution, certain minimal criteria are proposed that might aid with the attempt to document category effects that are more methodologically convincing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keith R Laws
- Brain and Cognition Research Group, Division of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, UK.
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38
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Rico Duarte L, Jiménez M, Syssau A, Launay M. Étude de la sensibilité d'une batterie d'épreuves sémantiques au vieillissement normal et à l'évolution de la maladie d'Alzheimer. EUROPEAN REVIEW OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY-REVUE EUROPEENNE DE PSYCHOLOGIE APPLIQUEE 2004. [DOI: 10.1016/j.erap.2003.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Damasio H, Tranel D, Grabowski T, Adolphs R, Damasio A. Neural systems behind word and concept retrieval. Cognition 2004; 92:179-229. [PMID: 15037130 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2002.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 432] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2001] [Revised: 06/26/2002] [Accepted: 07/27/2002] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Using both the lesion method and functional imaging (positron emission tomography) in large cohorts of subjects investigated with the same experimental tasks, we tested the following hypotheses: (A) that the retrieval of words which denote concrete entities belonging to distinct conceptual categories depends upon partially segregated regions in higher-order cortices of the left temporal lobe; and (B) that the retrieval of conceptual knowledge pertaining to the same concrete entities also depends on partially segregated regions; however, those regions will be different from those postulated in hypothesis A, and located predominantly in the right hemisphere (the second hypothesis tested only with the lesion method). The analyses provide support for hypothesis A in that several regions outside the classical Broca and Wernicke language areas are involved in name retrieval of concrete entities, and that there is a partial segregation in the temporal lobe with respect to the conceptual category to which the entities belong, and partial support for hypothesis B in that retrieval of conceptual knowledge is partially segregated from name retrieval in the lesion study. Those regions identified here are seen as parts of flexible, multi-component systems serving concept and word retrieval for concrete entities belonging to different conceptual categories. By comparing different approaches the article also addresses a number of method issues that have surfaced in recent studies in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Damasio
- Department of Neurology, Division of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
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40
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Abstract
Semantic features are of different importance in concept representation. The concept elephant may be more easily identified from the feature <trunk> than from the feature <four legs>. We propose a new model of semantic memory to measure the relevance of semantic features for a concept and use this model to investigate the controversial issue of category specificity. Category-specific patients have an impairment in one domain of knowledge (e.g., living), whereas the other domain (e.g., nonliving) is relatively spared. We show that categories differ in the level of relevance and that, when concepts belonging to living and nonliving categories are equated to this parameter, the category-specific disorder disappears. Our findings suggest that category specificity, as well as other semantic-related effects, may be explained by a semantic memory model in which concepts are represented by semantic features with associated relevance values.
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41
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Peigneux P, Van der Linden M, Garraux G, Laureys S, Degueldre C, Aerts J, Del Fiore G, Moonen G, Luxen A, Salmon E. Imaging a cognitive model of apraxia: the neural substrate of gesture-specific cognitive processes. Hum Brain Mapp 2004; 21:119-42. [PMID: 14755833 PMCID: PMC6872064 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.10161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study aimed to ascertain the neuroanatomical basis of an influential neuropsychological model for upper limb apraxia [Rothi LJ, et al. The Neuropsychology of Action. 1997. Hove, UK: Psychology Press]. Regional cerebral blood flow was measured in healthy volunteers using H2 15O PET during performance of four tasks commonly used for testing upper limb apraxia, i.e., pantomime of familiar gestures on verbal command, imitation of familiar gestures, imitation of novel gestures, and an action-semantic task that consisted in matching objects for functional use. We also re-analysed data from a previous PET study in which we investigated the neural basis of the visual analysis of gestures. First, we found that two sets of discrete brain areas are predominantly engaged in the imitation of familiar and novel gestures, respectively. Segregated brain activation for novel gesture imitation concur with neuropsychological reports to support the hypothesis that knowledge about the organization of the human body mediates the transition from visual perception to motor execution when imitating novel gestures [Goldenberg Neuropsychologia 1995;33:63-72]. Second, conjunction analyses revealed distinctive neural bases for most of the gesture-specific cognitive processes proposed in this cognitive model of upper limb apraxia. However, a functional analysis of brain imaging data suggested that one single memory store may be used for "to-be-perceived" and "to-be-produced" gestural representations, departing from Rothi et al.'s proposal. Based on the above considerations, we suggest and discuss a revised model for upper limb apraxia that might best account for both brain imaging findings and neuropsychological dissociations reported in the apraxia literature.
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42
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Bukach CM, Bub DN, Masson MEJ, Stephen Lindsay D. Category specificity in normal episodic learning: Applications to object recognition and category-specific agnosia. Cogn Psychol 2004; 48:1-46. [PMID: 14654035 DOI: 10.1016/s0010-0285(03)00100-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Studies of patients with category-specific agnosia (CSA) have given rise to multiple theories of object recognition, most of which assume the existence of a stable, abstract semantic memory system. We applied an episodic view of memory to questions raised by CSA in a series of studies examining normal observers' recall of newly learned attributes of familiar objects. Subjects first learned to associate arbitrarily assigned colors or textures to objects in a training phase, and then attempted to report the newly learned attribute of each object in a recall task. Our subjects' pattern of recall errors was similar both quantitatively and qualitatively to the identification deficits among patients with CSA for biological objects. Furthermore, errors tended to reflect conceptually and structurally based confusions. We suggest that object identification involves recruitment and integration of information across distributed episodic memories and that this process is susceptible to interference from objects that are structurally similar and conceptually related.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cindy M Bukach
- Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3050 STN CSC, Vic., BC, Canada V8W 3P5.
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43
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Bub DN, Masson MEJ, Bukach CM. Gesturing and naming: the use of functional knowledge in object identification. Psychol Sci 2003; 14:467-72. [PMID: 12930478 DOI: 10.1111/1467-9280.02455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies using functional imaging show reliable activation of premotor cortex when observers view manipulable objects. This result has led to the view that knowledge of object function, particularly the actions associated with the typical use of objects, may play a causal role in object identification. To obtain relevant evidence regarding this causal role, we asked subjects to learn gesture-color associations and then attempt to identify objects presented in colors denoting functional gestures that were congruent or incongruent with the objects' use. A strong congruency effect was observed when subjects gestured the use of an object, but not when they named an object. We conclude that our procedure constitutes a sensitive measure of the recruitment and causal role of functional knowledge and that this recruitment is not present during object naming. Preliminary evidence, however, indicates that gestures evoked by the volumetric shape of an object do contribute to object naming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel N Bub
- University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
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44
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Kiran S, Thompson CK. Effect of typicality on online category verification of animate category exemplars in aphasia. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2003; 85:441-50. [PMID: 12744956 PMCID: PMC3025185 DOI: 10.1016/s0093-934x(03)00064-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Normal young, elderly, Broca's aphasic, and Wernicke's aphasic individuals participated in an online category verification task where primes were superordinate category labels while targets were either typical or atypical examples of animate categories or nonmembers belonging to inanimate categories. The reaction time to judge whether the target belonged to the preceding category label was measured. Results indicated that all four groups made significantly greater errors on atypical examples compared to typical examples. Young and elderly individuals, and Broca's aphasic patients performed similarly on the verification task; these groups demonstrated faster reaction times on typical examples than atypical examples. Wernicke's aphasic patients made the most errors on the task and were slowest to respond than any other participant group. Also, these participants were not significantly faster at accepting correct typical examples compared to correct atypical examples. The results from the four groups are discussed with relevance to prototype/family resemblance models of typicality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swathi Kiran
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
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Tranel D, Damasio H, Eichhorn GR, Grabowski T, Ponto LLB, Hichwa RD. Neural correlates of naming animals from their characteristic sounds. Neuropsychologia 2003; 41:847-54. [PMID: 12631534 DOI: 10.1016/s0028-3932(02)00223-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The neural correlates of naming stimuli presented through the auditory modality have scarcely been studied. Using a PET experiment in 10 normal subjects, we began to address this issue by testing the hypothesis that naming animals from their characteristic sounds will engage bilateral primary auditory and auditory association cortices, bilateral early visual association cortices, left inferotemporal (IT) cortices, and left frontal operculum. Subjects listened to characteristic animal sounds (e.g. a rooster crowing), and named the animals making the sounds. When contrasted with a baseline task that involved saying up/down to the direction of pitch change in tone sequences, the naming task produced activation in mesial occipital cortices, the left ventral IT region, and the left frontal operculum. We interpret the activation in visual association cortices to reflect the process of retrieving conceptual knowledge (e.g. physical structure) pertinent to the animals being named, as in visual images. The left IT activation is interpreted to reflect activation of a mediation system for word retrieval, that operates to link conceptual knowledge retrieval to word production, and whose triggering is independent of the sensory modality in which a stimulus is presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Tranel
- Department of Neurology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
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46
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Caterina Silveri M, Perri R, Cappa A. Grammatical class effects in brain-damaged patients: functional locus of noun and verb deficit. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2003; 85:49-66. [PMID: 12681348 DOI: 10.1016/s0093-934x(02)00504-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Two patients are described with grammatical class dissociation: CG, a semantic-dementia patient who presented a disproportionate impairment of nouns compared to verbs; SA, a patient with a left parietal lesion who presented impaired sentence production and a disproportionate deficit for verbs compared to nouns. The results are discussed within the current models on semantic memory and lexical access.
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47
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Kolinsky R, Fery P, Messina D, Peretz I, Evinck S, Ventura P, Morais J. The fur of the crocodile and the mooing sheep: A study of a patient with a category-specific impairment for biological things. Cogn Neuropsychol 2002; 19:301-42. [DOI: 10.1080/02643290143000196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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48
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Luckhurst L, Lloyd-Jones TJ. A selective deficit for living things after temporal lobectomy for relief of epileptic seizures. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2001; 79:266-296. [PMID: 11712847 DOI: 10.1006/brln.2001.2485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Unilateral left and right temporal lobectomy patients and normal control subjects were tested on confrontation naming, speeded naming, category generation, and category and associate matching tasks. Both groups of patients were disproportionately impaired for living relative to nonliving things in confrontation naming, speeded naming, and category generation. We argue that damage to the temporal lobe impairs lexical retrieval most strongly for living things and that the anterior temporal cortices are convergence zones particularly necessary for retrieving the names of living things.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Luckhurst
- University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom
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49
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Hinojosa JA, Martín-Loeches M, Muñoz F, Casado P, Fernández-Frías C, Pozo MA. Electrophysiological evidence of a semantic system commonly accessed by animals and tools categories. BRAIN RESEARCH. COGNITIVE BRAIN RESEARCH 2001; 12:321-8. [PMID: 11587901 DOI: 10.1016/s0926-6410(01)00039-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Some theoretical perspectives propose a semantic system in which categories are represented in different brain regions. Others assume that distinctions are based rather on differences in the demands placed by different categories on shared processing systems. In this study semantic categorization processes were investigated using the recognition potential (RP), an event-related brain response that reflects semantic processing, peaks at around 250 ms after stimulus onset and originates in areas subserving perceptual-semantic analyses. Results indicate that the RP shows some degree of sensitivity to categorization processes, but that categories assumed to differ markedly in their processing demands share, to a large extent, a common neural generator. This provides support for the non-categorical view on the organization of the semantic system, though introducing subtle variations, and suggesting the existence of a semantic subsystem specializing in the processing of perceptual-semantic features regardless of the semantic category involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A Hinojosa
- Brain Mapping Unit, Pluridisciplinary Institute, Universidad Complutense, Po. Juan XXIII 1, 28040, Madrid, Spain
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50
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Abstract
In the literature about category effects in semantic memory, body parts and musical instruments are often considered atypical, because in cases with a disproportionate impairment of living categories body parts are relatively spared, while musical instruments are often severely defective. In this study the performance of 57 subjects affected by diseases generally associated with lexical-semantic impairment, for the most part Alzheimer's disease and other forms of cortical degeneration, but also herpetic encephalitis and traumatic brain damage are analyzed. The subjects were given a picture naming task tapping eight categories: three living categories (animals, fruits and vegetables) and three non-living categories (tools, furniture and vehicles), plus body parts and musical instruments. On a preliminary analysis at the group level, body parts were the least impaired category and musical instruments the most severely impaired, the six living and non-living categories being intermediate. However, these differences disappeared after covariance for lexical frequency, name agreement and age of acquisition. The relationship between living categories, non-living categories, musical instruments and body parts was investigated by means of a Lisrel model of Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Two latent variables related to living and non-living categories respectively were defined, and it was found that both body parts and musical instruments were significantly related only with non-living categories. The results showed that the definition of the latent variable expressing the substrate of non-living categories was less satisfactory than that expressing the living categories. On this basis, the conclusions of this study appear statistically definite but their psychological interpretation is less straightforward.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Barbarotto
- Fatebenefratelli, Istituto Villa S. Ambrogio, Neuropsychology Service, Cernusco s/N, Milan, Italy
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