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Exploring the loss of semantic memory in semantic dementia: Evidence from a primed monitoring study
Authors:
Moss, H.E., Tyler, L.K., Hodges, J.R. & Patterson, K.
Reference:
Neuropsychology, 9, 16-26
Year of publication:
1995
CBU number:
3275
Abstract:
We used an on-line primed monitoring study to explore the nature of semantic memory loss in a patient (PP) with semantic dementia, who showed a profound semantic impairment on a range of off-line tasks. Priming for pairs of words taken from a common category (e.g. cat-dog, spade-rake, ruby-emerald) was contrasted with that for word pairs from different categories which were related functionally (e.g. shampoo-hair, broom-floor, theatre-play). Control subjects showed robust priming for both types of semantic relation. PP, in contrast, showed a normal priming effect for the functionally related conditions but no priming for category co-ordinates. This suggests that PP's semantic memory loss cannot be explained as either one of loss of stored representations or a problem with deliberate controlled access to that information, but has elements of both for different kinds of semantic information.