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Large, colorful or noisy? Attribute and modality-specific activations during retrieval of perceptual attribute knowledge.
Authors:
KELLENBACH, M.L., BRETT, M. & PATTERSON, K.
Reference:
Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 1 (3) 207-221
Year of publication:
2001
CBU number:
5065
Abstract:
PET was used to investigate whether retrieval of perceptual knowledge from long-term memory activates unique cortical regions associated with the modality and/or attribute type retrieved. Knowledge about the typical colour, size and sound of common objects and animals was probed, in response to written words naming the objects. Relative to a non-semantic control task, all attribute judgements activated similar left temporal and frontal regions. Visual (colour, size) knowledge selectively activated right posterior inferior temporal (PIT) cortex, while sound judgements elicited selective activation in left posterior superior temporal gyrus and adjacent parietal cortex. All of the attribute judgements activated a left PIT region, but colour retrieval generated more activation in this area. Size judgements activated right medial parietal cortex. These results indicate that the retrieval of perceptual semantic information activates not only a general semantic network but also cortical areas specialised for the modality and attribute type of the knowledge retrieved.
