Authors:

Rogers, T.T., Hocking, J., Nopenney, U., Mechelli, A., PATTERSON, K. & Price, C.J.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2006

CBU number:

6280

Abstract:

Studies of semantic impairment arising from brain disease suggest that the anterior temporal lobes are critical for conceptual knowledge in humans, yet activation of these regions is rarely reported in functional imaging studies of healthy controls performing semantic tasks. Here we combine neuropsychological and functional imagaing data to show that, when healthy participants identify concepts at a specific level, the regions activated correspond to the site of maximal atrophy in patients with relatively pure semantic impairment. The stimuli were color photgraphs of common animals or vehicles, and the task was category verification at specific (e.g. robin), intermediate (e.g. bird) or general (e.g. animal) levels. Specific relative to general categorisation activated antero-lateral temporal cortices bilaterally, despite matching of these two experimental conditions for difficulty. Critically, in patients with atrophy in precisely these areas, the most pronounced deficit is in the retrieval of specific semantic information. Was previous titled: The role of anterior temporal cortex in semantic memory: Reconciling findings from neuropsychology and functional imaging