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Category-specific effects in semantic memory: Category–task interactions suggested by fMRI
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Category-specific effects in semantic memory: Category–task interactions suggested by fMRI

Murray Grossman, Phyllis Koenig, John Kounios, Corey McMillan, Melissa Work and Peachie Moore
NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.), v 30(3), pp 1003-1009
2006
PMID: 16413792

Abstract

Temporal fMRI Semantic memory
Much work has investigated the neural representation of specific categories of knowledge, but relatively scant attention has been paid in the cognitive neuroscience literature to the semantic processes that contribute to semantic memory. In this study, we monitored regional cortical activity with fMRI while healthy young adults evaluated visually displayed NATURAL KIND, ARTIFACT, and ABSTRACT nouns with two standard tasks: Typicality judgments and Pleasantness judgments. We observed a significant interaction effect between the category of knowledge and the type of judgment used to evaluate members of these semantic categories. Typicality judgments recruited greater temporal–occipital activation relative to Pleasantness judgments of the same category, and this was seen for comparisons of all three semantic categories. However, when contrasted with Typicality judgments, Pleasantness judgments activated a different anatomic distribution for each semantic category. These findings are consistent with a dynamic approach to semantic memory that includes at least two components: semantic knowledge and semantic processes that interpret this knowledge in several ways depending on the particular semantic challenge.

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16 citations in Scopus

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Neuroimaging
Neurosciences
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
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