Neural Basis of Semantic Memory

The advent of modern investigative techniques to explore brain function has led to major advances in understanding the neural organization and mechanisms associated with semantic memory. This book presents current theories by leading experts in the field on how the human nervous system stores and recalls memory of objects, actions, words and events. Chapters range from models of a specific domain or memory system (e.g., lexical-semantic, sensorimotor, emotion) to multiple modality accounts; from encompassing memory representations, to processing modules, to network structures, focusing on studies of both normal individuals and those with brain disease. Recent advances in neuro-exploratory techniques allow for investigation of semantic memory mechanisms noninvasively in both normal healthy individuals and patients with diffuse or focal brain damage. This has resulted in a significant increase in findings relevant to the localization and mechanistic function of brain regions engaged in semantic memory, leading to the neural models included here.

• Includes opinions for multiple investigative techniques on the same memory function • Chapters cover normal to brain damaged memory function • Allows for full spectrum perspective of memory

A. Semantic memory: Building Models from Lesions: 1. Semantic refractory access disorders Elizabeth K. Warrington and Sebastian J. Crutch; 2. The anatomical locus of lesion in category-specific semantic disorders and the format of the underlying conceptual representations Guido Gainotti; B. Insights from Electrophysiology: 3. Functional modularity of semantic memory revealed by event-related brain potentials John Kounios; 4. Bilingual semantic memory revisited - ERP and fMRI evidence Sonja A. Kotz and Kerrie E. Elston-Guettler; C. Applications of Models to Understanding Cognitive Dysfunction: 5. Schizophrenia and semantic memory Michal Assaf, Paul Rivkin, Michael Kraut, Vince Calhoun, John Hart and Godfrey Pearlson; D. Representations of Nouns and Verbs vs. Objects and Actions: 6. Effects of word imageability on semantic access: neuroimaging studies Jeffrey R. Binder; 7. The neural systems processing tool and action semantics Uta Noppeney; 8. The semantic representation of nouns and verbs Kevin Shapiro, Argye E. Hillis and Alfonso Caramazza; E. Critical Role of Subcortical Nuclei in Semantic Functions: 9. Role of the basal ganglia in language and semantics: supporting cast Bruce Crosson, Michelle Benjamin and Ilana Levy; F. Conceptual Models of Semantics: 10. Process and content in semantic memory Phyllis Koenig and Murray Grossman; 11. The conceptual structure account: a cognitive model of semantic memory and its neural instantiation Kirsten I. Taylor, Helen E. Moss and Lorraine K. Tyler; 12. Neural foundations for conceptual representations: evidence from functional brain imaging Alex Martin; 13. Neural hybrid model of semantic object memory (version 1.1) John Hart, Jr and Michael A. Kraut.