Multiple inputs to episodic memory: words tell another story.
Seven patients with semantic dementia were asked to recall and recognize 10-word lists of object-name vocabulary preselected as either still "known" (correct picture naming and word-picture matching) or now "unknown" (incorrect picture naming and word-picture matching) to each individual patient. The patients showed a significant advantage for known words in immediate free recall after several learning trials and also in delayed recall and recognition. The majority of errors of commission for known words were semantic, whereas phonological errors, especially blends of target words, were produced in the unknown condition. These findings support claims that (a) multiple inputs from semantic and perceptual systems support episodic memory and (b) success in verbal and nonverbal episodic memory tasks is differentially dependent on semantic and perceptual information.
Graham
Kim S
KS
Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, England. kim.graham@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk
Patterson
Karalyn
K
Powis
Jane
J
Drake
Joanna
J
Hodges
John R
JR
D000368:Aged; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D011939:Mental Recall; D010700:Phonetics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014825:Vocabulary