title: Lexical-semantic processing in the semantic priming paradigm in aphasic patients.
abstract: There is evidence that the explicit lexical-semantic processing deficits which characterize aphasia may be observed in the absence of implicit semantic impairment. The aim of this article was to critically review the international literature on lexical-semantic processing in aphasia, as tested through the semantic priming paradigm. Specifically, this review focused on aphasia and lexical-semantic processing, the methodological strengths and weaknesses of the semantic paradigms used, and recent evidence from neuroimaging studies on lexical-semantic processing. Furthermore, evidence on dissociations between implicit and explicit lexical-semantic processing reported in the literature will be discussed and interpreted by referring to functional neuroimaging evidence from healthy populations. There is evidence that semantic priming effects can be found both in fluent and in non-fluent aphasias, and that these effects are related to an extensive network which includes the temporal lobe, the pre-frontal cortex, the left frontal gyrus, the left temporal gyrus and the cingulated cortex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Personality Psychology, Graduate Studies Program in Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre RS, Brazil. jerusafs@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Jerusa Fumagalli de
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Salles
authors.forename: Candice Steffen
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Holderbaum
authors.forename: Maria Alice Mattos Pimenta
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Parente
authors.forename: Letícia Lessa
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Mansur
authors.forename: Ana Inès
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Ansaldo
mesh_terms: D000849:Anomia / Q000503:physiopathology; D001037:Aphasia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001039:Aphasia, Broca / Q000503:physiopathology; D001041:Aphasia, Wernicke / Q000503:physiopathology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics