Development of shared information in communication despite hippocampal amnesia

Julie Hengst; Daniel Tranel; Melissa C Duff; Neal J Cohen

doi:10.1038/nn1601

Back

Development of shared information in communication despite hippocampal amnesia

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Development of shared information in communication despite hippocampal amnesia

Julie Hengst, Daniel Tranel, Melissa C Duff and Neal J Cohen

Nature neuroscience, Vol.9(1), pp.140-146

01/2006

DOI: 10.1038/nn1601

PMID: 16341214

View Online

Abstract

This study investigated the ability of individuals with amnesia to acquire referential labels across a series of collaborative, dynamic interactions with a communication partner. Despite their inability to learn arbitrary relations in paired-associate learning, the amnesic patients showed remarkably robust collaborative learning across trials, at a rate equal to that of normal comparison subjects. The amnesic participants' learning resulted in their arriving at labels for a set of abstract shapes (tangrams), thus facilitating rapid and efficient communication. The labels generated and used by the amnesics during interactions with their partners became simpler across trials, with most labels stabilizing long before the end of training and then being used consistently throughout; moreover, they endured long after the task had ended. These findings have important implications for understanding the memory systems involved in semantic learning and in acquiring shared knowledge ('common ground') among communication partners, and the nature of hippocampal-dependent versus hippocampal-independent learning.

Details

Title: Subtitle: Development of shared information in communication despite hippocampal amnesia
Creators: Julie Hengst - Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Daniel Tranel - Department of Neurology, University of Iowa
Melissa C Duff - Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Neal J Cohen - Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Nature neuroscience, Vol.9(1), pp.140-146
DOI: 10.1038/nn1601
PMID: 16341214
NLM abbreviation: Nat Neurosci
ISSN: 1097-6256
eISSN: 1546-1726
Language: English
Date published: 01/2006
Academic Unit: Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984002444202771

Metrics

13 Record Views

101 Times Cited - Web of Science