Journal article
The hippocampus and semantic memory over time
Brain and language, Vol.201, pp.104711-104711
02/2020
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104711
PMCID: PMC7577377
PMID: 31739112
Abstract
We previously reported impoverished semantic memory in patients with hippocampal amnesia (Klooster & Duff, 2015). Here, we test whether this disruption results from the patients not updating semantic representations since the onset of their amnesia. We extend previous work by comparing performance of hippocampal patients and their current age (CA) comparisons (M = 58.5 years) to a new comparison group matched to the patients' age of onset (AoO) of hippocampal damage (M = 36.8). Participants completed feature and senses-listing tasks and the Word Associates Test. Both comparison groups performed significantly better than the patients with amnesia. A key new finding was that the older CA group performed significantly better than the younger AoO group. Semantic memory may become richer over time as additional information is added to existing representations. We conclude that a failure to update semantic memory may explain (at least some of) the previously observed deficits in amnesia and that the hippocampus may support semantic memory across the lifespan. Longitudinal data from patients with hippocampal pathology would provide a critical test of our conclusion.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The hippocampus and semantic memory over time
- Creators
- Nathaniel B Klooster - Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, United States; Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, United StatesDaniel Tranel - Department of Neurology, Division of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, United States. Electronic address: daniel-tranel@uiowa.eduMelissa C Duff - Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Brain and language, Vol.201, pp.104711-104711
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104711
- PMID
- 31739112
- PMCID
- PMC7577377
- NLM abbreviation
- Brain Lang
- ISSN
- 0093-934X
- eISSN
- 1090-2155
- Publisher
- Netherlands
- Grant note
- T32 HD071844 / NICHD NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/2020
- Academic Unit
- Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984070987902771
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