Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (75)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hodges, J. R.
Right arrow Articles by Spatt, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hodges, J. R.
Right arrow Articles by Spatt, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Brain, Vol. 123, No. 9, 1913-1925, September 2000
© 2000 Oxford University Press

The role of conceptual knowledge in object use Evidence from semantic dementia

John R. Hodges1,2, Sasha Bozeat1, Matthew A. Lambon Ralph1, Karalyn Patterson1 and Josef Spatt3

1 Cognition and Brain Science Unit, Medical Research Council, 2 University of Cambridge Neurology Unit, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK and 3 Neurologie Abteilung, LBI für Epilepsie und Neuromuskuläre Erkrankungen, Neurologisches Krankenhaus Rosenhügel, Vienna, Austria

Correspondence to: Professor John R. Hodges, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 2EF, UK E-mail: john.hodges{at}mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk

It has been reported that patients with semantic dementia function well in everyday life and sometimes show striking preservation of the ability to use objects, even those specific objects for which the patient has degraded conceptual information. To explore this phenomenon in nine cases of semantic dementia, we designed a set of semantic tests regarding 20 everyday objects and compared performance on these with the patients' ability to demonstrate the correct use of the same items. We also administered a test of mechanical problem solving utilizing novel tools, on which the patients had completely normal ability. All but the mildest affected patient showed significant deficits of naming and on the visually based semantic matching tasks. Object use was markedly impaired and, most importantly, correlated strongly with naming and semantic knowledge. In a small number of instances, there was appropriate use of an object for which the patient's knowledge on the semantic matching tasks was no better than chance; but this typically applied to objects with a rather obvious relationship between appearance and use, or was achieved by trial and error. The results suggest that object use is heavily dependent upon object-specific conceptual knowledge, supplemented to some degree by a combination of visual affordances and mechanical problem solving.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 BrainHome page
K. Rascovsky, M. E. Growdon, I. R. Pardo, S. Grossman, and B. L. Miller
'The quicksand of forgetfulness': semantic dementia in One Hundred Years of Solitude
Brain, September 1, 2009; 132(9): 2609 - 2616.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BrainHome page
G. Goldenberg and J. Spatt
The neural basis of tool use
Brain, June 1, 2009; 132(6): 1645 - 1655.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
S. J. H. Ebisch, C. Babiloni, C. Del Gratta, A. Ferretti, M. G. Perrucci, M. Caulo, M. M. Sitskoorn, and G. L. Romani
Human Neural Systems for Conceptual Knowledge of Proper Object Use: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study
Cereb Cortex, November 1, 2007; 17(11): 2744 - 2751.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurol. Neurosurg. PsychiatryHome page
Y Nishio, H Kazui, M Hashimoto, K Shimizu, K Onouchi, S Mochio, K Suzuki, and E Mori
Actions anchored by concepts: defective action comprehension in semantic dementia
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, December 1, 2006; 77(12): 1313 - 1317.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurol. Neurosurg. PsychiatryHome page
N L Graham, T Emery, and J R Hodges
Distinctive cognitive profiles in Alzheimer's disease and subcortical vascular dementia
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, January 1, 2004; 75(1): 61 - 71.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NeurologyHome page
J. R. Hodges
Frontotemporal dementia (Pick's disease): Clinical features and assessment
Neurology, June 12, 2001; 56(90004): S6 - 10.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.