The Neuropsychology of Semantic Memory
Elizabeth Warrington
National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
Queen Square, London
Prerequisites: Course will be of most interest
to residents of Neurology and to graduate students in Neuropsychology.
Session 1: In this session I will give a brief historical
introduction to the evolution of the concept of semantic memory as a distinct
class of memory. This will be followed by a detailed account of
the core features of semantic memory and its relationship with other cognitive
systems.
Session 2: Disorders of semantic memory fractionate into semantic
category specific impairments and modality specific impairments. These
syndromes will be described.
Session 3: Semantic access disorders will be described and contrasted
with semantic storages disorders.
Session 4: The neurological condition semantic dementia will be
described and contrasted with degenerative conditions.
Each session will be illustrated with videos.
Reading List
Forde, E. M. E. & Humphreys, G. W. (1997). A semantic
locus for refractory behaviour: implications for access-storage distinctions
and the nature of semantic memory. Cognitive Neuropsychology 14, 367-402.
Hodges, J. R., Patterson, K., & Tyler, L. K. (1994). Loss of semantic
memory: implications for the modularity of mind. Cognitive Neuropsychology
11, 505-542.
McCarthy, R. A. & Warrington, E. K. (1994). Disorders of semantic memory.
Philos.Trans.R.Soc.Lond B Biol.Sci. 346, 89-96.
McKenna, P. & Warrington, E. K. (2000). The neuropsychology of semantic
memory. In Handbook of Neuropsychology, ed. Cermak, L., pp. 331-358.
Saffran, E. M. & Schwartz, M. F. (1994). Of cabbages and things: semantic
memory from a neuropsychological perspective - a tutorial review. Attention
and Performance 25, 507-536.
Shelton, J. R. & Caramazza, A. (2001). The organization of semantic memory.,
ed. Rapp, B. C., pp. 423-443. Psychology Press, Hove.
Warrington, E. K. (1975). The selective impairment of semantic memory. Q.J.Exp.Psychol.
27, 635-657.
Warrington, E. K. & McCarthy, R. A. (1987). Categories of knowledge.
Further fractionations and an attempted integration. Brain 110, 1273-1296.