Rapid response learning in amnesia: delineating associative learning components in repetition priming
David M Schnyer1, Ian G Dobbins, Lindsay Nicholls
1Memory Disorders Research Center, Boston VA Healthcare System, Boston University School of Medicine , 150 South Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02130-4817, USA. dschnyer@bu.edu
Neuropsychologia
|May 17, 2005
Summary
Repeated object exposure shifts priming from memory access to response learning. This suggests that with more practice, the brain uses a faster, learned response rather than recalling object information.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuropsychology
Background:
- Priming studies often assume repetition enhances initial processing.
- This study investigates an alternative: repetition may engage response learning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if repeated object exposure shifts priming from memory access to response learning.
- To determine the neural basis of this shift.
Main Methods:
- An object priming paradigm with relative size judgments was used.
- Experiment 1: Inverted decision cues to invalidate previous judgments.
- Experiment 2: Amnesia patients assessed for priming effects.
Main Results:
- Decision inversion reduced multiple-repetition priming to single-repetition levels.
- Amnesia patients showed no multiple-repetition priming advantage.
- Response learning, unlike object knowledge access, depends on medial temporal lobes.
Conclusions:
- Behavioral facilitation with repetition reflects a shift towards response learning.
- This efficient response learning mechanism, not just memory access, increasingly mediates priming.
- Medial temporal lobe integrity is crucial for this repetition-dependent response learning.
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