Successful transverse patterning in amnesia using semantic knowledge
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Motor and Hippocampal Dependent Spatial Learning and Reference Memory Assessment in a Transgenic Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease with Stroke
Published on: March 22, 2016
Sandra N Moses1, Melanie L Ostreicher, R Shayna Rosenbaum
1Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Canada. smoses@rotman-baycrest.on.ca
Abstract:
We examined whether alternate systems compensate for deficient ones to process relations in amnesia. Transverse patterning (TP), a test of relating items to one another in memory, is reliably impaired in amnesia and has played a central role in testing hippocampal function. We facilitated successful TP in amnesia by providing familiar stimuli with semantically meaningful relationships. Tapping semantic knowledge allowed TP to be solved via extrahippocampal structures. Our work shows that by framing a situation as meaningful we can engage alternate neural systems to compensate for impairments.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Amnesia
The severity and duration of memory loss vary depending on the type and underlying cause. Amnesia is classified into two main types: retrograde and anterograde.
Retrograde amnesia is marked by the loss of memories formed before the onset of the condition. Patients may recall distant past events but often forget those occurring shortly before the incident.
Anterograde...
Visual Agnosia
Dissociative Amnesia
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory
Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon
Mnemonic Devices
Acronyms
Acronyms are created by using the initial letters of a series of words to form a new word or phrase. This approach condenses complex information into a single, memorable entity. For example,...

