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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 22, 2026

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

Published on: February 19, 2018

Semantic memory in object use.

Maria Caterina Silveri¹, Nicoletta Ciccarelli

¹Memory Clinic, Centre for Medicine of the Ageing, Catholic University, Rome, Italy. silveri@rm.unicatt.it

Neuropsychologia

|June 2, 2009

Summary

Semantic conceptual knowledge is vital for object use. While mild semantic deficits preserve object use, severe deficits impair it, though non-semantic memory may offer some compensation.

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuropsychology

Background:

Semantic memory disorders, such as semantic dementia and herpes simplex virus encephalitis, impact conceptual knowledge.
Understanding the relationship between semantic knowledge and object use is crucial for cognitive research.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of semantic conceptual knowledge in object use.
To assess how varying severity of semantic deficits affects object manipulation abilities.

Main Methods:

Studied five patients with semantic memory disorders (four semantic dementia, one HSV encephalitis).
Compared object use, naming, pantomime execution/recognition, and action recognition across different semantic deficit severities.
Assessed performance on a novel tools task and ideational apraxia tasks.

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A Within-Subject Experimental Design using an Object Location Task in Rats

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Published on: May 6, 2021

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Last Updated: Jun 22, 2026

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

Published on: February 19, 2018

A Within-Subject Experimental Design using an Object Location Task in Rats

A Within-Subject Experimental Design using an Object Location Task in Rats

Published on: May 6, 2021

Main Results:

Object use ability correlated with semantic deficit severity, being preserved in mild cases but declining significantly in severe cases.
Naming impairments were generally more pronounced than object use deficits.
Severe semantic deficits led to impairments in object use, pantomime, and action recognition, with some patients exhibiting ideational apraxia-like symptoms.

Conclusions:

Functional semantic knowledge is essential for conventional object use.
Non-semantic memory components, particularly non-declarative memory, can partially compensate for semantic deficits, enabling the use of common objects.