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Related Concept Videos

Encoding01:19

Encoding

Information enters the brain through encoding, which is the input of information into the memory system. Once sensory information is received from the environment, the brain labels or codes it. The information is then organized with similar information and connected to existing concepts. Encoding occurs through automatic processing and effortful processing.
Automatic processing involves the encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words, usually done without conscious...
Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior01:28

Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior

Automatic processing refers to the cognitive operations that occur without conscious intent or awareness, playing a fundamental role in shaping social cognition and behavior. These processes enable individuals to navigate complex social environments efficiently by relying on mental shortcuts and pre-existing knowledge structures known as schemas. One of the most influential mechanisms underlying automatic processing is priming, which subtly activates mental representations through exposure to...
Storage01:23

Storage

A schema is a mental framework that helps individuals organize and interpret information. Schemata, formed from previous experiences, influence how we process new information: how we encode it, the inferences we make, and how we retrieve it. For instance, a schema for what a typical classroom looks like might include desks, a teacher's desk, a whiteboard, and students in such an environment. This expectation helps us quickly understand and navigate new classrooms without needing to analyze each...
Empathy02:34

Empathy

Some researchers suggest that altruism operates on empathy. Empathy is the capacity to understand another person’s perspective, to feel what he or she feels. An empathetic person makes an emotional connection with others and feels compelled to help (Batson, 1991). Empathy can be expressed in several ways, including cognitive, affective, and motor.
Parallel Processing01:20

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 14, 2026

A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential (ERP) Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder
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Person- and place-selective neural substrates for entity-specific semantic access.

Scott L Fairhall1, Stefano Anzellotti2, Silvia Ubaldi3

  • 1Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy and Cognitive Neuropsychology Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|February 22, 2013
PubMed
Summary

Brain regions involved in semantic processing show category-specific responses for people and places. These findings reveal how object category influences semantic knowledge organization in the brain.

Keywords:
conceptsdomainfacesemanticunique entities

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuroimaging

Background:

  • Object category significantly impacts visual cortex representations.
  • The influence of category on semantic/conceptual processing is less understood.
  • Semantic knowledge about specific entities (people, places) is crucial for cognition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate category-selective semantic processing in the human brain.
  • To identify brain regions involved in accessing entity-specific semantic information.
  • To determine if semantic representations are independent of the access method (word vs. picture).

Main Methods:

  • Two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments were conducted.
  • Experiment 1: Assessed category-selective increases during entity-specific semantic access (e.g., nationality) versus general category discrimination (person vs. place).
  • Experiment 2: Presented words or pictures to evaluate the supramodal nature of semantic representations.

Main Results:

  • Brain regions showing category-selective increases for entity-specific semantic access were identified.
  • These regions exhibited supramodal (word/picture) category-selective responses.
  • Specific regions were implicated: medial precuneus for people, and retrosplenial complex/transverse occipital sulcus/parahippocampal gyrus for places.
  • These responses differed from classical perceptual category-selective responses.

Conclusions:

  • Object category profoundly influences cortical organization, extending to semantic knowledge.
  • Specific brain regions are selectively involved in processing semantic information about people and places.
  • Semantic representations for entities are, to some extent, independent of the modality of information access.