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Published on: August 30, 2011
Intact priming for novel perceptual representations in amnesia
1University of California, San Diego.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
|August 23, 2013
Summary
Priming, the enhancement of stimulus processing, can occur for new stimuli without prior memory. This perceptual priming is independent of declarative memory systems, as shown in amnesic patients.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Memory Research
Background:
- Theories suggest priming for novel stimuli like pseudowords may rely on existing memory representations or stimulus components.
- Alternative view posits priming reflects the creation of new perceptual representations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether priming for novel stimuli (pseudowords, nonwords) involves new representations or activation of familiar ones.
- To differentiate the mechanisms of perceptual priming and recognition memory.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments assessed perceptual identification priming and recognition memory.
- Used amnesic patients and control subjects with novel and familiar letter strings.
- Tested priming for words, pseudowords, and orthographically illegal nonwords.
Main Results:
- Perceptual priming for words, pseudowords, and illegal nonwords was intact in amnesic patients after single exposure.
- Recognition memory was impaired in amnesic patients for the same items.
- Priming for words and pseudowords was greater than for illegal nonwords.
Conclusions:
- Single-exposure priming can depend on the creation of new perceptual representations.
- This form of priming is independent of brain structures crucial for declarative memory.
- Priming mechanisms may differ for wordlike stimuli versus nonword stimuli.
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