The relationship between the semantic processing of words and of pictures
is a matter of debate among cognitive scientists. We studied the
functional anatomy of such processing by using positron-emission
tomography (PET). We contrasted activity during two semantic tasks
(probing knowledge of associations between concepts, and knowledge
of the visual attributes of these concepts) and a baseline task (discrimination
of physical stimulus size), performed either with words or with pictures.
Modality-specific activations unrelated to semantic processing occurred
in the left inferior parietal lobule for words, and the right middle
occipital gyrus for pictures. A semantic network common to both words
and pictures extended from the left superior occipital gyrus through
the middle and inferior temporal cortex to the inferior frontal gyrus.
A picture-specific activation related to semantic tasks occurred
in the left posterior inferior temporal sulcus, and word-specific
activations related to semantic tasks were localized to the left
superior temporal sulcus, left anterior middle temporal gyrus, and
left inferior frontal sulcus. Thus semantic tasks activate a distributed
semantic processing system shared by both words and pictures, with
a few specific areas differentially active for either words or pictures.
%0 Journal Article
%1 Vandenberghe1996a
%A Vandenberghe, R.
%A Price, C.
%A Wise, R.
%A Josephs, O.
%A Frackowiak, R. S.
%D 1996
%J Nature
%K Adult; Aged; Agnosia; Auditory Brain Brain; Emission-Computed; Humans; Lobe; Male; Mapping; Middle Occipital Parietal Perception Perception; Semantics; Speech Tomography, Visual
%P 254--256
%R 10.1038/383254a0
%T Functional anatomy of a common semantic system for words and pictures.
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/383254a0
%V 383
%X The relationship between the semantic processing of words and of pictures
is a matter of debate among cognitive scientists. We studied the
functional anatomy of such processing by using positron-emission
tomography (PET). We contrasted activity during two semantic tasks
(probing knowledge of associations between concepts, and knowledge
of the visual attributes of these concepts) and a baseline task (discrimination
of physical stimulus size), performed either with words or with pictures.
Modality-specific activations unrelated to semantic processing occurred
in the left inferior parietal lobule for words, and the right middle
occipital gyrus for pictures. A semantic network common to both words
and pictures extended from the left superior occipital gyrus through
the middle and inferior temporal cortex to the inferior frontal gyrus.
A picture-specific activation related to semantic tasks occurred
in the left posterior inferior temporal sulcus, and word-specific
activations related to semantic tasks were localized to the left
superior temporal sulcus, left anterior middle temporal gyrus, and
left inferior frontal sulcus. Thus semantic tasks activate a distributed
semantic processing system shared by both words and pictures, with
a few specific areas differentially active for either words or pictures.
@article{Vandenberghe1996a,
abstract = {The relationship between the semantic processing of words and of pictures
is a matter of debate among cognitive scientists. We studied the
functional anatomy of such processing by using positron-emission
tomography (PET). We contrasted activity during two semantic tasks
(probing knowledge of associations between concepts, and knowledge
of the visual attributes of these concepts) and a baseline task (discrimination
of physical stimulus size), performed either with words or with pictures.
Modality-specific activations unrelated to semantic processing occurred
in the left inferior parietal lobule for words, and the right middle
occipital gyrus for pictures. A semantic network common to both words
and pictures extended from the left superior occipital gyrus through
the middle and inferior temporal cortex to the inferior frontal gyrus.
A picture-specific activation related to semantic tasks occurred
in the left posterior inferior temporal sulcus, and word-specific
activations related to semantic tasks were localized to the left
superior temporal sulcus, left anterior middle temporal gyrus, and
left inferior frontal sulcus. Thus semantic tasks activate a distributed
semantic processing system shared by both words and pictures, with
a few specific areas differentially active for either words or pictures.},
added-at = {2007-12-16T20:00:22.000+0100},
author = {Vandenberghe, R. and Price, C. and Wise, R. and Josephs, O. and Frackowiak, R. S.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2e8aa5bab0a08a0e2499547974e24d201/perceptron},
doi = {10.1038/383254a0},
interhash = {1a02846cc065684de60b5340a4fb792d},
intrahash = {e8aa5bab0a08a0e2499547974e24d201},
journal = {Nature},
keywords = {Adult; Aged; Agnosia; Auditory Brain Brain; Emission-Computed; Humans; Lobe; Male; Mapping; Middle Occipital Parietal Perception Perception; Semantics; Speech Tomography, Visual},
pages = {254--256},
pmid = {8805700},
timestamp = {2007-12-16T20:00:27.000+0100},
title = {Functional anatomy of a common semantic system for words and pictures.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/383254a0},
volume = 383,
year = 1996
}