Vallet Guillaume, Simard Martine, Fortin Claudette, Versace Rémy, Mazza Stéphanie
École de psychologie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
Geriatr Psychol Neuropsychiatr Vieil. 2011 Sep;9(3):327-35. doi: 10.1684/pnv.2011.0276.
The nature of knowledge and its relationship with the perceptual processes are among the most central issues in the study of human cognition. Should knowledge be abstract, then semantic memory and perception should be relatively independent. On the contrary, if knowledge is sensory-dependent, then memory and perception should be very close. The first view is supported by the multiple system approach of memory, whereas the second view is supported by the single-store memory theories. One way to study these links is through the category-specific impairment and the sensory-functional theory (SFT). Category-specific impairment is generally observed for living items compared to artefacts. The SFT explains this deficit by defining living items as essentially based on perception. In the abstract view of knowledge, a living deficit should be related to a deficit in processing sensory knowledge. On the opposite, the sensory-dependent view states that this deficit results from perception impairment. This article focuses on the relations between knowledge and perception in semantic dementia (SD). SD is characterized by a progressive loss of semantic knowledge, making it particularly interesting to study. This article first focuses on the SFT, to explain the category-specific impairment. The issue of perceptual processing in SD is then reviewed from the lowest level (senses) to the highest level of perception (multimodal integration). The data demonstrated normal perception for these patients. However, visual integration appeared to be impaired for existing knowledge. This result is discussed in relation with a possible involvement of the anterior temporal lobes. These regions are known to be the most vulnerable in SD. Recently these regions have also been shown to be involved in the multimodal integration. Taken together, these data suggest that perception and knowledge could be linked and partially explained by the SFT. Finally, the data support the sensory-dependent approaches of memory.
知识的本质及其与感知过程的关系是人类认知研究中最核心的问题之一。如果知识是抽象的，那么语义记忆和感知应该相对独立。相反，如果知识依赖于感官，那么记忆和感知应该紧密相连。第一种观点得到了记忆多系统方法的支持，而第二种观点则得到了单存储记忆理论的支持。研究这些联系的一种方法是通过类别特异性损伤和感觉功能理论（SFT）。与人工制品相比，通常在生物类别上观察到类别特异性损伤。SFT通过将生物类别定义为基本上基于感知来解释这种缺陷。在知识的抽象观点中，生物类别缺陷应该与处理感官知识的缺陷相关。相反，感官依赖观点认为这种缺陷是由感知损伤导致的。本文重点关注语义性痴呆（SD）中知识与感知的关系。SD的特征是语义知识的逐渐丧失，这使得它成为特别有趣的研究对象。本文首先关注SFT，以解释类别特异性损伤。然后从最低水平（感官）到最高水平的感知（多模态整合）对SD中的感知处理问题进行综述。数据表明这些患者的感知正常。然而，对于现有知识，视觉整合似乎受损。结合颞叶前部可能的参与来讨论这一结果。已知这些区域在SD中最易受损。最近还表明这些区域参与了多模态整合。综上所述，这些数据表明感知和知识可能是相关的，并且可以由SFT部分解释。最后，数据支持记忆的感官依赖方法。
