Neural Systems Underlying Visual Recognition in Humans.
Abstract
Recent findings from our laboratory indicate that brain-damaged patients can manifest category-specific defects in the retrieval of conceptual knowledge for concrete entities. For example, patients may lose the ability to recognize many animals, but remain entirely normal in their ability to recognize tools; or the reverse may occur. These findings raise interesting questions about the mechanisms of knowledge retrieval defects. It has been suggested, for example, that category-related recognition defects are attributable to the origin of the entities, in terms of whether they are natural (animate, living) or artifactual (manufactured, inanimate, nonliving) (e.g., Warrington & Shallice, 1984). This account has been challenged by those who have seen these defects as a reflection of factors such as familiarity, frequency, and prototypicality (e.g., Farah et al., 1991; Funnell & Sheridan, 1992; Stewart et al., 1992); or as a reflection of the underlying 'difficulty' that makes some entities inherently harder to recognize (e.g., Capitani et al., 1994).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA327400
Entities
People
- Antonio R. Damasio
Organizations
- University of Iowa