A unified model of human semantic knowledge and its disorders

Lang Chen (), Matthew A. Lambon Ralph () and Timothy T. Rogers ()
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Lang Chen: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Matthew A. Lambon Ralph: Neuroscience and Aphasia Research Unit (NARU), School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester
Timothy T. Rogers: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Nature Human Behaviour, 2017, vol. 1, issue 3, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract How is knowledge about the meanings of words and objects represented in the human brain? Current theories embrace two radically different proposals: either distinct cortical systems have evolved to represent different kinds of things, or knowledge for all kinds is encoded within a single domain-general network. Neither view explains the full scope of relevant evidence from neuroimaging and neuropsychology. Here we propose that graded category-specificity emerges in some components of the semantic network through joint effects of learning and network connectivity. We test the proposal by measuring connectivity amongst cortical regions implicated in semantic representation, then simulating healthy and disordered semantic processing in a deep neural network whose architecture mirrors this structure. The resulting neuro-computational model explains the full complement of neuroimaging and patient evidence adduced in support of both domain-specific and domain-general approaches, reconciling long-standing disputes about the nature and origins of this uniquely human cognitive faculty.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-016-0039

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