Category-Specific Knowledge

Questions about the organization of conceptual knowledge in the human brain can be addressed through category-specific semantic deficits: disproportionate and even selective impairment of conceptual knowledge of one category of objects compared to other categories. Recently, consensus has emerged regarding the basic facts of category-specific semantic deficits: (1) the categories that can be disproportionately impaired/spared are ‘animals,’ ‘fruit/vegetables,’ and ‘artifacts’; and (2) category-specific semantic deficits are not associated with disproportionate deficits for a type or modality of knowledge. These facts, together with findings in functional neuroimaging, indicate a complex organization of conceptual knowledge characterized by several independent dimensions of organization.