Dissociation between function and manipulation in semantic representations of motor impaired subjects : a new test

Abstract

Abstract: A fundamental problem in semantic cognition is the representation of human concepts in the brain. Much of the knowledge acquired in the last decades comes from the study of dissociations found in pa- tients with acquired di culties in language, perception and action. In particular some de cits involve loss of knowledge about tools. The dissociation between two relevant aspects about tools: function and manipulation, has been the object of several studies. In this paper a new test to study the dissociation between function and manipulation is proposed and reference values are de ned for a control population. Furthermore, the test has been administered to a group of Parkin- son's disease patients. The controlled, graded, hub-and-spoke model of Lambon Ralph, Je eries, Patterson and Rogers was used as a the- oretical guide to interpret the results.