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Original Articles

Neuropsychological evidence for the temporal dynamics of category-specific naming

, , , &
Pages 79-99 | Received 26 Oct 2016, Accepted 25 Apr 2017, Published online: 06 Jun 2017
 

ABSTRACT

Multiple accounts have been proposed to explain category-specific recognition impairments. Some suggest that category-specific deficits may be caused by a deficit in recurrent processing between the levels of a hierarchically organized visual object recognition system. Here, we tested predictions of interactive processing theories on the emergence of category-selective naming deficits in neurologically intact observers and in patient GA, a single case showing a category-specific impairment for natural objects after a herpes simplex encephalitis infection. Fragmented object outlines were repeatedly presented until correct naming occurred (maximum 10 times), and the fragments increased in length with every repetition. We studied how shape complexity, object category, and fragment curvature influence the timing of correct object identification. The results of a survival analysis are consistent with the idea that deficits in recurrent processing between low- and high-level visual object representations can cause category-selective impairments.

Acknowledgements

The first version of this paper was written as a chapter in KT’s PhD thesis supervised jointly by SP, JW, and GWH. In this way, Glyn was able to approve of the work and the main gist of the paper before he passed away. We are proud to honour his contribution to our neuropsychological studies by the publication of this joint paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by long-term structural funding (METH/08/02 and METH/14/02) by the Flemish Government, awarded to JW. KT received travel awards from the Fund for Scientific Research (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Flanders) and from the Academische Stichting Leuven to carry out the study in GWH’s lab. CRG was supported by a Sir Henry Wellcome Trust (098771/Z/12/Z).