Anästhesiologie
Research group "Structure of semantic memory"
Funded by the German Research Community (DFG) and the European Social Foundation (ESF)
Humans store a considerable amount of conceptual knowledge about objects in semantic memory, a part of long-term memory. On the grounds of selective semantic memory deficits for specific semantic objects categories (e.g., animals or tools) in brain-lesioned patients and subsequently described effects of semantic category on reaction times and brain activation, it has been suggested that such category-specific effect reflect semantic memory structure to some extend. However, it is still a matter of debate, which organizational principles of semantic memory structure underlie these effects. In this research project, we focus on the issue whether distinct knowledge aspects are differentially relevant for semantic categories. We assume that visual knowledge is more relevant for representing objects from natural categories (e.g. animals) while functional-action-related knowledge is more relevant for representing artifactual categories (e.g. tools). Using neurophysiological techniques, we investigate whether category-specific brain activation for real and for artificial, but similarly designed object categories is modulated by the task context probing different knowledge aspects (visual vs. functional-action-related). If we can demonstrate such a modulation and if the modulation is comparable for real and artificial objects, this would strongly strengthen the view that semantic memory is comprised of several subsystems representing knowledge aspects differentially relevant for different object categories. Besides these scientific questions, we collaborate with the Transfer Centre for Neurosciences and Learning in Ulm (
ZNL Ulm) in order to apply our findings for scholastic and occupational education. In a clinical context, we investigate dysfunctional semantic processes in patients with schizophrenia as a possible cause of schizophrenic thought disorder.
Members of the research group
Markus Kiefer, Ph.D. (principal investigator) Tel. +49 (0)731/500-61532
Klaus Hönig, Ph.D. (research associate) Tel. +49 (0)731/500-61539
Eun-Jin Sim, Ph.D. (research associate) Tel. +49 (0)731/500-61535
Dipl.-Biol. Natalie Trumpp (doctoral student/research asociate)
Sabrina Brückner (diploma student/research assistant)
Nicole Lutz (research assistant)
Lana Rohr (research assistant)
Hanna Schneegans (research assistant)
Marius Raab (research assistant)
Selected References
"Brain-friendly learning in vocational education"
This flyer describes evidence-based guidelines for optimized learning in vocational education. It has been developed in cooperation with vocational instructors at Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH in Giengen, Germany.
Kiefer, M., & Spitzer, M. (2001). The limits of a distributed account of conceptual knowledge. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5, 469-471.
Kiefer, M. (2005). Repetition priming modulates category-related effects on event-related potentials: Further evidence for multiple cortical semantic systems. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 199-211.
Kiefer, M., Sim, E.-J., Liebich, S., Hauk, O. & Tanaka, J. (2007).
Experience-dependent plasticity of conceptual representations in human
sensory-motor areas. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 525-542.
Sim, E.-J. & Kiefer, M. (2005). Category-related brain activity to natural categories is associated with the retrieval of visual features: Evidence from repetition effects during visual and functional judgments. Cognitive Brain Research, 24, 260-273.
Hoenig, K., Sim, E.-J., Bochev, V., Herrnberger, B., & Kiefer, M. (2008). Conceptual flexibility in the human brain: Dynamic recruitment of semantic maps from visual, motor and motion-related areas. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20, 1799-1814.
Kiefer, M., Sim, E.-J., Herrnberger, B., Grothe, J., & Hoenig, K. (2008). The sound of concepts: Four markers for a link between auditory and conceptual brain systems. The Journal of Neuroscience, 28, 12224-12230.
Cooperations
In the course of this project we cooperate with:
Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
(Plant Giengen, Division for technical Education)
Markus Graf
(Max-Planck-Institut for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, München)
Olaf Hauk
(MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK)
Hannah Helbig
(Max-Planck-Institut for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen)
Friedemann Pulvermüller
(MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK)
Rasha Abdel Rahman
(Humboldt-University at Berlin)
Stefan Schweinberger
(Friedrich Schiller University of Jena)
Werner Sommer
(Humboldt-University at Berlin)
James Tanaka
(University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada)
ZF-Lenksysteme
(Plant Schwäbisch Gmünd, Division for Education)
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