5 Semantic Memory, Priming, and Skill Learning in Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter describes some of the recent research concerning non-episodic forms of memory in patients with AD, and discusses the implications of this research for the understanding of the organization of memory in the brain. The chapter describes several studies which examines the effect of AD on the structure and organization of semantic memory. The chapter then discusses long-term (that is, over the course of minutes) priming in AD patients, and examines a possible relationship between these patients priming and semantic memory abilities. The chapter deals with a number of possible mechanisms underlying the priming performance of AD patients. Finally, studies examining the ability of AD patients to acquire and retain motor and cognitive skills (that is, procedural memory) is briefly described. Recent investigations of different forms of non-episodic forms of memory in patients with AD have begun to delineate the extent of these patients' impaired and preserved memory capacities. In addition to furthering the knowledge about the neuropsychological deficits associated with Alzheimer's disease, these studies may lead to important information about the necessary and sufficient conditions for the normal operation of semantic and implicit memory.