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Deficits of knowledge versus executive control in semantic cognition: insights from cued naming
Jefferies E, Patterson K, Ralph MA.. Neuropsychologia, 2007-09-18
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Deficits of semantic cognition in semantic dementia and in aphasia consequent on CVA (stroke) are qualitatively different. Patients with semantic dementia are characterised by progressive degradation of central semantic representations, whereas multimodal semantic deficits in stroke aphasia reflect impairment of executive processes that help to direct and control semantic activation in a task-appropriate fashion [Jefferies, E., & Lambon Ralph, M. A. (2006). Semantic impairment in stroke aphasia vs. semantic dementia: A case-series comparison. Brain 129, 2132-2147]. We explored interactions between these two aspects of semantic cognition by examining the effects of cumulative phonemic cueing on picture naming in case series of these two types of patient. The stroke aphasic patients with multimodal semantic deficits cued very readily and demonstrated near-perfect name retrieval when cumulative phonemic cues reached or exceeded the target name's uniqueness point. Therefore, knowledge of the picture names was largely intact for the aphasic patients, but they were unable to retrieve this information without cues that helped to direct activation towards the target response. Equivalent phonemic cues engendered significant but much more limited benefit to the semantic dementia patients: their naming was still severely impaired even when most of the word had been provided. In contrast to the pattern in the stroke aphasia group, successful cueing was mainly confined to the more familiar un-named pictures. We propose that this limited cueing effect in semantic dementia follows from the fact that concepts deteriorate in a graded fashion [Rogers, T. T., Lambon Ralph, M. A., Garrard, P., Bozeat, S., McClelland, J. L., & Hodges, J. R., et al. (2004). The structure and deterioration of semantic memory: A neuropsychological and computational investigation. Psychological Review 111, 205-235]. For partially degraded items, the residual conceptual knowledge may be insufficient to drive speech production to completion but these items might reach threshold when they are bolstered by cues.
Key findings
- The stroke aphasic patients with multimodal semantic deficits cued very readily and demonstrated near-perfect name retrieval when cumulative phonemic cues reached or exceeded the target name's uniqueness point.
- Equivalent phonemic cues engendered significant but much more limited benefit to the semantic dementia patients: their naming was still severely impaired even when most of the word had been provided.
Why it matters
In stroke aphasia, patients could name pictures almost perfectly once given enough phonemic cues, suggesting their word knowledge was intact but hard to access without help. In semantic dementia, the same cues gave only limited benefit, and naming stayed severely impaired even when most of the word was provided, indicating the underlying knowledge itself was degraded.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 44/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neuropsychologia) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Neuropsychologia: journal h-index 321 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2008 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 206 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 10.3 citations a year over 20 year(s) since 2008 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 15 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Matthew A. Lambon Ralph: h-index 105 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Manchester: institution h-index 1,304 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 17961610) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 44 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.09.007
- PubMed: 17961610
- Original source →
- Free full text: Neuropsychologia →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Jefferies, E., Patterson, K., & Ralph, M. A. (2008). Deficits of knowledge versus executive control in semantic cognition: insights from cued naming. Neuropsychologia. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.09.007
Vancouver
Jefferies E, Patterson K, Ralph MA. Deficits of knowledge versus executive control in semantic cognition: insights from cued naming. Neuropsychologia. 2008. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.09.007. PMID: 17961610.
BibTeX
@article{jefferies2008-17961610,
author = {Jefferies, E. and Patterson, K. and Ralph, M. A.},
title = {{Deficits of knowledge versus executive control in semantic cognition: insights from cued naming}},
journal = {Neuropsychologia},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.09.007},
pmid = {17961610},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.09.007}
}
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