Elucidation of semantic organization in the brain using functional neuroimaging: a review.

How the human brain organizes semantic information has been the subject of debate over the past 20 years. Numerous cases of modality-specific and category-specific semantic deficits have fueled this controversy. Based on this literature, we have proposed a matrix theory of semantic organization (Crosson, Cato, Sadek, & Lu, 2000) that includes three dimensions: modality, category, and attribute. More recently, functional neuroimaging has been used to interrogate the neural substrates of modality- and category-specific processing. However, the contribution of imaging to this endeavor is relatively young. Consequently, findings across imaging studies have led to disparate conclusions. This article reviews competing theories of semantic organization in the brain and provides supporting and refuting evidence for each, incorporating examples from the imaging literature. This literature does provide some support for distinct neural substrates that process specific semantic attributes. Theory-driven research is needed to dissociate modalities, categories, and attributes. Copyright © 2001 by Aspen Publishers, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]