SEMANTIC MEMORY IMPAIRMENTS FOLLOWING NONPROGRESSIVE BRAIN INJURY - ASTUDY OF 4 CASES

Four brain-injured subjects with semantic memory impairments are descr ibed. Two had sustained traumatic head injury and two had herpes simpl ex virus encephalitis. The study seeks to determine (a) whether subjec ts with non-progressive brain injury and impaired semantic memory perf orm similarly to patients with progressive disorders on a semantic mem ory battery and (b) whether the anatomical lesions of the present grou p of subjects are similar to those seen in patients with progressive d isorders. Results suggests that scores on the semantic memory battery are broadly similar for patients with progressive and non-progressive disorders. Information from magnetic resonance imaging scans supports other findings that the crucial area involved in semantic memory lies in the left temporal neocortex.