CATEGORY-SPECIFIC ANOMIA - IMPLICATION OF DIFFERENT NEURAL NETWORKS IN NAMING

THE occurrence of anemia specifically affecting the ability to name an imals is described in three patients. This deficit is contrasted with their capacity to name actions and tools. It is suggested that it is e asier to access the names of 'operative' items, which were learned thr ough both visual and sensorimotor experience, than the names of 'figur ative' items, which were primarily learned through the visual modality . This hypothesis is consistent with the infero-temporal location of b rain damage in these patients. Their ability to retrieve knowledge abo ut operative items is assumed to be due to the sparing of the occipito -parietal area. Because the impairment also involves the recognition o f animals, the likely locus of damage is the semantic component of the processing system.