# SEMANTIC MEMORY IN NORMAL AGING AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 1992 · $131,837

## Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract):  The goal of this
research is to examine semantic memory impairments associated with DAT.
The research focuses on the cognitive and linguistic causes of the
impairments in object naming and in the comprehension of object names that
are characteristic of the disease.  The theoretical framework for this
work is provided by connectionist models of the lexicon, which address the
representation of lexical knowledge and the computation of lexical codes
in comprehension and production.  This framework provides a basis for
clarifying the distinction between deficits in semantic representation and
in the "access" of semantic information that has been the focus of
previous research.  The comprehension and use of object names is seen as a
complex skill with multiple components that can be individually impaired,
resulting in different degrees of impairment and types of errors.  The
core of the project is a series of behavioral studies examining detailed
aspects of patients' use of object names and their knowledge of concepts
and categories, focusing on impairments in different types of features or
attributes and in their frequencies and intercorrelations.  The principal
goal is to develop an account of how different types of damage to the
normal system result in patients' word-finding and comprehension deficits,
and systematic object naming errors.  The data will also be used as part
of a longer-term project in which the goal is to develop an account of
lexical deficits in DAT over the course of the disease within a general
computational model of lexical processing.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3122067
- **Project number:** 1R01AG010109-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **SAM.gov UEI:** G88KLJR3KYT5
- **Principal Investigator:** MARK S SEIDENBERG
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $131,837
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 1992-06-05 → 1995-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3122067

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3122067, SEMANTIC MEMORY IN NORMAL AGING AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (1R01AG010109-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3122067. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*