LEXICAL-SEMANTIC PRIMING AND DEMENTIA

Alzheimer's disease is marked by loss of semantic memory. The neuropsychological experimental task known as priming (wherein recognition or recall is enhanced by prior exposure) is a pure measure of semantic memory. The study of the nature of the underlying semantic memory impairment in dementia has progressed through the contribution of the priming literature. This article will review past and current trends in priming research specifically related to Alzheimer's disease. The me thodologies and findings of previous experimental literature will be discussed in attempts to demonstrate the controversies and scientific evidence-building regarding the language deterioration in dementia of the Alzheimer's type.