Structure of Semantic Memory and its Measurement in Dementia and Aphasia

描述（由申请人提供）：在项目期间，我们将研究语义记忆的结构和退化（即，存储的单词和物体意义的知识），并开发可用于对痴呆症中的损伤进行分期的言语和非言语语义记忆的评估。受训人员的长期目标是作为独立调查员发展和维持这一方案研究路线。K-23指导奖将通过职业发展计划促进这一目标，该计划强调以下目标：1）提高受训者对神经生理学和神经行为测量技术的知识（例如，脑电图，功能磁共振成像）; 2）提高学员的临床研究设计和数据分析的知识; 3）提高学员获得竞争性研究资金的技能。受训人员将在佛罗里达大学进行大部分研究，这是一所主要的研究型大学，其现场资源包括McKnight脑研究所（配备3特斯拉飞利浦MR扫描仪）、尚兹医院（一级创伤中心，设有卫星记忆障碍诊所，用于招募患者）和马尔科姆兰德尔退伍军人事务医疗中心的脑康复研究中心（BRRC）。除了大量的研究基础设施，UF提供了一个优秀的智力社区与认知神经科学和临床神经心理学的著名研究人员。K-23的主要导师包括布鲁斯克罗森博士。和Leslie Gonzalez-Rothi博士其他贡献者包括默里格罗斯曼，医学博士，Edith Kaan博士，Wind Cowles博士，纳丁·马丁博士，和洛里奥特曼博士具体目标如下：1）我们将使用空间敏感（即，（2）我们将开发一种心理测量学上有效的语义记忆测量方法，该方法具有重测信度，可用于对痴呆患者语义记忆的多个组成部分的完整性进行分期。这套知识的组成部分包括：a）词义; B）感知特征; c）抽象属性; d）环境背景; e）联想关系; f）目标功能。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): During the project period we will investigate the structure and deterioration of semantic memory (i.e., stored knowledge of word and object meaning) and develop an assessment of verbal and nonverbal semantic memory that can be used to stage impairment in dementia. The trainee's long-term goal is to develop and sustain this programmatic line of research as an independent investigator. The K-23 mentored award will foster this goal through a career development plan that emphasizes the following objectives: 1)To advance the trainee's knowledge of neurophysiological and neurobehavioral measurement techniques (e.g., electroencephalography, fMRI); 2) To improve the trainee's knowledge of clinical research design and data analysis; and 3) To improve the trainee's skill in obtaining competitive research funding. The trainee will conduct the bulk of his research at the University of Florida, a major research university whose onsite resources include the McKnight Brain Institute (equipped with 3 Tesla Philips MR Scanner), Shands Hospital (level I trauma center with satellite memory disorders clinics for patient recruiting) and the Brain Rehabilitation Research Center (BRRC) of the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In addition to substantial research infrastructure, UF offers an outstanding intellectual community with renowned researchers in cognitive neuroscience and clinical neuropsychology. Primary mentors for the K-23 include Bruce Crosson, Ph.D. and Leslie Gonzalez-Rothi, Ph.D. Additional contributors include Murray Grossman, M.D., Edith Kaan, Ph.D., Wind Cowles, Ph.D., Nadine Martin, Ph.D., and Lori Altmann, Ph.D. Specific aims are as follows: 1) We will assess the neural substrates of concept representation using both spatially sensitive (i.e., fMRI) and temporally sensitive (i.e, ERP) measures in support of a biologically-constrained theory of semantic cognition; 2) We will develop a psychometrically valid measure of semantic memory with test-retest reliability that can be used to stage the intergrity of multiple components of semantic memory in dementia. Components of this battery will include knowledge: a) word meaning; b) perceptual features; c) abstract attributes; d) environmental context; e) associative relationships; and f) object function.