Semantic memory: Behavioral, Electrophysiological and Neuroimaging approaches

Semantic memory, also termed conceptual knowledge, is a form of declarative memory (Tulving, 1972, 1983; 2002). It is defined as general world knowledge, such as knowledge of facts, events, concepts, objects, and people. Semantic memory is generally considered to be shared among the members of a culture (but see Martinelli, Sperduti, & Piolino, 2012; Renoult, Davidson, Palombo, Moscovitch, & Levine, 2012 for recent reviews on personal forms of semantic memory). Historically, semantic memory has been tightly associated to studies of language comprehension and verbal learning. The current cognitive neuroscience approach typically recognizes this association (e.g., Patterson, 2007), while arguing that our ability to assign meaning to stimuli is not restricted or specific to language.