Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T09:17:26.906Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dopamine and semantic activation: An investigation of masked direct and indirect priming

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2004

ANTHONY J. ANGWIN ,
HELEN J. CHENERY ,
DAVID A. COPLAND ,
WENDY L. ARNOTT ,
BRUCE E. MURDOCH  and
PETER A. SILBURN
ANTHONY J. ANGWIN
Affiliation:
Centre for Research in Language Processing and Linguistics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
HELEN J. CHENERY
Affiliation:
Centre for Research in Language Processing and Linguistics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
DAVID A. COPLAND
Affiliation:
Centre for Research in Language Processing and Linguistics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
WENDY L. ARNOTT
Affiliation:
Centre for Research in Language Processing and Linguistics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
BRUCE E. MURDOCH
Affiliation:
Centre for Research in Language Processing and Linguistics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
PETER A. SILBURN
Affiliation:
Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

To investigate the effects of dopamine on the dynamics of semantic activation, 39 healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to ingest either a placebo (n = 24) or a levodopa (n = 16) capsule. Participants then performed a lexical decision task that implemented a masked priming paradigm. Direct and indirect semantic priming was measured across stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 250, 500 and 1200 ms. The results revealed significant direct and indirect semantic priming effects for the placebo group at SOAs of 250 ms and 500 ms, but no significant direct or indirect priming effects at the 1200 ms SOA. In contrast, the levodopa group showed significant direct and indirect semantic priming effects at the 250 ms SOA, while no significant direct or indirect priming effects were evident at the SOAs of 500 ms or 1200 ms. These results suggest that dopamine has a role in modulating both automatic and attentional aspects of semantic activation according to a specific time course. The implications of these results for current theories of dopaminergic modulation of semantic activation are discussed. (JINS, 2004, 10, 15–25.)

Keywords

LevodopaSemantic primingSignal-to-noise ratioMasked primingGain/decay hypothesis
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 15 - 25
Copyright
© 2004 The International Neuropsychological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Arnott, W.L., Chenery, H.J., Murdoch, B.E., & Silburn, P.A. (2001). Semantic priming in Parkinson's disease: Evidence for delayed spreading activation. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 23, 502–519.Google Scholar
Balota, D.A. & Lorch, R.F. (1986). Depth of automatic spreading activation: Mediated priming effects in pronunciation but not in lexical decision. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 12, 336–345.Google Scholar
Bayles, K.A., Trosset, M.W., Tomoeda, C.K., Montgomery, E.B., & Wilson, J. (1993). Generative naming in Parkinson's disease patients. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 15, 547–562.Google Scholar
Bondi, M.W., Kaszniak, A.W., Bayles, K.A., & Vance, K.T. (1993). Contributions of frontal system dysfunction to memory and perceptual abilities in Parkinson's disease. Neuropsychology, 7, 89–102.Google Scholar
Bowers, J.S., Vigliocco, G., & Haan, R. (1998). Orthographic, phonological, and articulatory contributions to masked letter and word priming. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24, 1705–1719.Google Scholar
Cabeza, R. & Nyberg, L. (2000). Imaging Cognition II: An empirical review of 275 PET and fMRI studies. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12, 1–47.Google Scholar
Callaway, E. & Naghdi, S. (1982). An information processing model for schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 339–347.Google Scholar
Cedrus. (1996). Superlab Experimental Laboratory [Computer software]. Phoenix, AZ: Cedrus Corporation.
Cepeda, C. & Levine, M.S. (1998). Dopamine and N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptor interactions in the neostriatum. Developmental Neuroscience, 20, 1–18.Google Scholar
Collins, A.M. & Loftus, E.F. (1975). A spreading activation theory of semantic processing. Psychological Review, 82, 407–428.Google Scholar
Crosson, B. (1992). Subcortical functions in language and memory. New York: Guilford Press.
Crosson, B. (1999). Subcortical mechanisms in language: Lexical–semantic mechanisms and the thalamus. Brain and Cognition, 40, 414–438.Google Scholar
DeGroot, A.M.B. (1983). The range of automatic spreading activation in word priming. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 22, 417–436.Google Scholar
Deacon, D., Hewitt, S., Yang, C., & Nagata, M. (2000). Event-related potential indices of semantic priming using masked and unmasked words: Evidence that the N400 does not reflect a post-lexical process. Cognitive Brain Research, 9, 137–146.Google Scholar
Forster, K.I. & Davis, C. (1984). Repetition priming and frequency attenuation in lexical access. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 10, 680–698.Google Scholar
Gotham, A.M., Brown, R.G., & Marsden, C.D. (1988). ‘Frontal’ cognitive function in patients with Parkinson's disease ‘on’ and ‘off’ levodopa. Brain, 111, 299–321.Google Scholar
Grace, A.A. (1991). Phasic versus tonic dopamine release and the modulation of dopamine system responsivity: A hypothesis for the etiology of schizophrenia. Neuroscience, 41, 1–24.Google Scholar
Grainger, J. & Segui, J. (1990). Neighborhood frequency effects in visual word recognition: A comparison of lexical decision and masked identification latencies. Perception and Psychophysics, 47, 191–198.Google Scholar
Grossman, M. (1999). Sentence processing in Parkinson's disease. Brain and Cognition, 40, 387–413.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, K.E. & Swift, R. (1999). Effect of d-amphetamine on prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex in humans. Psychopharmacology, 143, 394–400.Google Scholar
Kischka, U., Kammer, Th., Maier, S., Weisbrod, M., Thimm, M., & Spitzer, M. (1996). Dopaminergic modulation of semantic network activation. Neuropsychologia, 34, 1107–1113.Google Scholar
LeMoal, M. & Simon, H. (1991). Mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic network: Functional and regulatory roles. Psychological Review, 71, 155–234.Google Scholar
Light, G.A., Malaspina, D., Geyer, M.A., Luber, B.M., Coleman, E.A., Sackeim, H.A., & Braff, D.L. (1999). Amphetamine disrupts P50 suppression in normal subjects. Biological Psychiatry, 46, 990–996.Google Scholar
McNamara, P., Krueger, M., O'Quin, K., Clark, J., & Durso, R. (1996). Grammaticality judgements and sentence comprehension in Parkinson's disease: A comparison with Broca's aphasia. International Journal of Neuroscience, 86, 151–166.Google Scholar
Milberg, W., Blumstein, S.E., Katz, D., Gershberg, F., & Brown, T. (1995). Semantic facilitation in aphasia: Effects of time and expectancy. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 7, 33–50.Google Scholar
Milberg, W., McGlinchey-Berroth, R., Duncan, K.M., & Higgins, J.A. (1999). Alterations in the dynamics of semantic activation in Alzheimer's disease: Evidence for the gain/decay hypothesis of a disorder of semantic memory. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 5, 641–658.Google Scholar
Moritz, S., Andersen, B., Domin, F., Martin, T., Probsthein, E., Kretschmer, G., Krausz, M., Naber, D., & Spitzer, M. (1999). Increased automatic spreading activation in healthy subjects with elevated scores in a scale assessing schizophrenic language disturbances. Psychological Medicine, 29, 161–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, J.H. & Hof, P.R. (1992). The organisation of the cerebral cortex: From molecules to circuits. Discussions in Neuroscience, 9, 7–79.Google Scholar
Murdoch, B.E., Arnott, W.L., Chenery, H.J., & Silburn, P.A. (2000). Dopaminergic modulation of semantic activation: Evidence from Parkinson's disease. Brain and Language, 74, 356–359.Google Scholar
Neely, J.H. (1977). Semantic priming and retrieval from lexical memory: Roles of inhibitionless spreading activation and limited-capacity attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 106, 226–254.Google Scholar
Posner, M.L. & Snyder, C.R.R. (1975). Attention and cognitive control. In R.L. Solso (Ed.), Information processing and cognition: The Loyola symposium (pp. 55–85). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Rajaram, S. & Neely, J.H. (1992). Dissociative masked repetition priming and word frequency effects in lexical decision and episodic recognition tasks. Journal of Memory and Language, 31, 152–182.Google Scholar
Randolph, C., Braun, A.R., Goldberg, T.E., & Chase, T.N. (1993). Semantic fluency in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease: Dissociation of storage and retrieval failures. Neuropsychology, 7, 82–88.Google Scholar
Robin, D.A. & Schienberg, S. (1990). Subcortical lesions and aphasia. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 55, 90–100.Google Scholar
Sealfon, S.C. & Olanow, C.W. (2000). Dopamine receptors: From structure to behaviour. Trends in Neuroscience, 23, 534–540.Google Scholar
Servan-Schreiber, D., Printz, H., & Cohen, J.D. (1990). A network model of catecholamine effects: Gain, signal-to-noise ratio, and behaviour. Science, 249, 892–896.Google Scholar
Skeel, R.L., Crosson, B., Nadeau, S.E., Algina, J., Bauer, R.M., & Fennell, E.B. (2001). Basal ganglia dysfunction, working memory, and sentence comprehension in patients with Parkinson's disease. Neuropsychologia, 39, 962–971.Google Scholar
Spitzer, M., Braun, U., Maier, S., Hermle, L., & Maher, B.A. (1993). Indirect semantic priming in schizophrenic patients. Schizophrenia Research, 11, 71–80.Google Scholar