Face–name repetition priming in semantic dementia: A case report

Repetition priming (RP) has been employed as a measure of implicit processing in patients suffering from a breakdown of semantic memory, as in the case of semantic dementia (SD), a subtype of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Here, we investigated face–name representation in a case of SD using a paradigm of within- and cross-domain repetition priming. Compared to ten healthy participants, SD patient did not show any facilitation when a famous name was primed by its own face (cross-domain) or when the prime was the same proper name (within-domain). Results are discussed within the hypothesis of a degradation of face and name representation, one of the most consistent accounts explaining semantic deficits in SD.