A repetition suppression effect lasting several days within the semantic network

• Published in: Experimental brain research Vol. 183; no. 3; pp. 371 - 376
• Main Authors: MEISTER, Ingo G, BUELTE, Dorothee, SPARING, Roland, BOROOJERDI, Babak
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Springer 01.11.2007; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Mapping; Dominance, Cerebral - physiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects. Models. Methods; German language; Hemodynamics; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods; Isolated neuron and nerve. Neuroglia; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Memory; Nerve Net - blood supply; Nerve Net - physiology; Oxygen - blood; Paired-Associate Learning - physiology; Prefrontal Cortex - blood supply; Prefrontal Cortex - physiology; Psychophysics; Reaction Time - physiology; Repression, Psychology; Retention; Retention (Psychology) - physiology; Semantics; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Germany; Implicit memory; Memory; Magnetic resonance; Central nervous system; Semantic; Priming; Psychophysical; Prefrontal cortex; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Long term; Encephalon; fMRI; Reaction time; Functional imaging
• ISSN: 0014-4819; 1432-1106
• DOI: 10.1007/s00221-007-1051-8

Performance in a semantic task is speeded up for repeated stimuli compared to novel stimuli. This conceptual priming effect is related to a decrease in functional activation within the left inferior prefrontal cortex for repeated stimulus exposure (repetition suppression). However, in contrast to perceptual priming which is known to be very robust over long periods of time, previous studies on semantic priming focused on short-term effects. The present study combined a behavioral and functional imaging experiment to investigate long-term conceptual repetition priming (retention interval 3 days). We found a highly significant decrease of reaction time for word stimuli which were presented repeatedly after 3 days both compared to initial presentation and to a matched word list. The functional magnetic resonance imaging data showed a repetition suppression within the left inferior (BA45, BA47) and middle (BA9) frontal gyrus for the comparison of known with unknown words. These data demonstrate that even over a period as long as 3 days, a repetition suppression within the left frontal network involved in semantic decision can be found. Thus, priming-related mechanisms in the semantic network may be robust over several days.