Understanding new learning in semantic memory – ULIS

Semantic memory refers to the general knowledge we have about the world while episodic memory refers to the events that we have personally experienced. Semantic memory is the basis of our collective memory, culture. It is generally acquired by repeated learning and becomes independent of the acquisition context. It is crucial for the development of language, for school learning and is one of the only memories maintained, or even improving, with age. Semantic memory is thought to depend in particular on the temporal pole and episodic memory on the hippocampus, which suggests a strong anatomo-functional independence between these two types of memory. Recent work, however, calls into question this simplistic organization. In addition, the way in which new learnings are formed in semantic memory remains largely unknown, indicating that there is a poor understanding of semantic memory. Thus, models of semantic memory must be improved. In this project, we are bringing together four partners, all specialists in human memory, in order to specifically study learning in semantic memory. In a first series of work, we will constitute a large cohort of patients with selective lesions of the brain structures involved in these memories to study the dissociations between learning in semantic and episodic memory, using neuropsychology and neuroimaging. In a second, we will study the dynamics of this learning using intracerebral electrophysiology in order to better understand the bases of these. In a third, it is the whole life span, from childhood to aging, which will be studied in detail. By combining cutting-edge experimental paradigms, neuroimaging and EEG, we will be able to improve our understanding of learning in semantic memory, and thus better understand the factors that contribute to successful learning.