ABSTRACT
The fact that brain damage can impair conceptualknowledge for some categories of entities whileleaving knowledge of other categories relativelyspared has found widespread empirical support inthe last 20 years. The most often-reported pattern(e.g., Forde, Francis, Riddoch, Rumiati, &,Humphreys, 1997; Laiacona, Capitani, £cBarbarotto, 1997; Lambon Ralph, Howard, Nightingale, & Ellis, 1998; Moss, Tyler, DurrantPeatfield, & Bunn, 1998; Samson, Pillon, & DeWilde, 1998) is certainly that of patients showing aloss of conceptual knowledge for living entities(animals, fruit and vegetables, flowers) in the faceof relatively spared knowledge for nonliving ones(tools, vehicles, furniture), but there is now anincreasing number of case reports of patients showing the reverse pattern of dissociation (e.g., Cappa,Frugoni, Pasquali, Perani, & Zorat, 1998; Gaillard,Auzou, Miret, Ozsancak, & Hannequin, 1998;Laiacona & Capitani, 2001; Moss & Tyler 2000;Sacchett & Humphreys, 1992; Silveri, Gainotti,Perani, Cappelletti, Carbone, & Fazio, 1997;Warrington & McCarthy, 1983, 1987).
