ABSTRACT
Introduction Disorders of semantic memory have been reported occasionally to affect particular semantic categories such as fruit and vegetables, animals, tools, body parts and musical instruments. Early reports of subjects with disorders restricted to particular categories suggested that the affected categories belonged either to the broad domain of living (or natural) things, such as birds and animals, or to the domain of artefacts, such as tools, vehicles and clothing. Warrington (1981) initially argued that these category-specifi c disorders suggested that semantic memory must be organized into broad domains of living and non-living things.
