Semantic representation of abstract and concrete words: a minireview of neural evidence

Abstract

Evidence from both behavioral and neuropsychological studies suggest that different types of organizational principles govern semantic representations of abstract and concrete words. The reviewed neuroimaging studies provide new evidence about the role of brain areas of the semantic network involved in the encoding of some types of information during processing of abstract and concrete concepts, better characterizing the neural underpinnings and the organizational principles of semantic representation of these types of word.