Famous faces linked with dementia
Difficulty recognising photos of famous faces has been shown to be associated with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) – a rare form of dementia that sometimes affects people aged from 40-65 years.
Difficulty recognising photos of famous faces has been shown to be associated with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) – a rare form of dementia that sometimes affects people aged from 40-65 years.
Researchers from the Feinberg School of Medicine at the Northwestern University in Chicago created the NUFFACE test, which uses stimuli such as black and white photos of famous faces relevant for individuals younger than 65 years of age.
A total of 57 participants took part in this initial study– 27 were considered cognitively healthy when they undertook the study (ie normal brain function) and 30 were diagnosed with PPA. The NUFFACE test was then separated into two distinct areas – the ability to name and the ability to recognise the famous person in the photo.
Those with normal brain function who undertook the test scored on average 93.4% and 96.9% accuracy for the naming and recognition aspects of the test, respectively.
Those diagnosed with PPA, on average could only name around half of people in the photos (scoring on average 46.4%) but could recognise 78.5% of those who were pictured (eg if Elvis was pictured they might say “singer”).
It was found that brain scans of the individuals with PPA indicated loss of brain tissue in those areas responsible for recognising faces, which may suggest why those test scores were seen in this group.
From these results, researchers concluded that the NUFFACE test was a convenient clinical tool for the assessment of face naming and recognition in individuals between 40-65 years old.
It is hoped the test will be incorporated into a clinician’s series of tests, especially if presented with a younger patient complaining of difficulties identifying a famous face, or a loved one’s face.
