Original Research Article

Impaired Processing of Famous Faces in Alzheimer's Disease Is Related to Neurofibrillary Tangle Densities in the Prefrontal and Anterior Cingulate Cortex
Panteleimon Giannakopoulos^a,b, Gabriel Gold^b, Myriam Duc^b, Jean-Pierre Michel^b, Patrick R. Hof^c,d,e, Constantin Bouras^a,c

Departments of
^aPsychiatry and
^bGeriatrics, HUG Belle-Idée, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland;
^cNeurobiology of Aging Laboratories and Fishberg Research Center for Neurobiology, and Departments of
^dGeriatrics and Adult Development, and
^eOphthalmology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NewYork,N.Y.,USA

Address of Corresponding Author

Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2000;11:336-341 (DOI: 10.1159/000017263)

  Key Words

• Cerebral cortex
• Famous faces
• Identification
• Naming
• Neuropathology

  Abstract

To examine the neuroanatomical correlates of impaired processing of famous faces in Alzheimer's disease (AD), we performed an anterograde clinicopathological study of 25 patients with clinically and neuropathologically confirmed AD. Famous face recognition, identification and naming was assessed using the Famous Face Test. The assessment of neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) and senile plaque (SP) densities was performed in ten cortical areas in both hemispheres, and statistical analysis was made using forward stepwise logistic regression models. A statistically significant relationship was found between NFT densities in Brodmann's areas 9 and 24 in both hemispheres and impaired famous face naming and identification. SP counts did not correlate with any of the neuropsychological parameters. These data suggest that NFT formation in prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex, two areas involved in semantic memory processes, is a key event in famous face naming and identification deficits. In agreement with previous studies, they also indicate that SP densities are not a good pathological correlate of neuropsychological deficits in AD.

Copyright © 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Prof. Panteleimon Giannakopoulos
Department of Psychiatry, Clinic of Geriatric Psychiatry
HUG Belle-Idée, 2 chemin du Petit Bel-Air
CH-1225 Geneva (Switzerland)
Tel. +41 22 3055001, Fax +41 22 3055044, E-Mail giannako@cmu.unige.ch

  Article Information

Accepted: November 30, 1999
Number of Print Pages : 6
Number of Figures : 1, Number of Tables : 3, Number of References : 30