Face shape and face identity processing in behavioral variant fronto-temporal dementia: A specific deficit for familiarity and name recognition of famous faces.
Deficits in face processing have been described in the behavioral variant of fronto-temporal dementia (bvFTD), primarily regarding the recognition of facial expressions. Less is known about face shape and face identity processing. Here we used a hierarchical strategy targeting face shape and face identity recognition in bvFTD and matched healthy controls. Participants performed 3 psychophysical experiments targeting face shape detection (Experiment 1), unfamiliar face identity matching (Experiment 2), familiarity categorization and famous face-name matching (Experiment 3). The results revealed group differences only in Experiment 3, with a deficit in the bvFTD group for both familiarity categorization and famous face-name matching. Voxel-based morphometry regression analyses in the bvFTD group revealed an association between grey matter volume of the left ventral anterior temporal lobe and familiarity recognition, while face-name matching correlated with grey matter volume of the bilateral ventral anterior temporal lobes. Subsequently, we quantified familiarity-specific and name-specific recognition deficits as the sum of the celebrities of which respectively only the name or only the familiarity was accurately recognized. Both indices were associated with grey matter volume of the bilateral anterior temporal cortices. These findings extent previous results by documenting the involvement of the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) in familiarity detection and the right ATL in name recognition deficits in fronto-temporal lobar degeneration.
Laboratory for Translational Neuropsychiatry, Research Group Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Old Age Psychiatry, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
François-Laurent
FL
De Winter
Department of Old Age Psychiatry, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Neurology, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwziekenhuis Aalst-Asse-Ninove, Aalst, Belgium.
Dorien
D
Timmers
Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Beatrice
B
de Gelder
Department of Neurology, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwziekenhuis Aalst-Asse-Ninove, Aalst, Belgium.
Marc
M
Van Orshoven
Department of Neurology, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwziekenhuis Aalst-Asse-Ninove, Aalst, Belgium.
Marleen
M
Vieren
Department of Neurology, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwziekenhuis Aalst-Asse-Ninove, Aalst, Belgium.
Miriam
M
Bouckaert
Department of Neurology, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwziekenhuis Aalst-Asse-Ninove, Aalst, Belgium.
Gert
G
Cypers
Department of Neurology, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwziekenhuis Aalst-Asse-Ninove, Aalst, Belgium.
Jo
J
Caekebeke
Laboratory for Translational Neuropsychiatry, Research Group Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Laura
L
Van de Vliet
Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Department of Imaging and Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Karolien
K
Goffin
Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Department of Imaging and Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Koen
K
Van Laere
Translational MRI, Department of Imaging and Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Stefan
S
Sunaert
Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, & Department of Neurology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Rik
R
Vandenberghe
Laboratory for Translational Neuropsychiatry, Research Group Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Old Age Psychiatry, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Mathieu
M
Vandenbulcke
Laboratory for Translational Neuropsychiatry, Research Group Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Old Age Psychiatry, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Jan
J
Van den Stock
D000368:Aged; D001244:Association; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009275:Names; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*