Semantic Knowledge of Famous People in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Progression to Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Patients with dementia of Alzheimer’s type (DAT) show severe impairment in recognizing famous people. The aim of the current study was to investigate if this well-known memory impairment of famous faces is already present in the preclinical phase of DAT and if the famous faces test can help to differentiate patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who progress to dementia and those who do not. We compared baseline performance in a task of famous face identification in a sample of 116 patients with subjective memory complaints classified in three groups: 17 participants with no evidence of cognitive impairment; 26 patients with MCI who had not developed dementia, and 27 patients with MCI who had developed probable DAT 2 years later. The remaining patients were excluded because they abandoned or did not meet the applied restrictive criteria for DAT, MCI or control. MCI patients who were diagnosed 2 years later with DAT performed significantly worse in the preclinical phase than MCI and control participants (p < 0.004). Patients with MCI but not DAT obtained intermediate results between control subjects and MCI patients who develop Alzheimer’s disease. A neuropsychological task of semantic knowledge of famous people may be useful in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Early-onset and late-onset Alzheimer's disease are associated with distinct patterns of memory impairment

“…In fact, aMCI individuals have been found to be significantly more impaired at naming and providing information about photographs of famous faces and famous monuments than about common objects (Ahmed et al, 2008;Joubert et al, 2010;Clague et al, 2011). Moreover, some studies have shown that aMCI individuals whose semantic knowledge of famous persons was most impaired had a higher rate of conversion to AD relative to non-converters (Thompson et al, 2002;Estevez-Gonzalez et al, 2004). Therefore, results of the present study suggest that there is a genuine and widespread semantic impairment in LOAD patients.…”

“…Tests of famous person knowledge have been particularly useful in demonstrating semantic breakdown in AD but also in amnestic Mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) (Estevez-Gonzalez et al, 2004;Vogel et al, 2005;Joubert et al, 2008;Joubert et al, 2010;Barbeau et al, 2012;Brambati et al, 2012). In fact, aMCI individuals have been found to be significantly more impaired at naming and providing information about photographs of famous faces and famous monuments than about common objects (Ahmed et al, 2008;Joubert et al, 2010;Clague et al, 2011).…”

“…Visual memory was assessed using the Delayed Matching to Sample test (DMS48), a visual recognition memory test widely used in the assessment of MCI and dementia (Barbeau et al, 2004). Semantic memory (retrograde memory) was assessed using the TOP 10 (Estevez-Gonzalez et al, 2004;Vogel et al, 2005;Joubert et al, 2008;Joubert et al, 2010;Barbeau et al, 2012;Brambati et al, 2012). Short term memory was assessed in the verbal and spatial domains using respectively the forward digit span of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence scale (Wechsler, 1997) and the forward visuospatial span of the Wechsler Memory Scale (Weschler, 2001).…”

The Relation Between Depressive Symptoms and Semantic Memory in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and in Late-Life Depression

“…For instance, deficits on semantic category fluency tasks occurred as early as 12 years before a diagnosis of AD was established in a population-based cohort of elderly individuals who were followed longitudinally (Amieva et al, 2008). Several studies have also shown that aMCI patients suffered from early breakdown of semantic knowledge of famous people, and that older patients who later on developed AD were initially more impaired at naming famous faces when compared to older adults who did not develop AD (Estevez-Gonzalez et al, 2004;Thompson, Graham, Patterson, Sahakian, & Hodges, 2002;Vogel, Gade, Stokholm, & Waldemar, 2005). In a recent study, aMCI and early AD patients were found to be similarly affected in terms of their Correspondence and reprint requests to: Carol Hudon, Centre de recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard; 2601, ch.…”

The impact of time and repeated exposure on famous person knowledge in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

“…Some studies have even suggested that impaired semantic processing of famous persons may contribute to identifying patients who present with an increased risk of developing AD in the following years. More specifically, longitudinal studies have shown that aMCI patients who later on converted to AD were initially more impaired at naming famous faces relative to non-converters (Estevez-Gonzalez et al, 2004;Thompson, et al, 2002;Vogel, Gade, Stokholm, & Waldemar, 2005).…”