6533b7d6fe1ef96bd126681e
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Selective sparing of face learning in a global amnesic patient
Giovanni Augusto CarlesimoCarlo CaltagironePatrizia TurrizianiFrancesco TomaiuoloLucia Faddasubject
Malegenetic structuresAmnesiaNeurological disorderNeuropsychological TestsHippocampusSeverity of Illness IndexCarbon Monoxide PoisoningAtrophyHippocampuVisual memorySeverity of Illness Index; Acute Disease; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Hippocampus; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning; Humans; Neurologic Examination; Prosopagnosia; Case-Control Studies; Atrophy; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Amnesia; MaleAmnesia; Face learning; Acute Disease; Amnesia; Atrophy; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning; Case-Control Studies; Hippocampus; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Neurologic Examination; Neuropsychological Tests; Prosopagnosia; Severity of Illness IndexmedicineFace learningDementiaHumansMemory disorderNeurologic ExaminationSettore M-PSI/02 - Psicobiologia E Psicologia FisiologicaNeuropsychologyCognitionMiddle Agedmedicine.diseaseMagnetic Resonance ImagingPsychiatry and Mental healthProsopagnosiaCase-Control StudiesPapersAcute DiseaseSettore MED/26 - NeurologiaSurgeryNeuropsychological TestNeurology (clinical)Amnesiamedicine.symptomAtrophyPsychologyCase-Control StudieNeuroscienceHumandescription
Objective - To test the hypothesis that visual memory for faces can be dissociated from visual memory for topographical material. Method - A patient who developed a global amnesic syndrome after acute carbon monoxide poisoning is described. A neuroradiological examination documented severe bilateral atrophy of the hippocampi. Results - Despite a severe anterograde memory disorder involving verbal information, abstract figures, concrete objects, topographical scenes, and spatial information, the patient was still able to learn previously unknown human faces at a normal (and, in some cases, at a higher) rate. Conclusions - Together with previous neuropsychological evidence documenting selective sparing of topographical learning in otherwise amnesic patients, this case is indicative of the fact that the neural circuits involved in face recognition are distinct from those involved in the recognition of other visuoperceptual material (for example, topographical scenes).
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-09-01 |