Understanding memory for faces in Parkinson's disease: the role of configural processing

It has previously been reported that unfamiliar face recognition memory is impaired in Parkinson's disease (PD) [(Dewick, H. C., Hanley, J. R., Davies , A. D. M., Playfer, J. R. & Turnbull, C. J., perception and memory for fac es in Parkinson's disease. Neuropsychologia, 1991, 29, 785-802), (Haeske-De wick, H. C., Are perception and memory for faces influenced by a specific a ge at onset factor in Parkinson's disease? Neuropsychologia, 1996, 34, 315- 320), (Levin, B. E., Llabre, M. M. & Weiner, W. J., Cognitive impairments a ssociated with early Parkinson's disease. Neurology, 1989, 39, 557-561)]. I n the work reported here, we consider the possible mechanisms that might un derlie this impairment. 28 PD patients and 28 controls were given a two-par t test of recognition memory for words and faces, and two perceptual tests to measure their configural and componential processing ability. We found t hat PD patients were significantly worse than controls on the recognition m emory test for faces, but not when the stimuli were words. In addition, PD patients were significantly impaired relative to controls on the closure te st (FCT) used to measure configural processing, but there was no difference between the two groups on a test of componential processing ability. Multi ple regression analyses revealed that even after accounting for the influen ce of age, intelligence and level of depression, configural processing abil ity was the important predictor of unfamiliar face recognition memory in Pa rkinson's disease. There was no effect of Parkinsons disease specific varia bles on either face recognition or FCT performance. In addition, some recen tly diagnosed patients were pool at face recognition. It is suggested that face configuration skills may be affected very early in the course of Parki nsons disease, and that this may be connected to the fact that considerable nigrostriatal degeneration and alteration in brain neurotransmitter levels occur before the clinical symptoms of PD appear. (C), 2000 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.