Grossi Dario, Soricelli Andrea, Ponari Marta, Salvatore Elena, Quarantelli Mario, Prinster Anna, Trojano Luigi
Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Caserta, Italy.
IRCCS Fondazione SDN, Istituto di Ricerca Diagnostica e Nucleare, Naples, Italy.
Cortex. 2014 Jul;56:111-20. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.09.010. Epub 2012 Sep 29.
Progressive prosopagnosia (PP) is a clinical syndrome characterized by a progressive and selective inability to recognize and identify faces of familiar people. Here we report a patient (G.S.) with PP, mainly related to a prominent deficit in recognition of familiar faces, without a semantic (cross-modal) impairment. An in-depth evaluation showed that his deficit extended to other classes of objects, both living and non-living. A follow-up neuropsychological assessment did not reveal substantial changes after about 1 year. Structural MRI showed predominant right temporal lobe atrophy. Diffusion tensor imaging was performed to elucidate structural connectivity of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), the two major tracts that project through the core fusiform region to the anterior temporal and frontal cortices, respectively. Right ILF was markedly reduced in G.S., while left ILF and IFOFs were apparently preserved. These data are in favour of a crucial role of the neural circuit subserved by right ILF in the pathogenesis of PP.
进行性面孔失认症（PP）是一种临床综合征，其特征为逐渐出现且选择性地无法识别熟悉之人的面孔。在此，我们报告一名患有PP的患者（G.S.），主要表现为在识别熟悉面孔方面存在显著缺陷，且无语义（跨模态）损伤。深入评估显示，他的缺陷扩展至其他各类物体，包括有生命的和无生命的。约1年后的随访神经心理学评估未发现实质性变化。结构磁共振成像显示主要为右侧颞叶萎缩。进行了弥散张量成像以阐明下纵束（ILF）和额枕下束（IFOF）的结构连接，这两条主要束分别通过梭状回核心区域投射至颞叶前部和额叶皮质。G.S.的右侧ILF明显减少，而左侧ILF和IFOF明显保留。这些数据支持右侧ILF所服务的神经回路在PP发病机制中起关键作用。
