Memory for famous faces and the temporal pole: Functional imaging findings in temporal lobe epilepsy

• Published in: Epilepsy & behavior Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 173 - 180
• Main Authors: Griffith, H. Randall, Richardson, Elizabeth, Pyzalski, Robert W., Bell, Brian, Dow, Christian, Hermann, Bruce P., Seidenberg, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-08-2006
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe - metabolism; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe - psychology; Face; Facial recognition; Famous Persons; Female; Humans; Male; Memory - physiology; Mental Recall; Middle Aged; Positron emission tomography; Recognition (Psychology) - physiology; Semantic memory; Semantics; Temporal Lobe - metabolism; Temporal lobe epilepsy; Temporal pole; Temporal pole; Temporal lobe epilepsy; Semantic memory; Positron emission tomography; Facial recognition
• ISSN: 1525-5050; 1525-5069
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2006.04.024

The ability to recognize, name, and provide information about famous persons is deficient in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), although the neural basis for these deficits is not well understood. We examined the relationship of resting metabolism of the temporal poles, as determined by [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, to performance on a task of famous face recognition, naming, and generation of semantic information in 12 patients with TLE. Correlations between metabolic measures of the temporal poles and performance on the Famous Faces Task revealed strong relationships between all aspects of the Famous Faces Task and the left temporal pole, whereas Famous Faces Task correlations with the right temporal pole were not significant. These findings indicate that the left temporal pole is associated with lexical and semantic retrieval of knowledge of famous persons in patients with TLE. Further study appears warranted to elucidate the networks involved in semantic knowledge for famous faces.