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Abstract
The issue of the face specificity of recognition deficits in developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is fundamental to the organization of high-level visual memory and has been increasingly debated in recent years. Previous DP investigations have found some evidence of object recognition impairments, but have almost exclusively used familiar objects (e.g. cars), where performance may depend on acquired object-specific experience and related visual expertise. An object recognition test not influenced by experience could provide a better, less contaminated measure of DPs' object recognition abilities. To investigate this, in the current study we tested 30 DPs and 30 matched controls on a novel object memory test (NOMT Ziggerins) and the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT). DPs with severe impairment on the CFMT showed no differences in accuracy or reaction times compared with controls on the NOMT. We found similar results when comparing DPs with a larger sample of 274 web-based controls. Additional individual analyses demonstrated that the rate of object recognition impairment in DPs did not differ from the rate of impairment in either control group. Together, these results demonstrate unimpaired object recognition in DPs for a class of novel objects that serves as a powerful index for broader novel object recognition capacity.
Highlights
Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is a neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in lifelong face recognition deficits in the absence of brain injury or co-occurring social, intellectual or visual impairments [1,2,3]
Evidence has shown that at least some DPs have highly face-specific deficits, such as the case of Edward, a DP with preserved familiar object recognition and recall despite profound impairments in face perception and recognition ([5]; for others, see [8,9]). These DP cases clearly show that face recognition can be dissociated from familiar object recognition, providing important evidence that they rely on distinct mechanisms
3If the participants removed for potential DP are re-entered into the web sample (N = 294), the web control group significantly differs from the DPs’ mean Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) score (MDP = 38.30, s.d.DP = 3.72, MTD = 57.27 s.d.typically developed (TD) = 9.97, p < 0.001; d = 2.52), and, similar to the results reported below, does not significantly differ from the DPs’ mean novel object memory test (NOMT) score (MDP = 58.20, s.d.DP = 9.14, MTD = 61.07, s.d.TD = 7.97, p = 0.065; d = 0.33)
Summary
Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is a neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in lifelong face recognition deficits in the absence of brain injury or co-occurring social, intellectual or visual impairments [1,2,3]. Evidence has shown that at least some DPs have highly face-specific deficits, such as the case of Edward, a DP with preserved familiar object recognition and recall despite profound impairments in face perception and recognition ([5]; for others, see [8,9]) These DP cases clearly show that face recognition can be dissociated from familiar object recognition, providing important evidence that they rely on distinct mechanisms. We compared DP scores to 274 controls from a recent study by Richler et al [23] In addition to these group-level analyses, we employed case-based analyses to determine whether (i) individual DPs showed impairment on the NOMT Ziggerins, and (ii) any DPs showed a classical dissociation between object and face recognition [24]. By comparing the performance of DPs and typically developed (TD) controls on the CFMT and a NOMT at both the group and individual levels, we sought to characterize novel object recognition in DPs
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