Short-lasting episodes of prosopagnosia in Parkinson's disease

• Published in: Parkinsonism & related disorders Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 375 - 377
• Main Authors: Villa-Bonomo, C, Pagonabarraga, J, Martínez-Horta, S, Fernandez de Bobadilla, R, Garcia-Sanchez, C, Campolongo, A, Kulisevsky, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2013
• Subjects: Aged; Dementia in Parkinson; Female; Higher-order visual deficit; Humans; Male; Neurology; Optic ataxia; Parkinson Disease - complications; Parkinson Disease - psychology; Parkinson's disease; Prosopagnosia; Prosopagnosia - etiology; Dementia in Parkinson; Parkinson's disease; Prosopagnosia; Higher-order visual deficit; Optic ataxia
• ISSN: 1353-8020; 1873-5126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2012.11.010

Abstract Background Prosopagnosia, the selective inability to recognize known faces, has been described in Alzheimer's disease and fronto-temporal dementia but is not expected to occur in Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods and results We report three PD patients who developed recurrent, paroxysmal and short-lasting episodes of prosopagnosia, before progressing to PD dementia (PDD). Hallucinations and other higher-order visual deficits – such as optic ataxia and micro/macropsia – were also seen. Conclusion Progressive signs of temporal and parietal dysfunction have been suggested to herald dementia in PD. The observation of prosopagnosia and other higher-order visuoperceptive defects in the transition to dementia, reinforce the importance of posterior-cortical deficit in PD.