Defective Awareness of Person-Recognition Disorders Through Face, Voice and Name in Right and Left Variants of Semantic Dementia: A Pilot Study

<b>Background/Objectives</b>: The aim of this investigation consisted of evaluating if the prevalence of anosognosia in right-brain-damaged patients is greater for tasks in which the right hemisphere plays a dominant role and if this prevalence is at least in part due to automatic proces...

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Main Authors: Simona Luzzi, Oscar Prata, Guido Gainotti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Brain Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/5/504
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author Simona Luzzi
Oscar Prata
Guido Gainotti
author_facet Simona Luzzi
Oscar Prata
Guido Gainotti
author_sort Simona Luzzi
collection DOAJ
description <b>Background/Objectives</b>: The aim of this investigation consisted of evaluating if the prevalence of anosognosia in right-brain-damaged patients is greater for tasks in which the right hemisphere plays a dominant role and if this prevalence is at least in part due to automatic processing mechanisms typical of this hemisphere. <b>Methods</b>: We assessed defective awareness of person-recognition disorders in 14 patients with the right variant (rv-SD) and 15 with the left variant (lv-SD) of Semantic Dementia. A battery exploring person-recognition disorders through familiarity judgement of faces, voices and names was applied. In patients with pathological performance in one of these modalities, anosognosia was assessed comparing the patients’ subjective judgment to the objective result of their performance (objective evaluation) and to the subjective judgment given by an informed caregiver (external comparison). <b>Results</b>: In the comparison between subjective awareness and objective scores in the various person-recognition modalities, only anosognosia for face recognition disorders was significantly more frequent of in patients with rv-SD. When compared to their caregivers, subjects with rv-SD were significantly less aware than caregivers of their difficulties only on face recognition. On the contrary, patients with a lv-SD showed a greater (non-significant) trend to be unaware of their name recognition deficit. <b>Conclusions</b>: These data show that the prevalence of anosognosia in right-brain-damaged patients is greater for face recognition in which the right hemisphere plays a dominant role and that this prevalence is at least in part due to automatic processing mechanisms (evocation of familiarity feelings) typical of this hemisphere.
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spelling doaj-art-6cf96438a7684c1980491ec0af2e896d2025-08-20T02:33:38ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252025-05-0115550410.3390/brainsci15050504Defective Awareness of Person-Recognition Disorders Through Face, Voice and Name in Right and Left Variants of Semantic Dementia: A Pilot StudySimona Luzzi0Oscar Prata1Guido Gainotti2Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126 Ancona, ItalyCognitive and Behavioural Neurology Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126 Ancona, ItalyCentre for Neuropsychological Research, Department of Neurosciences, Catholic University of Rome, 00168 Rome, Italy<b>Background/Objectives</b>: The aim of this investigation consisted of evaluating if the prevalence of anosognosia in right-brain-damaged patients is greater for tasks in which the right hemisphere plays a dominant role and if this prevalence is at least in part due to automatic processing mechanisms typical of this hemisphere. <b>Methods</b>: We assessed defective awareness of person-recognition disorders in 14 patients with the right variant (rv-SD) and 15 with the left variant (lv-SD) of Semantic Dementia. A battery exploring person-recognition disorders through familiarity judgement of faces, voices and names was applied. In patients with pathological performance in one of these modalities, anosognosia was assessed comparing the patients’ subjective judgment to the objective result of their performance (objective evaluation) and to the subjective judgment given by an informed caregiver (external comparison). <b>Results</b>: In the comparison between subjective awareness and objective scores in the various person-recognition modalities, only anosognosia for face recognition disorders was significantly more frequent of in patients with rv-SD. When compared to their caregivers, subjects with rv-SD were significantly less aware than caregivers of their difficulties only on face recognition. On the contrary, patients with a lv-SD showed a greater (non-significant) trend to be unaware of their name recognition deficit. <b>Conclusions</b>: These data show that the prevalence of anosognosia in right-brain-damaged patients is greater for face recognition in which the right hemisphere plays a dominant role and that this prevalence is at least in part due to automatic processing mechanisms (evocation of familiarity feelings) typical of this hemisphere.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/5/504semantic dementiaawarenessanosognosiaperson-recognition disorders
spellingShingle Simona Luzzi
Oscar Prata
Guido Gainotti
Defective Awareness of Person-Recognition Disorders Through Face, Voice and Name in Right and Left Variants of Semantic Dementia: A Pilot Study
Brain Sciences
semantic dementia
awareness
anosognosia
person-recognition disorders
title Defective Awareness of Person-Recognition Disorders Through Face, Voice and Name in Right and Left Variants of Semantic Dementia: A Pilot Study
title_full Defective Awareness of Person-Recognition Disorders Through Face, Voice and Name in Right and Left Variants of Semantic Dementia: A Pilot Study
title_fullStr Defective Awareness of Person-Recognition Disorders Through Face, Voice and Name in Right and Left Variants of Semantic Dementia: A Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed Defective Awareness of Person-Recognition Disorders Through Face, Voice and Name in Right and Left Variants of Semantic Dementia: A Pilot Study
title_short Defective Awareness of Person-Recognition Disorders Through Face, Voice and Name in Right and Left Variants of Semantic Dementia: A Pilot Study
title_sort defective awareness of person recognition disorders through face voice and name in right and left variants of semantic dementia a pilot study
topic semantic dementia
awareness
anosognosia
person-recognition disorders
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/5/504
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