Face Perception vs. Memory Training to Improve Face Recognition in Developmental Prosopagnosia

Boston VA Research Institute, Inc.

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Developmental Prosopagnosia

Treatments: Behavioral: Face Perception Training; Behavioral: Face Memory Training; Behavioral: Placebo control training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05800782

R01EY032510-02

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study is to test the effectiveness of two experimental training programs aimed at improving face processing in developmental prosopagnosia (perception training, memory training) in comparison to an active control. The investigators will use a longitudinal design and randomize developmental prosopagnosics to three parallel arms: active control, perception training and memory training.

Full description

The investigators propose a longitudinal design with three parallel arms: active control, perception training and memory training. To maximize power, developmental prosopagnosics (DPs) in the active control group will be subsequently be offered training. Pre-training/control assessments will be performed and within 2 weeks, DPs will be randomized to one of the three training conditions. Next, all DPs will complete 6-weeks of their assigned intervention. The research assistant will provide coaching at least once per week. DPs will be assessed within two weeks of training completion and after a 12-week no-contact period. For those in the active control group, the no-contact period will serve to wash out any placebo effect and Assessment 3 will be used as their new baseline. These DPs will then be randomized to perception or memory training. Assessments will then be given to these DPs within a week after intervention completion and after a 12 weeks no-contact period.

Enrollment: 72 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 90 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Aged 18-90
• Have lifelong histories of face recognition difficulties that impact everyday life (i.e., not associated with some event such as a stroke, seizure, etc)
• Score > 2 standard deviations below the mean on the famous faces test and Cambridge Face Memory Test. This is in line with our previous studies and others in the literature.

Exclusion criteria

• History of a significant neurological disorder including hydrocephalus, stroke, moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), severe neuromuscular diseases, or severe hypoxia due to cardiac arrest.
• Participants with a history of mild TBI or simple concussion will not be excluded as long as it was > 6 months ago and as long as they have not had repeated concussions (>5).
• Participants will be excluded if they have impairments that interfere with cognitive performance, such as uncorrected hearing or vision, lack of English proficiency, musculoskeletal or other issues.
• Additionally, participants will be excluded if they have psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, chronic intractable obsessive-compulsive disorder, or agoraphobia.
• Participants with a diagnosis of ADHD will be included as long as their medication has been consistent for the past 6 months.
• Participants who are currently dependent on alcohol or other substances will be excluded, as this may negatively impact cognitive performance.
• Participants who currently are, or within the last 6 months, participating in a behavioral or pharmacological intervention will be excluded.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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72 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

Memory Training

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will perform 6 weeks of face memory training (5 x 40 min sessions/week) that targets enhancing encoding to improve face recollection. As training progresses, the repetition lags (spaces between repeated foil faces) and number of faces will increase.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Face Memory Training

Perception Training

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will perform 6 weeks of face perception training (5 x 40 min sessions/week) that require discriminating faces based on internal features (e.g., eyebrow-eye distance). As training progresses, the faces will become more challenging and the face sizes will vary.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Face Perception Training

Active Control Training

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Participants will perform 6 weeks of face perception training (5 x 40 min sessions/week) that require discriminating faces based on external facial features (e.g., hair). As training progresses, the faces will become more challenging and the face sizes will vary.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Placebo control training