Objectives: To evaluate facial memory ability (FMA) in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). We also explored the relationship between FMA and neuropsychological data, disease-related factors, and CTG repeat expansion size.
Materials and methods: Patients with DM1 (n = 33) and healthy subjects (n = 30) were tested with the faces task of the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test - Extended version (RBMT-E) and an additional set of neuropsychological tests. Clinical data were collected, and CTG repeat size was quantified in blood lymphocytes.
Results: Low results on the faces task were more common in patients with DM1 compared with healthy subjects (P < 0.05), with 36% of the patients showing a poor/impaired performance. DM1 patients with deficits in FMA performed significantly worse on tests measuring visual-construction ability and memory. Furthermore, these patients more often falsely recognised unknown faces as known. Deficits in FMA were not associated with any disease-related factor, including CTG repeat expansion size.
Conclusions: These findings revealed deficits in FMA in the DM1 group, which was associated with reduced construction- and visual memory ability.
Keywords: CTG repeats; cognition; facial memory; myotonic dystrophy type 1.
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.