effect of age on processing family, famous and novel faces: An fMRI study

Facial recognition memory is a specialized system in the human brain, with an effect of familiarity playing a role in the brain activations involved. Previous studies examining the familiar face processing system have used college-aged subjects. However, memory disorders, like those associated with Alzheimer's disease, typically affect adults over sixty. In an attempt to reveal possible differences between young and older adults', two different age groups were subjected to fMRI analysis while viewing face images with varying familiarity (family, famous and novel). The result showed a significant difference in activations for various cortical areas including the precuneus, cingulate cortex, and fusiform gyrus. Among the differences, an overall trend of greater activation in the left hemisphere for younger subjects compared to the older group was revealed. The results have implications for the study of memory disorders afflicting older adults, like Alzheimer's disease.