ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Aging Neurosci.

Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior

Volume 17 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1592678

This article is part of the Research TopicThe early detection of neurodegenerative diseases: an aging perspectiveView all 6 articles

Advancing the Modified Face Name Associative Memory Exam in Cognitive Aging Research: Insights into Connectomic Correlates and Task Reliability

Provisionally accepted
Yilin  LiuYilin LiuMark  H SundmanMark H SundmanDalen  HinderakerDalen HinderakerAllison  Yu-Chin ChenAllison Yu-Chin ChenJacob  M GreenJacob M GreenLisbeth  G HaaheimLisbeth G HaaheimHannah  M SiuHannah M SiuCatherine  JezercCatherine JezercKaitlyn  LaiKaitlyn LaiCarol  Y ChenCarol Y ChenParker  GussParker GussYing-hui  ChouYing-hui Chou*
  • Brain Imaging and TMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The ongoing shift in research efforts towards earlier stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) continuum underscores the need for more sensitive neuropsychological assessments to detect subtle cognitive deficits. Traditional cognitive outcome assessments (COAs), tailored for assessing deficits in AD or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), may lack sensitivity to capture preclinical cognitive dysfunction associated with AD pathology. The Face-Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME), a cross-modal task that integrates verbal and non-verbal memory, offers significant advantages in this regard. The FNAME demonstrates high sensitivity, and task performance is reportedly correlated with amyloid-β burden across the AD continuum, even in asymptomatic older adults. This manuscript reports on two experiments, broadening insights into this promising COA. Experiment 1 (descriptive observational, repeated-measures design) (N=85) evaluates the alternate form reliability of a modified FNAME (mFNAME) by serially administering eight distinct versions of the task, revealing good reliability for mFNAME metrics and the absence of significant practice effects. Experiment 2 (cross-sectional observational design) (N=32) examines structural and functional network topology to investigate neural correlates of mFNAME performance in non-demented older adults. Graph theoretical analyses revealed significant associations between mFNAME performance and network properties like global efficiency, local efficiency, and system segregation in the default mode network (DMN) and medial temporal network (MTN). Subsequent analyses into more granular elements of the MTN and DMN revealed latent variables accounting for up to 44% of the covariance in mFNAME performance. These findings deepen the understanding of the FNAME’s psychometric properties and the neural correlates underlying task performance, providing insights into its utility as a sensitive COA early in the continuum of AD and related dementias.

Keywords: Associa4ve memory, Default Mode Network, medial temporal lobe, Mild cogni4ve impairment, Brain connec4vity

Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Sundman, Hinderaker, Yu-Chin Chen, Green, Haaheim, Siu, Jezerc, Lai, Chen, Guss and Chou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Ying-hui Chou, Brain Imaging and TMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, United States

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