Home › Research › Mild cognitive impairment
Altered face perception in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: Evidence from representational similarity analysis of event-related potential
Yanfen Zhen, Lijuan Gao, Jiu Chen, Lihua Gu, Zhijun Zhang. Journal of Alzheimer s Disease, 2025-03-20
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
BackgroundStructural changes in medial temporal lobes including the fusiform gyrus, a critical area in face recognition, precede the progression of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) to Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, how the neural correlates of face processing altered in aMCI, as well as their association with cognitive impairments, remain unclear.ObjectiveUsing electroencephalogram (EEG), we explored the electrophysiological markers of face-specific visual processing alterations in aMCI and examined their relationship with cognitive deficits.MethodsWe recruited participants with aMCI (n = 32) and healthy controls (HC, n = 41) and used a passive viewing task to measure the event-related potential (ERP) in response to faces and non-face objects. To compare face processing in aMCI patients and HCs, we adopted mass univariate analysis and representational similarity analysis (RSA) to explore aMCI-related alterations in ERPs.ResultsWe found that face inversion effect (FIE) in P1 amplitudes was absent in aMCI patients. Also, compared to HCs, aMCI patients exhibited a lack of right hemisphere advantage in N170 in response to faces. Furthermore, representation similarity analysis of ERP in posterior-temporal regions revealed that aMCI patients represent face and non-face objects distinctively from HCs in the early processing stage. Additionally, the FIE in P1 amplitude positively correlated to aMCI patients' visuospatial functions.ConclusionsThese findings showed aMCI-related changes in the early perceptual processing of faces and highlights the potential of the FIE in P1 amplitude and ERP patterns over occipital-temporal regions as electrophysiological markers for aMCI and AD.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Zhen, Y., Gao, L., Chen, J., Gu, L., & Zhang, Z. (2025). Altered face perception in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: Evidence from representational similarity analysis of event-related potential. Journal of Alzheimer s Disease. https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251326294
Vancouver
Zhen Y, Gao L, Chen J, Gu L, Zhang Z. Altered face perception in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: Evidence from representational similarity analysis of event-related potential. Journal of Alzheimer s Disease. 2025. doi:10.1177/13872877251326294. PMID: 40111918.
BibTeX
@article{zhen2025-40111918,
author = {Zhen, Yanfen and Gao, Lijuan and Chen, Jiu and Gu, Lihua and Zhang, Zhijun},
title = {{Altered face perception in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: Evidence from representational similarity analysis of event-related potential}},
journal = {Journal of Alzheimer s Disease},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1177/13872877251326294},
pmid = {40111918},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251326294}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Also, compared to HCs, aMCI patients exhibited a lack of right hemisphere advantage in N170 in response to faces.
- Furthermore, representation similarity analysis of ERP in posterior-temporal regions revealed that aMCI patients represent face and non-face objects distinctively from HCs in the early processing stage.
Why it matters
This small EEG study found that people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment lacked the face inversion effect in P1 amplitude and the right hemisphere advantage in N170 for faces compared with healthy controls. It is early-stage and does not test treatment or cure, but it suggests face-processing brain signals may be altered in this group.
Study details
- Participants32
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Alzheimer s Disease) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Journal of Alzheimer s Disease: journal h-index 218 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 32 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Zhijun Zhang: h-index 64 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Chinese Academy of Sciences: institution h-index 1,801 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40111918) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
1 study in the alzhub library lists this one in its references.
Related studies in Mild cognitive impairment
Also tagged “assessment”
840 studies in the library carry the topic tag “assessment”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 840 tagged studies.