The fractionation of remote memory. Evidence from a longitudinal study of dementia of Alzheimer type.

We studied remote memory, both autobiographical and public, longitudinally over a 1-year period in 24 patients with dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT) and 30 matched controls. Although both public and autobiographical memory were impaired in DAT, public memory deteriorated longitudinally, while autobiographical memory did not. These data support the hypothesis that remote memory may be fractionated and that one important dichotomy is autobiographical memory versus famous person knowledge. A cognitive analysis of famous face and name processing showed evidence of progressive breakdown in the identification of famous faces and names, with preservation of face and name recognition, and face naming. The declining performance on identification appeared to be due primarily to loss of semantic knowledge regarding famous persons, while retrieval a deficit contributed more significantly to the proper name anomia which was over and above the semantic deficit in DAT.