Development, Validation and Normative Data of the Italian Battery for the Recognition of Famous Faces (FAME) (I-FACE)

November 2, 2026 updated by: Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri SpA

Sviluppo, Validazione e Dati Normativi Della Batteria Italiana Per il Riconoscimento Dei Volti Famosi I-FACE

The I-FACE project aims to develop and validate a battery to assess famous-face recognition in people with neurodegenerative diseases and stroke. It will examine face naming, familiarity, and semantic knowledge, establish norms for the Italian population, and test how well the measures identify recognition difficulties in patients with frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and stroke.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The I-FACE project aims to develop and clinically validate a comprehensive neuropsychological battery for assessing famous-face recognition in people with neurodegenerative diseases and in stroke survivors. Face-recognition difficulties can affect a person's ability to identify familiar individuals and access information about them, yet these abilities are not always assessed systematically in clinical practice.

The battery will examine three components of famous-face recognition: Familiarity, or knowing that a face has been seen before; semantic knowledge, or retrieving information such as the person's profession; and naming, or producing the person's name. It will include four tasks: Famous Faces Confrontation Naming (FFCN), Famous Faces Semantic Association based on profession (FFSA), Famous Faces Triplet Words (FFTW), which assesses semantic associations using written names, and the Famous Faces Familiarity Judgement Task (FFFJT).

A pilot study will be used to refine the tasks and select items with good internal consistency. The researchers will then collect normative data from Italian participants, considering age, sex, and educational level, and establish cut-off scores for each subtest. Finally, the battery will be administered to people with frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and stroke to assess its reliability and validity. Its ability to distinguish patients with face-recognition impairments from healthy individuals will be evaluated using measures including sensitivity, specificity, and ROC curve analyses. The overall aim is to provide a reliable tool for identifying and characterizing these difficulties, including subtle deficits that may support earlier and more accurate clinical assessment.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
300

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

40 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study will include adults aged 40-85 years in four groups: healthy controls, participants with probable frontotemporal dementia (FTD), participants with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), and participants assessed in the subacute phase after stroke (1 week to 3 months after the event). Stroke must be ischemic or hemorrhagic and confirmed by neuroimaging and/or clinical assessment. Participants will be recruited from the study's clinical setting and assessed using the I-FACE neuropsychological battery. Group-specific eligibility criteria will be applied.

Description

  1. Healthy Controls (HC)

    Inclusion Criteria:

    Age 40-85 years. No chronic medical, neurological, or psychiatric conditions, or major depressive episode detected during screening.

    No history of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in the 5 years prior to screening.

    Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score ≥ 26.

    Exclusion Criteria:

    Uncorrected vision or hearing impairment.

  2. Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) Patients

    Inclusion Criteria:

    Diagnosis of probable FTD according to established clinical criteria. Age 40-85 years. Ability to provide informed consent.

    Exclusion Criteria:

    History of neurological diseases other than FTD (e.g., stroke, brain tumor, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury).

    Uncorrected vision or hearing impairment. History of serious psychiatric diseases, developmental disorders (e.g., autism spectrum), or intellectual disability.

    Dementia severity (CDR) > 1.

  3. Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Patients

    Inclusion Criteria:

    Diagnosis of probable AD according to established clinical criteria. Age 40-85 years. Ability to provide informed consent.

    Exclusion Criteria:

    History of neurological diseases other than AD (e.g., stroke, brain tumor, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury).

    Uncorrected vision or hearing impairment. History of serious psychiatric diseases, developmental disorders, or intellectual disability.

    Dementia severity (CDR) > 1.

  4. Post-Stroke Patients

Inclusion Criteria:

Subacute phase: 1 week to 3 months post-event. Ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke confirmed by neuroimaging and/or clinical judgment.

Exclusion Criteria:

History of previous stroke or multifocal stroke documented by imaging. Brainstem or cerebellar stroke. History of traumatic brain injury (TBI), seizures, brain tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, or psychiatric disorders.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: COHORT
  • Time Perspectives: PROSPECTIVE

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Healthy controls

Control participants will be administered the experimental neuropsychological battery to establish normative data.
Diagnostic test: Neuropsychological assessment using the I-FACE battery

Participants will complete the I-FACE neuropsychological assessment battery as outlined in the study protocol. The assessment includes standardised cognitive tests and questionnaires to evaluate the relevant cognitive domains. Participants will complete it once, and it does not involve therapeutic treatment or an investigational drug.
Patients with Alzheimer's disease

Patients with AD will be administered the experimental neuropsychological battery to establish the clinical validity of the FAME
Diagnostic test: Neuropsychological assessment using the I-FACE battery

Participants will complete the I-FACE neuropsychological assessment battery as outlined in the study protocol. The assessment includes standardised cognitive tests and questionnaires to evaluate the relevant cognitive domains. Participants will complete it once, and it does not involve therapeutic treatment or an investigational drug.
Patients with Frontotemporal dementia

Patients with FTD will be administered the experimental neuropsychological battery to establish the clinical validity of the FAME
Diagnostic test: Neuropsychological assessment using the I-FACE battery

Participants will complete the I-FACE neuropsychological assessment battery as outlined in the study protocol. The assessment includes standardised cognitive tests and questionnaires to evaluate the relevant cognitive domains. Participants will complete it once, and it does not involve therapeutic treatment or an investigational drug.
Post-stroke survivors

Post-stroke survivors will be administered the experimental neuropsychological battery to establish the clinical validity of the FAME
Diagnostic test: Neuropsychological assessment using the I-FACE battery

Participants will complete the I-FACE neuropsychological assessment battery as outlined in the study protocol. The assessment includes standardised cognitive tests and questionnaires to evaluate the relevant cognitive domains. Participants will complete it once, and it does not involve therapeutic treatment or an investigational drug.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
I-FACE total and subtest scores
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of neuropsychologic assessment (Day 1)

Participant performance on the four I-FACE tasks assessing famous-face naming, semantic association from faces, familiarity judgment, and semantic association from written names. Each item is scored 0 (incorrect/not identified) or 1 (correctly identified); total scores are calculated for each subtest.
From enrollment to the end of neuropsychologic assessment (Day 1)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri SpA

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Petronilla Battista, PhD, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 5, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 31, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 30, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 23, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 2, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 3, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 3, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 2, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
October 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • I-FACE CTSM162-25

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data (IPD) will not be shared because the data include sensitive clinical and neuropsychological information, and sharing could compromise participant confidentiality. The informed consent and ethics approval do not provide for public sharing of IPD. De-identified data may be considered for sharing upon reasonable request, subject to approval by the study investigators and applicable privacy and ethical requirements

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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