FaceWise Consolidated Memory Assessment
An AI-administered name-to-face free recall assessment that measures sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Built on the FNAME paradigm validated in the NIH Toolbox and designed for decentralized clinical trials.
Standard cognitive tests use 30-minute recall intervals and miss consolidation entirely. FaceWise captures what happens overnight, when hippocampal memory traces are transferred to long-term cortical storage. No other assessment in the decentralized trial space measures this domain.
Assessment Design
Name-to-Face Free Recall
Built on the Face-Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME) paradigm, validated in the NIH Toolbox and ranked first among 61 cognitive assessments for predicting Alzheimer's progression. The free recall format requires self-initiated retrieval from hippocampal circuits, making it more sensitive to early decline than recognition-based alternatives where ceiling effects mask impairment.
AI-Administered for Decentralized Trials
Measuring memory consolidation requires two sessions separated by overnight sleep. That means two coordinated visits per assessment in a traditional trial. FaceWise automates both encoding and delayed recall, allowing participants to complete the encoding session at home in the evening and the recall session the next morning. No site visit required for either.
Captures What Standard Tests Miss
Standard cognitive batteries use 30-minute delayed recall. That interval captures encoding and short-term retention but misses sleep-dependent systems consolidation entirely. Research on accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) shows patients can score normally at 30 minutes and show significant impairment at 24 hours. FaceWise measures across this critical overnight window.
Longitudinal Tracking Without Practice Effects
Multiple parallel stimulus sets allow repeated administration over months or years without the practice effects that compromise serial cognitive testing. Adaptive encoding ensures each participant reaches a standardized learning criterion before the delay period, isolating consolidation from initial encoding ability.
Why no one has productized this
Measuring memory consolidation requires at minimum a two-session protocol: an encoding session, followed by overnight sleep, followed by delayed recall the next day. In a clinical trial with monthly assessments, that doubles the visit count.
Scheduling two coordinated site visits per assessment across a multi-site trial is operationally prohibitive. You also need to control for rehearsal between sessions, match initial learning levels across participants, and standardize administration at every site.
Academic research groups have demonstrated the clinical value of extended-delay recall for over a decade. But no one has built the infrastructure to deploy it at clinical trial scale until now. FaceWise solves the logistics through AI-administered remote assessment, making consolidation measurement practical for the first time in a decentralized trial context.
Standard Test vs. FaceWise
Target Populations
FaceWise targets the dementia spectrum where consolidation-based measurement has the greatest clinical and scientific impact. These are the populations where standard 30-minute recall intervals consistently miss detectable deficits.
Scientific Foundation
FaceWise builds on decades of peer-reviewed research in associative memory, sleep-dependent consolidation, and early Alzheimer's detection.
FNAME Validation
The Face-Name Associative Memory Exam was developed at Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School (Rentz, Amariglio, Papp). Validated in the ARMADA study. Included in the NIH Toolbox for neurological and behavioral function.
Accelerated Long-Term Forgetting
A Lancet Neurology study detected ALF in presymptomatic autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease approximately 7 years before estimated symptom onset. Standard 30-minute recall intervals failed to detect the same deficit.
Consolidation and Sleep
During slow-wave sleep, hippocampal memory traces are replayed and transferred to neocortical networks for long-term storage. This process is disrupted early in Alzheimer's pathology, making consolidation a sensitive biomarker for prodromal disease.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the FNAME paradigm and how does FaceWise implement it?
The Face-Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME) was developed at Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School. It requires participants to learn face-name pairs and recall them after a delay. FaceWise implements this paradigm with AI administration, adaptive encoding, and overnight delayed recall to measure sleep-dependent memory consolidation.
How does memory consolidation testing differ from standard cognitive assessment?
Standard cognitive batteries use 30-minute recall delays, capturing encoding and short-term retention but missing sleep-dependent systems consolidation entirely. FaceWise measures recall after overnight sleep, when hippocampal memory traces are transferred to long-term cortical storage.
What is accelerated long-term forgetting and why does it matter for Alzheimer's trials?
Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) is the phenomenon where patients retain information normally over short delays but lose it abnormally fast over hours to days. A Lancet Neurology study detected ALF in presymptomatic autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease approximately 7 years before estimated symptom onset.
Can FaceWise be used in decentralized clinical trials?
Yes. FaceWise is AI-administered and designed specifically for decentralized trials. Participants complete the encoding session at home in the evening and the recall session the next morning. No site visit is required for either session.
How does FaceWise eliminate practice effects?
FaceWise uses multiple parallel stimulus sets that allow repeated administration over months or years without the practice effects that compromise serial cognitive testing. Adaptive encoding ensures each participant reaches a standardized learning criterion before the delay period.
Interested in FaceWise?
Contact us to discuss how FaceWise could fit into your clinical program, explore research collaboration opportunities, or learn more about the underlying science and development timeline.
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