Prosopagnosia

What is prosopagnosia? Also known as face-blindness. Sufferers cannot recognise faces, even of familiar people. The problem is specific to faces. There is no general memory problem. Faces are not recognised even with multiple cues.

Types of prosopagnosia Acquired prosopagnosia results from brain damage Developmental prosopagnosia may be genetic or environmental in origin Evidence comes from case studies, for example of stroke victims Evidence comes from twin studies

Structural abnormality in developmental prosopagnosia The patient DP has a small temporal lobe. Other patients have more specifically a small fusiform area, part of the temporal lobe.

Why can’t faces be recognised? People with prosopagnosia can see all the parts of faces, such as mouths and eyes. The problem is in configural processing, putting the parts together to make a recognisable face.

How might developmental prosopagnosia develop? Some cases of developmental prosopagnosia seem to be related to childhood sight problems. Early correction of these would probably prevent some cases of prosopagnosia

A spectrum of face recognition? One approach to developmental prosopagnosia is to think of all of us on a spectrum, ranging from prosopagnosic patients to ‘super-recognisers’, who show exceptional face recognition.