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Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:26 Causes of face blindness
2:13 Symptoms of face blindness
2:46 Diagnosis of face blindness
3:45 Treatment of face blindness
Face blindness is a cognitive disorder characterized by the inability to recognize or differentiate faces.
• In face blindness, other aspects of visual processing (e.g, object discrimination) and intellectual functioning (e.g decision making) remain contact.
• Depending on the severity of the impairment, some people with the condition may only have difficulty recognizing a familiar face including family members, partners, and even friend, some may struggle to differentiate or identify unknown faces or people they don’t know too well, and others may have problems even recognizing their own faces in the mirror or in the photos.
• Also known as prosopagnosia, face blindness can have a severe impact on everyday life. A person with the condition may avoid social interactions, have difficulty forming relationships both in personal and professional setting, and develop a social anxiety disorder.
• There are two types of prosopagnosia: developmental (congenital) and acquired.
• Face blindness is sometimes associated with developmental disorders, such as autistic spectrum disorder, Turner syndrome and Williams syndrome
CAUSES
Developmental (congenital) prosopagnosia is a congenital disorder present at birth. Most people with congenital prosopagnosia may fail to develop the ability to recognize faces. It appears to run in the families, which makes it likely to be the result of a genetic mutation or deletion. Many people with the condition have reported at least a parent or sibling who has problems recognizing faces.
Acquired prosopagnosia is rare and it is thought to be caused by impairment, abnormalities, or damage of the right fusiform gyrus, a fold in the brain. This area in the brain is responsible for coordinating the neural system that affects facial memory and perception.