Face blindness or the inability to recognize peoples’ faces

Congenital prosopagnosia runs in families

The link between prosopagnosia and autism

Different types and degrees of face blindness

Difficulty following plots and recognizing characters

One in 33 people might have face blindness

A tricky condition

Face blindness can trick us into believing we recognize people we’ve never met or make us fail to recognize those we have, according to Harvard Medical School.

A neurological disorder

Also known as prosopagnosia or facial agnosia, it is described by the US National Institute of Neurological disorders and Strokes as “a neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize faces”.

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Greek etymology

The term prosopagnosia comes from the Greek words “face” (prosopon) and “ignorance” (agnosia).

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What causes prosopagnosia?

Prosopagnosia can result from stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), or certain neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, according to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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Genetic prosopagnosia

However, it can also be congenital or present at birth, in the absence of any brain damage, according to the NIH.

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Congenital prosopagnosia runs in families

Congenital prosopagnosia, the health institute states, is the most common and appears to run in families, which makes it likely to be the result of a genetic mutation or deletion.

The link between prosopagnosia and autism

Moreover, several studies have showed that prosopagnosia is linked to autism and Asperger's syndrome and some statistics show that around 40% of people with autism have prosopagnosia symptoms.

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Different types and degrees of face blindness

According to the UK National Health Service (NHS), there are different types and degrees of prosopagnosia, and so different people might experience different symptoms.

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Associative prosopagnosia

Some people may not be able to tell the difference between strangers or people they do not know well, while others may not recognise the faces of friends and family. The latter is known as associative prosopagnosia.

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A severe degree

Some people might not even recognize their own face

or might struggle to tell the difference between a face, an animal or an object, according to the NHS.

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Apperceptive prosopagnosia

Other symptoms of prosopagnosia cited by the NHS include difficulty recognizing emotions on peoples’ faces, which is known as apperceptive prosopagnosia.

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Difficulty following plots and recognizing characters

People with face blindness may also have trouble following plots on tv series or films because of difficulty recognizing characters and might have difficulty deciphering peoples’ age and gender, the NHS says.

One in 33 people might have face blindness

One in 33 people (3.08%) may meet the criteria for face blindness, or prosopagnosia, a new study by Harvard Medical School show. Researchers said that those results translate to more than 10 million Americans.

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How do they diagnose prosopagnosia?

Diagnosing prosopagnosia takes a combination of a neurological exam, asking questions about your history, diagnostic imaging and testing, according to Cleveland Clinic.

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Is there a cure for prosopagnosia?

Prosopagnosia isn’t curable, but some of the causes of acquired prosopagnosia are curable, for example, antibiotics can treat an infection that caused encephalitis that resulted in face blindness.

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Learning to cope with prosopagnosia

However, if you suffer from congenital prosopagnosia (since birth), the treatment will rely more on therapy and rehabilitation to help you better adapt to the condition.

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Identifying people by their voice

For example, a healthcare professional can help you train your hearing and provide context clues to identify people by their voice or other characteristic aspects, rather than by their faces.

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Other tactics to get by

The NHS recommends telling people about the condition, putting name tags at coworkers desks, and making notes about peoples distinctive features such as hairstyle, jewelry and body language.

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A support group can help too

Besides therapy and rehabilitation programs that specialize in helping with conditions like prosopagnosia, a support group can also help people cope with the condition while treating the mental health issues that arise with it.

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Prosopagnosia and mental health

People who suffer from prosopagnosia or face blindness commonly struggle with anxiety in social situations because of feelings of shame or embarrassment at struggling to recognize people, according to Cleveland Clinic.

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Social isolation

This may result in people isolating themselves or limiting social interactions, leading to depression and other health problems.

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