Prosopagnosia
Introduction
Prosopagnosia, also known as "face blindness", is the inability to recognise faces.
Face blindnessoften affects people from birth and is usually a problem a person has for most or all of their life.It can have a severe impact on everyday life (see below).
Many people with prosopagnosia aren't able to recognise family members, partners or friends.
They may cope by using alternative strategies to recognise people, such as remembering the way they walk, or theirhairstyle, voice orclothing.
Butthese types of compensation strategies don't always work, particularly when a person with prosopagnosia meets someone out of context, at a place or time they're not used to seeing that person.
Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 16 Jan 2017
Introduction
Find out about prosopagnosia (an inability to recognise faces), including how the condition can affect a person's everyday life, plus details about commonly used coping strategies.
The impact ofprosopagnosia
A person with prosopagnosia may avoid social interaction and develop social anxiety disorder (an overwhelming fear of social situations). They may also have difficulty forming relationships or experi
What causesprosopagnosia?
There are two types of prosopagnosia known as: developmental prosopagnosia where a person has prosopagnosia without havingbrain damage acquired prosopagnosiawhere a person develops prosopagnosia af
Diagnosing prosopagnosia
If you have problems recognising faces, your GP may refer you to a clinical neuropsychologist working within the NHS or private practice. You may also be referred to a researcher who specialises in t
Treatingprosopagnosia
There's no specific treatment for prosopagnosia, but researchers are continuing to investigate what causes the condition, and training programmes are being developed to help improve facial recognition
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