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Related Experiment Videos

Prosopagnosia: a reclassification.

J E McNeil1, E K Warrington

  • 1Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, National Hospital, London, U.K.

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. A, Human Experimental Psychology
|May 1, 1991
PubMed
Summary
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This study investigated profound prosopagnosia (face blindness). Impaired face perception doesn't cause recognition difficulties, suggesting disconnection or damage to face recognition units.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuropsychology

Background:

  • Prosopagnosia, or face blindness, is characterized by the inability to recognize familiar faces.
  • Existing classifications distinguish between perceptual and mnestic (memory-based) deficits.

Observation:

  • Three patients with profound prosopagnosia were quantitatively assessed using face perception, recognition, and paired associate learning tests.
  • A control patient with perceptual deficits but intact face recognition was included.
  • Covert recognition was present in two prosopagnosic patients but absent in the third.

Findings:

  • Impaired performance on face perception tests did not correlate with difficulties in recognizing familiar faces.
  • The control patient's poor performance on perception tasks further supports this dissociation.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Evidence of covert recognition suggests heterogeneity within prosopagnosia.

    • Implications:

    • The perceptual/mnestic distinction for prosopagnosia may be inappropriate.
    • Prosopagnosia may be better explained by disconnection of face recognition units or direct damage to these units.
    • This reframes understanding of the neural basis of face recognition.