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Visual self-face and self-body recognition in a left-brain-damaged prosopagnosic patient
Carlotta Casati1, Lorenzo Diana1, Sara Casartelli2
1Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Department of Neurorehabilitation Sciences, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milano, Italy.
Journal of Neuropsychology
|September 18, 2024
Summary
A stroke patient experienced prosopagnosia and self-recognition issues due to left-sided brain damage. This case highlights how specific brain lesions can impair self-face recognition while preserving the ability to recognize others' faces.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neurology
Background:
- Prosopagnosia, or face blindness, is a neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize familiar faces.
- Self-recognition deficits, particularly visual self-recognition, can occur following brain injury.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe a case of prosopagnosia and impaired visual self-recognition after a left-sided temporo-occipital stroke.
- To investigate the specific nature of face and body part processing deficits and their relationship to self-recognition.
Main Methods:
- Neuropsychological testing and experimental investigations were used to assess face and body part recognition.
- Lesion mapping was performed to identify the affected brain regions and their connections.
Main Results:
- The patient exhibited mild apperceptive prosopagnosia, with impaired processing of face and body parts but not full faces.
- A significant deficit in visual self-recognition was observed, affecting both facial and bodily self-perception.
- Lesion mapping revealed damage to the left inferior occipito-temporal cortex, disrupting connections crucial for self-representation.
Conclusions:
- Left-sided hemispheric lesions can selectively impair visual processing of one's own face and body.
- Disconnection between visual processing areas and self-representation regions may underlie deficits in visual self-recognition.
- The findings suggest that the neural mechanisms for self-recognition may be distinct from those for recognizing others' faces.
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