Prosopagnosia (also known as face blindness) is a neurological condition that affects an individual’s ability to reliably recognise familiar faces – acquaintances, friends, colleagues, well known people, and even close family members.
An Overview
Face blindness is often undiagnosed. Indeed it is considerably more common than many believe.
The History
Prosopagnosia has been of particular interest to neuroscientists as they seek to unravel the mysteries of the brain.
Literature
From research to fiction prosopagnosia presents some interesting scenarios to explore.
“Oliver Sacks: Face Blindness” by Oliver Sacks. Copyright © 2010
“The majority of people who have lived all their life with the condition may well be unaware that they have a neurological deficit, and that for other people face recognition is automatic. Oliver Sacks introduces prosopagnosia and describes his own journey of discovery.”
To see more –
Watch ‘Strangers in Mind’ – an interview with Oliver Sacks and Chuck Close recorded as part of the World Science Festival.
To read more –
Oliver Sacks (neurologist and face blind himself) gives an overview of developments in the field of prosopagnosia research in the chapter Face-Blind in ‘The Mind’s Eye’. He provides a layman’s guide to the neuroscience findings and debates that have helped to form our understanding of prosopagnosia to date.
