Understanding Prosopagnosia: Causes, Symptoms, and Management

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Prosopagnosia

by Alike Medical Team ∙ Updated on June 13, 2023

Additional names

This group contains additional names: - Face Blindness

General

Prosopagnosia is a condition where your brain can’t recognize faces or facial expressions in spite of having normal vision. This can make it hard for you to recognize the faces of familiar coworkers, friends or even close loved ones.

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Signs & symptoms

There are two forms of prosopagnosia, and the symptoms depend on the form. The two forms are apperceptive and associative: * Apperceptive prosopagnosia- This is when you can’t recognize a person’s facial expressions or other non-verbal cues. * Associative prosopagnosia- This form is when you can’t recognize a person’s face even if you’re familiar with them. You can still recognize them by other means like their voice or the sound of how they walk.

Diagnosis

Diagnosing prosopagnosia takes a combination of a neurological exam, asking questions about your history, diagnostic imaging and testing. The neurological exam and tests will likely include: * Sensory tests * Cognitive and mental status tests * Memory tests * Face recognition tests * Object recognition tests

Treatment

These treatments address the underlying problem that caused your prosopagnosia. They may or may not help your prosopagnosia itself. The possible treatments include, but aren’t limited to, the following: * Medications- These range from antibiotics for infections to anti-dementia medications. * Surgery- Prosopagnosia can happen when tumors press on certain areas of your brain. Removing those tumors with surgery, when possible, can alleviate pressure on your brain and hopefully let it function normally.

Note

☝ We provide information on prescription and over-the-counter medicines, diagnosis, procedures and lab tests. This material is provided for educational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

National Institutes of Health ∙ World Health Organization ∙ MedlinePluse ∙ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

☝ All information has been reviewed by certified physicians from Alike

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