Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia is a neurological disorder characterized by

the inability to recognize faces. This is
also known as face blindness or facial
agnosia. The term prosopagnosia comes
from the Greek words for face
(prosopon), and lack of knowledge
(agnosia).
Regarding the brain areas involved in
onset, initially it was accepted that a
lesion of the right hemisphere was sufficient to produce
prosopagnosia (Hecaen and Angelergues, 1962). According to
this hypothesis, prosopagnosia is due to a right unilateral
injury that could be located mainly in the occipital lobe, but
may also be located in the parietal, the temporal, or in
different combinations: tempo-occipital or parietal-occipital
(Cole and Perez, 1964). However, more recently Damasio
(1982) suggest the need for bilateral and symmetrical lesion
of both cerebral hemispheres.
What are the causes of prosopagnosia? Until recently,
it was thought that very few people suffer from
prosopagnosia. The condition has traditionally been studied in
individuals who acquire the disorder following neurological
damage (typically from stroke or head injury), and a handful of
case studies were reported in the literature in the 20th
century. However, it has recently become clear that many
more people suffer from prosopagnosia without experiencing
neurological damage. This form of the disorder is commonly
referred to as "developmental" or "congenital" prosopagnosia,
and these individuals simply fail to develop normal face

processing abilities despite normal intellectual and perceptual

functions. Developmental prosopagnosics have suffered from
the face recognition impairment for most of their lives,
perhaps since birth. Recent evidence suggests there may be a
genetic contribution to developmental prosopagnosia, and
several case studies report at least one first-degree relative
who also suffers from the face recognition impairment.

What is prognosis? Prosopagnosia can be socially

crippling. Individuals with the disorder often have difficulty
recognizing family members and close friends. They often use
other ways to identify people, such as relying on voice,
clothing, or unique physical attributes, but these are not as
effective as recognizing a face. Children with congenital
prosopagnosia are born with the disability and have never had
a time when they could recognize faces. Greater awareness
of autism, and the autism spectrum disorders, which involve
communication impairments such as prosopagnosia, is likely
to make the disorder less overlooked in the future.
Is there any treatment? The focus of any treatment
should be to help the individual with prosopagnosia develop
compensatory strategies. Adults who have the condition as a
result of stroke or brain trauma can be retrained to use other
clues to identify individuals.
What research is being done? The National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) conducts research
related to prosopagnosia in its laboratories at the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), and also supports additional
research through grants to major medical institutions across
the country. Much of this research focuses on finding better
ways to prevent, treat, and ultimately cure disorders, such as
prosopagnosia.

Memo
Date: February 28, 2015
To: Mr. Gomez
From: Jaime Sosa
Subject: Prosopagnosia
Purpose
The purpose of this memo is to inform that decided to
explain the topic of prosopagnosia and identify the audience
to be targeted.
Why prosopagnosia?

This topic is very interesting because it shows brain

damage which is very difficult to explain and continue
conducting studies on prosopagnosia many people suffer but
as every human being perceives the world in a different way
many do not realize the problem they face.
Audience
This topic is especially for people who are studying some
health science, biology or some science that studies human
behavior as psychology or sociology.
Why I chose this audience?
I chose this audience because the topic is important for
people or students interested in the human body and to
understand better need to know how the human brain works
even at a basic level.

References
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia)
(https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/prosopagnosia)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwCrxomPbtY