Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T00:50:23.435Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - Prosopagnosia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2009

Eugene Mayer
Affiliation:
University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland
Bruno Rossion
Affiliation:
University of Louvain, Belgium
Olivier Godefroy
Affiliation:
Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens
Julien Bogousslavsky
Affiliation:
Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
Get access

Summary

General presentation of the disorder

Prosopagnosia is classically defined as an inability to recognize faces of people known to the patient on the basis of visual perception, despite the absence of low-level visual impairments, or cognitive alterations such as mental confusion or amnesia, with a preserved ability to recognize people through other cues: voice or other visual traits such as gait, size, clothes, or even facial features (moustache, scar, blemish) or accessories (ear-rings, eyeglasses). Prosopagnosics also have access to semantic knowledge concerning people.

According to Grüsser and Landis (1991), this condition seems to have been first described by Wigan (1844), in a book in which he expressed his views on the interaction of the two cerebral hemispheres. Wigan stated (pp. 128–9):

A gentleman of middle age, or a little past that period, lamented to me his utter inability to remember faces. He would converse with a person for an hour, but after an interval of a day could not recognise him again. Even friends, with whom he had been engaged in business transactions, he was unconscious of ever having seen (…) it was not till he heard the voice, that he could recognise men with whom he had constant intercourse (…) When I inquire more fully into the matter, I found that there was no defect in vision, except that his eyes were weak, and that any long continued employment of them gave him pain (…). He was quite determined to conceal it, if possible, and it was impossible to convince him that it did not depend solely on the eyes.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agniel, A., Joanette, Y., Doyon, B. and Duchein, C. (1992). Protocole Montréal-Toulouse, Évaluation des Gnosies Visuelles et Auditives. Isbergues: L'ortho édition.Google Scholar
Assal, G., Favre, C. and Anderes, J. (1984). Nonrecognition of familiar animals by a farmer: Zooagnosia or prosopagnosia for animals. Rev. Neurol., 140, 580–4.Google ScholarPubMed
Barton, J. (2003). Disorders of face perception and recognition. Neurol. Clin., 21(2), 521–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barton, J. J., Cherkasova, M. V., Press, D. Z., Intriligator, J. M. and O'Connor, M. (2004). Perceptual functions in prosopagnosia. Perception, 33(8), 939–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barton, J. J., Press, D. Z., Keenan, J. P. and O'Connor, M. (2002). Lesions of the fusiform face area impair perception of facial configuration in prosopagnosia. Neurology, 58, 71–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Behrmann, M. and Moscovitch, M. (2001). Face recognition: Evidence from intact and impaired performance. In Handbook of Neuropsychology, Vol. 4, ed. Boller, F. and Grafman, J.Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 181–206.Google Scholar
Benton, A. L. (1986). Reaction time and brain disease: Some reflections. Cortex, 22, 129–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benton, A. L., Sivan, A. B., Hamsher, K., Varney, N. R. and Spreen, O. (1983). Contributions to Neuropsychological Assessment: A Clinical Manual. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Beyn, E. S. and Knyazeva, G. R. (1962). The problem of prosopagnosia. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, 25, 154–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bodamer, J. (1947). Die Prosop-Agnosie (Die Agnosie des Physiognomieerkennens). Arch. Psychiatr. Nervenkr., 179, 6–54. English translation by Ellis, H. D. and Florence, M. (1990). Cogn. Neuropsychol., 7, 81–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boutsen, L. and Humphreys, G. W. (2003). The effect of inversion on the encoding of normal and “thatcherized” faces. Q. J. Exp. Psychol., 56(6), 955–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bouvier, S. E. and Engel, S. A. (2006). Behavioral deficits and cortical damage loci in cerebral achromatopsia. Cerebral Cortex, 16, 183–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brandt, T., Steinke, W., Thie, A., Pessin, M. S. and Caplan, L. R. (2000). Posterior cerebral artery territory infarcts: Clinical features, infarct topography, causes and outcome. Multicenter results and a review of the literature. Cerebrovasc. Dis., 10, 172–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruyer, R., Laterre, C., Seron, X., et al. (1983). A case of prosopagnosia with some preserved covert remembrance of familiar faces. Brain Cogn., 2, 257–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bukach, C. M., Bub, D. M., Gauthier, I. and Tarr, M. J. (2006). Perceptual expertise effects are not all or none: Local perceptual expertise for faces in a case of prosopagnosia. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 18, 48–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buser, P. and Imbert, M. (1987). Vision. Paris: Hermann.Google Scholar
Caldara, R., Schyns, P., Mayer, E., et al. (2005). Does prosopagnosia take the eyes out from faces? Evidence for a defect in the use of diagnostic facial information in a brain-damaged patient. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 17, 1652–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cals, N., Devuyst, G., Afsar, N., Karapanayiotides, T. and Bogousslavsky, J. (2002). Pure superficial posterior cerebral artery territory infarction in the Lausanne stroke registry. J. Neurol., 249, 855–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cavanagh, P. (1992). Attention-based motion perception. Science, 257, 1563–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charcot, J. M. (1883). Un cas de suppression brusque et isolée de la vision mentale des signes et des objets (formes et couleurs). Progr. Med., 11, 568–71.Google Scholar
Clarke, S., Lindemann, A., Maeder, P., Borruat, F. X. and Assal, G. (1997). Face recognition and postero-inferior hemispheric lesions. Neuropsychologia, 35, 1555–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Damasio, H. and Damasio, A. R. (1989). Lesion Analysis in Neuropsychology. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Damasio, A. R., Damasio, H. and Hoesen, G. W. (1982). Prosopagnosia: Anatomic basis and behavioural mechanisms. Neurology, 32, 331–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Damasio, A. R., Tranel, D. and Damasio, H. (1990). Face agnosia and the neural substrates of memory. Ann. Rev. Neurosci., 13, 89–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidoff, J. and Landis, T. (1990). Recognition of unfamiliar faces in prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia, 28(11), 1143–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Renzi, E. (1986). Current issues on prosopagnosia. In Aspects of Face Processing, ed. Ellis, H. D., Jeeves, M. A., Newcombe, F. G. and Young, A.. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, pp. 243–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renzi, E., Faglioni, P., Grossi, D. and Nichelli, P. (1991). Apperceptive and associative forms of prosopagnosia. Cortex, 27, 213–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Renzi, E., Perani, D., Carlesimo, G. A., Silveri, M. C. and Fazio, F. (1994). Prosopagnosia can be associated with damage confined to the right hemisphere – an MRI and PET study and a review of the literature. Neuropsychologia, 8, 893–902.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delvenne, J. F., Seron, X., Coyette, F. and Rossion, B. (2004). Do perceptual deficits always co-occur with visual (prosop)agnosia? Evidence from neuropsychological investigation in a single-case study. Neuropsychologia, 42, 597–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duchaine, B. and Weidenfeld, A. (2003). An evaluation of two commonly used tests of unfamiliar face recognition. Neuropsychologia, 41, 713–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, H. D., Shepherd, J. W. and Davies, G. M. (1979). Identification of familiar and unfamiliar faces from internal and external features: Some implications for theories of face recognition. Perception, 8, 431–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, H. D. and Young, A. W. (1988). Training in face-processing skills for a child with acquired prosopagnosia. Develop. Neuropsychol., 4, 283–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ettlin, T. M., Beckson, M., Benson, D. F., et al. (1992). Prosopagnosia: A bihemispheric disorder. Cortex, 28, 129–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, J. J., Heggs, A. J., Antoun, N. and Hodges, J. R. (1995). Progressive prosopagnosia with associated selective right temporal lobe atrophy: A new syndrome?Brain, 118, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farah, M. J. (1990). Visual Agnosia. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Farah, M., Levinson, K. L. and Klein, K. L. (1995). Face perception and within-category discrimination in prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia, 33, 661–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gauthier, I., Behrmann, M. and Tarr, M. J. (1999). Is prosopagnosia a general deficit in subordinate-level categorization?J. Cogn. Neurosci., 11, 349–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ginsburg, A. P. (2003). Contrast sensitivity and functional vision. Int. Ophthalmol. Clin., 43, 5–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glowic, C. and Violon, A. (1981). Un cas de prosopagnosie régressive. Acta Neurol. Belgica., 81, 86–97.Google Scholar
Goldsmith, Z. G. and Liu, G. T. (2001). Facial recognition and prosopagnosia: Past and present concepts. Neuro-Ophthal., 25, 177–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grüsser, O. J. and Landis, T. (1991). Faces lost: Prosopagnosia. In Visual Agnosias and Other Disturbances of Visual Perception and Cognition: Vision and Visual Dysfunction, Vol. 12, Amsterdam: MacMillan, pp. 259–86.Google Scholar
Habib, M. and Sirigu, A. (1987). Pure topographical disorientation: A definition and anatomical basis. Cortex, 23, 73–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haxby, J. V., Hoffman, E. A. and Gobbini, M. I. (2000). The distributed human neural system for face perception. Trends Cogn. Sci., 4, 223–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hécaen, H. and Angelergues, R. (1962). Agnosia for faces (prosopagnosia). Arch. Neurol., 7, 92–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hécaen, H. and Angelergues, R. (1963). La Cécité Psychique, Paris: Masson.Google Scholar
Henke, K., Schweinberger, S. R., Grigo, A., Klos, T. and Sommer, W. (1998). Specificity of face recognition: Recognition of exemplars of non-face objects in prosopagnosia. Cortex, 34, 289–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hillger, L. A. and Koenig, O. (1991). Separable mechanisms in face processing: Evidence from hemispheric specialization. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 3, 42–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoff, H. and Pötzl, O. (1937). Über eine optisch-agnostische Störung des “Physiognomie-Gedächtnisses”. Z. Ges. Neurol. Psychiat., 159, 367–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joubert, S., Felician, O., Barbeau, E., et al. (2003). Impaired configurational processing in a case of progressive prosopagnosia associated with predominant right temporal lobe atrophy. Brain, 126, 2537–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J. and Chun, M. (1997). The fusiform face area: A module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face perception. J. Neurosci., 1711, 4302–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumral, E., Bayulkem, G., Ataç, C. and Alper, Y. (2004). Spectrum of superficial posterior cerebral artery territory infarcts: Clinical and outcome correlates. Eur. Neurol., 11, 237–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laeng, B. and Caviness, V. S. (2001). Prosopagnosia as a deficit in encoding curved surface. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 13, 556–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landis, T. (2004). Désorientation topographique. In Neuro-ophtalmologie, ed. Safran, A. B., Vighetto, A., Landis, T. and Cabanis, E. A.. Paris: Masson, pp. 130–4.Google Scholar
Landis, T., Regard, M., Bliestle, A. and Kleihues, P. (1988). Prosopagnosia and agnosia for non-canonical views: An autopsied case. Brain, 111, 1287–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leveroni, C. L., Seidenberg, M., Mayer, A. R., et al. (2000). Neural systems underlying the recognition of familiar and newly learned faces. J. Neurosci., 20, 878–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marotta, J. J., Genovese, C. R. and Behrmann, M. (2001). A functional MRI study of face recognition in patients with prosopagnosia. Neuroreport, 13, 1581–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marotta, J. J., McKeeff, T. J. and Behrmann, M. (2002). The effects of rotation and inversion on face processing in prosopagnosia. Cogn. Neuropsychol., 19, 31–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mattson, A. J., Levin, H. S. and Grafman, J. (2000). A case of prosopagnosia following moderate closed head injury with left hemisphere focal lesion. Cortex, 36, 125–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maurer, D., Grand, R. and Mondloch, C. J. (2002). The many faces of configural processing. Trends Cogn. Sci., 6, 255–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mayer, E., Fistarol, P. and Valenza, N. (1999). Prise en charge neuropsychologique d'une patiente prosopagnosique. In La Rééducation en Neuropsychologie: Études de Cas, ed. Azouvi, P., Perrier, D. and Linden, M.. Marseille: Solal.Google Scholar
McNeil, J. E. and Warrington, E. K. (1993). Prosopagnosia: A face specific disorder. Q. J. Exp. Psychol., 46A, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meadows, J. C. (1974). The anatomical basis of prosopagnosia. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, 37, 489–501.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Michel, F., Poncet, M. and Signoret, J. L. (1989). Les lésions responsables de la prosopagnosie sont-elles toujours bilatérales?Rev. Neurol., 145, 764–70.Google Scholar
Milandre, L., Brosset, C., Botti, G. and Khalil, R. (1994). Etude de 82 infarctus du territoire des artères cérébrales postérieures. Rev. Neurol., 150, 133–41.Google Scholar
Nadler, M. P., Miller, D. and Nadler, D. J. (1990). Glare and Contrast Sensitivity for Clinicians, New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Donnell, C. and Bruce, V. (2001). Familiarisation with faces selectively enhances sensitivity to changes made to the eyes. Perception, 30, 755–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pessin, M. S., Lathi, E. S., Cohen, M. B., et al. (1987). Clinical features and mechanism of occipital infarction. Ann. Neurol., 21, 290–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Polster, M. R. and Rapcsak, S. Z. (1996). Representations in learning new faces: Evidence from prosopagnosia. J. Int. Neuropsych. Soc., 2, 240–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quaglino, A. and Borelli, G. (1867). Emiplegia sinistra con amaurosi – guarigione – perdita totale della percezione dei colori e della memoria della configurazione degli oggetti. Giornale d'Oftalmologia Italiano, 10, 106–17.Google Scholar
Riddoch, M. J. and Humphreys, G. W. (1993). Birmingham object recognition battery. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Rizzo, M., Corbett, J. J., Thompson, H. S. and Damasio, A. R. (1986). Spatial contrast sensitivity in facial recognition. Neurology, 36, 1254–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rossion, B., Caldara, R., Seghier, M., et al. (2003a). A network of occipito-temporal face-sensitive areas besides the right middle fusiform gyrus is necessary for normal face processing. Brain, 126, 2381–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossion, B., Gelder, B., Dricot, L., et al. (2000). Hemispheric asymmetries for whole-based and parts-based face processing in the human fusiform gyrus. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 12, 793–802.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossion, B., Joyce, C., Cottrell, G. W. and Tarr, M. J. (2003b). Early lateralization and orientation tuning for face, word and object processing in the visual cortex. Neuroimage, 20, 1609–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossion, B. and Pourtois, G. (2004). Revisiting Snodgrass and Vanderwart's object pictorial set: The role of surface detail in basic-level object recognition. Perception, 33(2), 217–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rossion, B., Schiltz, C., Robaye, L., Pirenne, D. and Crommelinck, M. (2001). How does the brain discriminate familiar and unfamiliar faces: A PET study of face categorical perception. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 13, 1019–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schiltz, C., Sorger, B., Caldara, R., et al. (2006). Anomalous response to facial identity in the right middle fusiform gyrus underlies impaired face identification in acquired prosopagnosia. Cerebral Cortex, 16, 574–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schweich, M. and Bruyer, R. (1993). Heterogeneity in the cognitive manifestations of prosopagnosia: The study of a group of single cases. Cogn. Neuropsych., 10, 529–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sergent, J., Otha, S. and MacDonald, B. (1992). Functional neuroanatomy of face and object processing. A positron emission tomography study. Brain, 115, 15–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sergent, J. and Signoret, J. L. (1992). Varieties of functional deficits in prosopagnosia. Cerebral Cortex, 2, 375–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sergent, J. and Villemure, J. G. (1989). Prosopagnosia in a right hemispherectomized patient. Brain, 112, 975–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seron, X., Mataigne, F., Coyette, F., et al. (1995). Etude d'un cas de métamorphopsie limitée aux visages et à certains objets familiers. Rev. Neurol., 151, 691–8.Google Scholar
Snodgrass, J. G. and Vanderwart, M. (1980). A standardized set of 260 pictures: Norms for name agreement, image agreement, familiarity, and visual complexity. J. Exp. Psycho. [Learn. Mem. Cogn.], 6, 174–215.Google ScholarPubMed
Spreen, O. and Strauss, E. (1998). A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests, 2nd edn. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tranel, D., Damasio, A. R. and Damasio, H. (1988). Intact recognition of facial expression, gender, and age in patients with impaired recognition of face identity. Neurology, 38, 690–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Uttner, I., Bliem, H. and Danek, A. (2002). Prosopagnosia after unilateral right cerebral infarction. J. Neurol., 249, 933–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wada, Y. and Yamamoto, T. (2001). Selective impairment of facial recognition due to a haematoma to the right fusiform and lateral occipital region. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, 71, 254–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warrington, E. K. (1984). Recognition Memory Test. Windsor: NFER-Nelson.Google Scholar
Warrington, E. K. (1996). The Camden Memory Tests: Manual. Hove: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Warrington, E. K. and James, M. (1991). The Visual Object and Space Perception Battery. Bury St Edmunds: Thames Valley Test Company.
Whitely, A. M. and Warrington, E. K. (1977). Prosopagnosia: A clinical, psychological, and anatomical study of three patients. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, 40, 395–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wigan, A. L. (1844). A New View of Insanity: The Duality of the Mind. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Wilbrand, H. (1887). Die Seelenblindheit als Herderscheinung und ihre Beziehungen zur homonymen Hemianopsie. Wiesbaden: J. F. Bergmann.Google Scholar
Wilbrand, H. (1892). Ein Fall von Seelenblindheit und Hemianopsie mit Sectionsbefund. Dtsch. Z. Nervenheilk., 2, 361–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, B. (2003). The theory and practice of neuropsychological rehabilitation: An overview. In Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, ed. Wilson, B.. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.Google Scholar
Yamamoto, Y., Georgiadis, A. L., Chang, H. M. and Caplan, L. R. (1999). Posterior cerebral artery territory infarcts in the New England Medical Center Posterior Circulation Registry. Arch. Neurol., 56, 824–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zeki, S. M. (1990). A century of cerebral achromatopsia. Brain, 113, 1721–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zihl, J. and Cramon, D. (1986). Zerebrale Sehstörungen. Kohlhammer: Stuttgart.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Prosopagnosia
  • Edited by Olivier Godefroy, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, Julien Bogousslavsky, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Book: The Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology of Stroke
  • Online publication: 10 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511544880.017
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Prosopagnosia
  • Edited by Olivier Godefroy, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, Julien Bogousslavsky, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Book: The Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology of Stroke
  • Online publication: 10 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511544880.017
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Prosopagnosia
  • Edited by Olivier Godefroy, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, Julien Bogousslavsky, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Book: The Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology of Stroke
  • Online publication: 10 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511544880.017
Available formats
×