Prosopagnosia, or face-blindness, is when you are unable to recognize other humans by their faces. This page explains what it can be like to try to recognize your friends with other brain centres than the one that is designed for it.

Have you ever wondered how it can be possible to recognize one face among hundreds of thousands? We don't seem to have the same ability for other types of objects, do we?

If you think that a face has far more describable features than a stone, take a minute and contemplate the following exercise.

First try to describe in words, the face to the left. Try to describe it so that a stranger would be able to find it in a crowd.

Now do the same thing for the stone to the right. Try to describe it so well that a stranger could find it among other stones. You may assume that it will not be tilted or turned, just as you would with the face.

May I guess that the number of describable features useful for identification, that you found, was about the same?

The answer is instead that the human brain has a specific centre that does nothing more, and nothing less, than recognize faces. This centre is what enables us to recognize each other with such certainty.

Prosopagnosia, or face-blindness, is what you get when that centre is damaged or otherwise unable to perform its functions. This page is devoted to trying to explain what it can be like to identify the people around you using another centre of the brain, the general pattern recognition centre that most people would use to recognize objects like stones or twigs.

Let me introduce you to your guides:

Anna, Eva, Thomas, Sten, Sophia, John, Matilda, Daniel, Fred and Lisa

Anna

Eva

Thomas

Sten

Sophia

John

Matilda

Daniel

Fred

Lisa

As you can see, they are all possible to recognize by their individual features.

Cosmetics and Hair

Cosmetics can make big changes to the appearance ...

… and so can a new haircut.

All 5 photos above are of Matilda. Note that the hairstyles and cosmetics above does not cover any more than hairstyles and cosmetics usually do. Different lights are also a part of everyday life.
Many, maybe most, face-blind people do not use cosmetics and hairstyling except when it is expected by society.

Identifying by relationships

Some individuals are often found together. Then it can be possible to identify one individual by its relationship with the other. For example, if Daniel kisses a woman with grey hair that looks approximately like his wife Lisa, it probably is his wife Lisa.

This can also be a way of telling two individuals apart of which only one has a wife/girlfriend/husband/boyfriend/daughter/son etc.

Identifying by unusual markings

Some individuals have special features that can make them easy to recognize…

... but when you suddenly meet a lot of people with that particular feature, you may fail to recognize even someone you have known for a long time.

Uniforms can be a big trouble.

Identifying by location

Some individuals we expect to see in certain places. When we suddenly see them in another place we may fail to recognize them altogether.
On the left we see Sten in the stair where we usually find him. He is the big flat one closest to us. On the right we meet him unexpectedly in a garden where we did not think he would be.

Some individuals, like Anna, are always found in the same place (e.g. at their desk in an office or a school). Then it can be easier to identify them by place than by looks.

Anna

Help

"Hi Lisa! How is Daniel?"

This kind of greeting from someone in the group when a new person joins the group, can be a great help for a face-blind person.

Time available for identification

Most people expect to be recognized in a small crowd within less than a second. This crowd is about 20 individuals. Sophia is at the top and second from the left. Eva is in the crowd too, and she may be offended if you ‘snub’ her and just start talking to Sophia.



This is one reason why many face-blind people nod and smile at almost all people they meet. Friends will then think they have already been recognized, and so will not be offended. Friends also tend to greet back in a way that identifies them as being friends.

Celebrities

Some individuals everyone is expected to recognize, even if they have never even been near them. Not only are we expected to recognize them as a group, or in a certain dress, or in a certain place, like here in the pictures. We are also expected to recognize each individual when we run into him or her in a totally unexpected place. Most face-blind people find that very hard.

Could this really be a problem in real life?

If you ever wonder whether I (being face-blind) would be able to recognize you or some other person; Consider if you could learn to recognize a stone in that situation. If you could, there is a fair chance that I would be able to recognize a human.
Before you guess, remember that I have practiced this kind of recognizing every day of my life, for more than 30 years. I am pretty good at it. :-)

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