Prosopagnosia, the disease that does not recognize faces

Prosopagnosia is a mirror disease, a disease in which patients are unable to recognize their own faces in the mirror or the faces of other people, even if they are relatives or close friends. In fact, they come to have the idea that their family or friends have been replaced by identical doubles, so that they recognize faces but no emotion is unleashed in them. Hence his idea about replacing these people with a look (person who has a lot of resemblance or similarity to another).

How does this disease arise?

The facial recognition it lies in brain areas located in the temporal, occipital and part of the limbic system. In the inferotemporal zone, in the so-called fusiform gyrus, located between the parahippocampal gyrus and the inferior temporo-gyrus, where facial recognition occurs. This disease can be congenital or acquired:

1. Congenital Prosopagnosia: It manifests in the first years of age and a possible autosomal dominant inheritance pattern is being investigated. This congenital form affects approximately 2.5% of the population. There are two types of prosopagnosia when it comes to the non-congenital form:

• Perceptive: in which he is a patient, he is not able to differentiate some faces from others, everyone perceives them the same, whether they are family members or others.
• Associative: in which the patient is able to distinguish to a greater or lesser extent some faces from others but does not recognize them even if they are close to people.

2. Acquired Prosopagnosia: It can be due to various pathologies that damage the areas related to facial recognition, such as:

• Cerebral vascular accidents (stroke)
• Brain hemorrhages
• Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning
• Tumors
• Brain atrophy
• Disease
• Disease
• .

Sometimes it has been associated with other alterations such as left hemianopia, achromatopsia or topographic disorientation (an inability to orient oneself).

Diagnosis

The diagnosis will be based initially on the verification of the inability of the patient to differentiate and recognize faces, not even his own. It is important to carry out imaging tests to rule out organic pathology in affected areas using a computerized axial tomography () and nuclear magnetic resonance (). If functional imaging studies are performed using functional MRI or positron emission tomography (PET), the brain areas responsible for facial recognition will be affected, in the area inferior occipital, fusiform gyrus, and anterior temporal cortex. In studies of aelectrodermal activity It can be seen that when exposed to familiar faces, patients do not consciously recognize them, but an unconscious autonomic reaction is triggered, probably generated by the activation of the brain amygdala.

Treatment

Prosopagnosia itself lacks effective treatment unless there is an organic cause such as a tumor or hematoma that allows it to be treated. Of course, patients must be trained so that they can recognize the faces of close people through details, such as hair, voice, certain facial markings, objects such as glasses or jewelry, the way they dress or their body posture. There are also no specific preventive measures for prosopagnosia and in case of symptoms it is important to contact one as soon as possible.

• Those who suffer from it cannot recognize faces, neither their own nor others.
• It can be congenital (affects 2.5% of the population) or acquired (due to cerebrovascular accidents, cerebral hemorrhages, carbon monoxide poisoning, encephalitis, tumors ...)
• It lacks effective treatment.