Prosopagnosia: The artist in search of her face

I've had a milder form of this condition my entire life but only really acknowledged it a few years ago when starting a new job.

The main effect of this is that I am simply uncertain of the identity of those I encounter. A simple change in context, like a change of hair color or meeting somebody in a different setting, is enough to render them anonymous to me. There have been some deeply shameful moments... the researcher in another department who went out of her way to engage with me, until I mistook her for somebody else for an entire elevator ride. The student I ran into downtown who was hurt because his prof couldn't recall basic details of his project - I literally did not know who he was on account of his bike helmet, despite having in him in class not even a day before. Once as a child I backed away in fear from the dinner table when a stranger took my father's seat. All he had done was remove his 1980's mustache.

99% of the time this condition is invisible even to me. A normal work routine ensures that I only meet people in the places I expect them. I would never, ever mistake my wife for a hat. But if she turned up in an unexpected place, I fear I would walk right past her. And if I meet new people in rapid succession, I have almost no hope of recall unless they have conspicuous features like jewelry, tattoos or expressive hair. Art receptions are generally a breeze. Tech conferences are the worst.

Assuming we ever get to work in close quarters again, try guessing at the identity of your co-workers from behind. Almost always you'll be positive whom you're looking at. But not every time. For most people, it would be enough for the subject to turn around and provide a clear view of their face. For those with face blindness, even that may not resolve the ambiguity. Now imagine repeating this exercise at the supermarket, where you cannot expect any particular person to be present, and you can get a sense of the anxiety this condition can cause.

I dated someone who had prosopagnosia. She didn't know that she had it until she was in college on a trip to South East Asia, and she ran into her sister in a market in Malaysia and didn't recognize her sister! She normally can recognize people but uses other cues and the fact that they were in Malaysia meant she wasn't ready for it.

When we first started dating, I had a beard. The day I shaved it off, we met up for dinner at a restaurant, and I'd sat down while waiting for her. She arrived at the restaurant and scanned for quite a bit and didn't recognize me until I waved.

The brain is quite an interesting thing. If you like these stories, check out Oliver Sacks book "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Mistook_His_Wife_f...

I have prosopagnosia. I only learned what to call it about 5 years ago. But it is not total and complete. I recognize faces when I see someone I know where I have seen them before. But if I see someone I know in a new location I have never seen them, I do not initially recognize them. But as soon as they speak to me, and I hear their voice, suddenly I recognize them. One of my earliest memories when I was in elementary school, first grade, is being with my mother at the Kmart. I was upset because I wanted to go home, and she had this long conversation with someone, seemed like almost an hour, which I found excrutiating. I did not know who she was talking to. When we left, I complained, "who was that person?" My mother gasped, "catmistake! [not my real name] That was your homeroom teacher! You see her every morning in school!" I could not believe it. I knew this woman well. I think I may have been in love with her. Just recently, in a gas station I see this guy shaking hands with someone else, not 6 feet away, full view. He looked interesting, but I didn't know him until he walked up to me, "hey catmistake." It was my friend that I was staying with for the previous two months, knew for 20 years, that I had just seen about a half hour before at his house. It is freaky, going from seeing someone as a complete stranger and then suddenly recognizing them. It is difficult to explain the transition. I had balance problems as a child, and fell down the hardwood stairs on my head nearly every day until I figured out how to lean back when stepping forward. So I think it is permanent brain damage causing it. Doesn't get me down, but I have been abused for it, "friends," that are aware of it, know when to expect it, and screwing with me. Jerks.

First time I knew about Prosopagnosia was from playing 999 on the DS. From that point on I haven't bumped into any articles about it until today (I never looked too hard into it).

Here's the sentence I liked most in the article though: "Prosopagnosia can't be treated - if neural connections are not established, they can't be created afterwards." That's pretty disheartening.

I have, like, the opposite of this. I have an absolutely excellent face memory. I subjectively experience this as a separate unconscious bit of data that automatically appears in my mind when I look at someone: true if I've ever seen them before, false otherwise. I think most people have that same natural "ah-ha" or natural moment of recognition. For me, it seems to be stronger than most, based on a couple of online facial memory tests.

A weird side effect of this is that over the years I have often recognized people I'd who clearly didn't recognize me. In order to not embarrass them by remembering them when they don't recall me, I've unintentionally adopted the habit of waiting until I see a hint of recognition from others before I respond in kind. Brains are weird.

I had a flatmate with this (or a similar condition, wouldn't have remembered the name). He'd know who I was in the context of our flat, but then blank me if I saw him on campus, where we were on different courses and didn't run into each other often.

... Heh, at least, he said he did..!

For me, the core is not that you can't "recognize" a face, it's that it is very very hard to form a memory of a face. It's not in the storage, it's in the retrieval.

For example, if I try to picture a person's face, even someone I know well, it's kind of fuzzy. It is hard to describe, but again, it's more like you can't quite remember a face, more than you can't recognize a face.

So, I put faces together into mini-shapes. Nose-shape, hair-shape, eye-shape, teeth shape (how I recognize Kathereine Heigl), etc. I can't put together a whole face into memory, but I can group these mini-shapes, features, etc. into a "faceprint" of sorts.

The main thing I use though is sound/voice. I can recognize voices to an extremely precise degree, all the time in shows/movies, I can recognize actors in costume, full masks, animated movies, etc. without problem. I am sometimes fooled, actually, by people with similar voices, and I'm always saying "these people sound so much alike they should be cast as twins" to which everyone of course thinks I am crazy.

(Orphan Black is an exception because the lead in that show changes her voice with the different characters so it keeps me guessing).

Reminds me of one of Ted Chiang's short stories where they can't recognize attractive faces.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50550973-liking-what-you...

Prosopagnosia plays an interesting part in my favorite game 999 (from the Zero Escape series). It's a great game for anyone who enjoys philosophy, horror and pseudo scientific mumbo jumbo.

I know a well known artist/fantasy author/children's author who has this.