People like Brad Pitt, who claim to suffer from this visual impairment known as face blindness, say: can’t recognize faces Even if they met, the people they met. However, experts claim that there are far worse cases than these, in which those affected cannot even recognize their own face in the mirror.

prosopagnosiaselective perception interruption According to German Joachim Bodamer, who conducted the first clinical study and documented and described it in 1947, faces are both their own and others’.

“This is not a disease, but a symptom or syndrome that can correspond to causes of various origins. It occurs especially and more frequently. older adults with vascular problems that produce crises of dementia,” he explains. Time psychiatrist Alfonso Rodriguez.

“It is such a rare syndrome that almost all diagnosed cases are published in specialized journals. A injury to brain areas special. There is no global epidemiological data and less in Latin America, says neurologist María Antonieta Bobes of the Cuban Center for Neuroscience.

in daily life

For example, British Evie Prichard, who suffered from anomaly at the age of 19, said in an interview with the BBC 7 years ago that she could not even recognize her own reflection.

“For me, a face is like a dream. That moment is incredibly vivid but disappears seconds later when I look the other way. Then it’s just discrete features and a vague memory of how that made me feel,” he explained.

The most surprising thing about this syndrome is that “we can memorize a considerable number of faces in our lifetime and lose the ability to recognize them,” says neurologist Francisco Lopera, director of the neuroscience group at the University of Antioquia. He is a highly respected expert in this field.

this prosopagnosia “It shows that the face belongs to a special visual-perceptual category and appears to be the most important visual object for humans from a biological, psychological and social point of view,” Lopera says.

A disorder like this makes us reflect on the complexity of what we believe is simpler and more every day.

“Sometimes behaviors such as looking around and recognizing that a desk is a desk or a door is a door seem to us to be natural and simple processes. We are not aware of his involvement. a complex network of associations. This network contains very complex brain functions,” says Las Mentes Brillantes, a portal specializing in neuroscience.

in Colombia and around the world

single case prosopagnosia in Latin America It was reported about 30 years ago in Colombia. “It was first described and documented by Colombian neurologist Francisco Lopera and a colleague of his,” says Cuban doctor Bobes.

Although the syndrome is rare in Latin America and around the world, Bobes noted that multiple investigations on it In Belgium, Canada, France, Netherlands and other countries. There, “the neuropsychological and anatomical features that characterize it are described in detail.”

The work done to date has been “decisive in understanding how the brain processes faces,” and is the most modern research. “Neuro-magnetic resonance imaging is included for testing. identify the neural circuits affected“It has been valuable and helpful for prosopagnosia,” he says.

Bobes stresses that there is “no cure” to combat this syndrome, but says that this does not mean that those who suffer from it suffer from it. angular. “Patients learn to use other means of recognition, such as voice, the way they walk, or the scent of their acquaintances.”

In this case, Bobes remembers, what impresses the patient is his ability to recognize people’s faces, but not hearing, smell, touch, or the rest of the information he’s hiding.

How is the syndrome?

It is a rare disorder. “These are very exceptional cases. because a bilateral lesion of the fusiform gyri, a structure that connects the occipital lobes to the temporal lobes, is required. For this syndrome to occur, two fusiform gyri, left and right, must be damaged simultaneously,” says Dr. Lopera

According to the Spanish Neurological Nursing Association, prosopagnosia is “ localized lesions in the temporal lobeusually in the right hemisphere.

According to the Spanish neurological institute NeuroRHB, prosopagnosia is “characterized by a person’s inability to recognize faces, including their own.”

“If shapes or objects are also not recognized, for example, It is a visual agnosia.”Jesús Porta-Etessam, vice president of the Spanish Neurological Society (SEN), explains.

Any lesion affecting the occipital and parietal regions can produce prosopagnosia. Be it trauma, brain infarction, tumor, hematoma or neurodegenerative disease.

“It can be seen in anyone who suffers. bilateral damage to the fusiform gyrusIt can occur due to head injury or cerebrovascular disease of the basilar region affecting the posterior arteries supplying the occipital and medial temporal regions, thereby affecting the fusiform gyrus in question,” explains Dr. Lopera

Types of prosopagnosia

According to scientific information, There are two types of prosopagnosia: Perceptual, when the affected person cannot distinguish one face from the other; and connotation, in which he distinguishes some faces but cannot associate them with familiar people.

In addition, there is a mild congenital form of prosopagnosia, called “developmental. The difficulty is defined as recognizes faces below the normal average. In general, people who suffer from it do not see it as something that limits their lives. Or they simply don’t realize they have it and only discover it when lab tests are done,” explains Dr. bobs

It is very important to be. Research Although it is a rare anomaly, it continues in prosopagnosia.

Impact on daily life

According to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS, as it is known by its English abbreviation), this peculiar condition exists. “From birth. It is usually a problem that a person has had for most or all of their life. Thus, “many people with prosopagnosia—he goes on to explain the presence—are unable to recognize their relatives, partners, or friends.”

One of the alternatives that people suffering from prosopagnosia have is to use non-visual stimuli to identify their interlocutor.

But one thing the British presence warns about is that Strategies may not always be effective. For example, if a person suffering from prosopagnosia comes into contact with other people in areas that are unfamiliar to their daily life.

Likewise, an effect resulting from this cognitive impairment is an effect of the affected person’s avoid social interaction and developing a social anxiety disorder; an overwhelming fear of social situations.

In parallel, the NHS states that this situation recognizes places and objects, like cars. Many people also have trouble getting around. This may include an inability to process angles or distances, or difficulty remembering places and landmarks.”

Moreover, curiously, it is difficult to “follow the schedule of movies or television shows”. For someone with prosopagnosia, this can be nearly impossible because they have trouble recognizing characters.”