Face blindness is not related to memory loss, visual impairment or learning difficulties, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and it is not related to color blindness or visual impairment in general, said Dr. Purna Punakdarpour, a behavioral neurologist.
The New York Times reported in a report on the disease that it varies in severity, and some people with this condition may have difficulty recognizing a familiar face, such as a friend or family member, and some people may not be able to distinguish between faces and objects.
There is also evidence to suggest that people with prosopagnosia may develop episodes of chronic anxiety and depression, due to the isolation and fear associated with the condition, and a desire to isolate from social gatherings and interactions, due to the fear of not being able to communicate with others.
“There does not appear to be any obvious structural abnormality in the brain for those born with this condition,” said Dr. Andrei Stojic, director of general neurology at Cleveland Clinic. They’re not sure why yet.” Research suggests that congenital or lifelong prosopagnosia is less common, and one in 50 people may have some form of the condition for life.
“But people who acquire facial blindness later in life may have brain lesions as a result of a head injury or trauma, and they can also acquire the condition following strokes or when they develop Alzheimer’s disease,” Stojic added.
The Times report indicated that this condition has no cure, but that there are ways to manage it. People with this disease often focus on characteristics in individuals such as hair color, walking style, or voices to distinguish people from one another.
Neurologists generally diagnose facial blindness through a series of tests to assess a person’s ability to remember and recognize faces, which can be a lengthy process because clinicians often go to the effort to ensure that a patient’s facial blindness is not a symptom of a broader neurological condition.
