Prosopagnosia is a neuropsychological syndrome characterized by a striking inability to recognize previously familiar faces and a parallel impairment in remembering new faces. In cases of acquired prosopagnosia, normal premorbid face recognition skills are lost as a result of neurological injury, whereas individuals with congenital prosopagnosia experience a lifelong difficulty in recognizing faces attributable to abnormal brain development. This entry provides an overview of the clinical manifestations, cognitive mechanisms, and neural substrates of prosopagnosia. The term prosopagnosia is used herein to refer to both the acquired and congenital forms of the disorder, as they have similar cognitive profiles and neural underpinnings.

Clinical Features

Accurate recognition of faces is essential for normal social interaction. However, for individuals with prosopagnosia, the visual appearance of the face does not serve ...

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