Brain & Prosopagnosia, 4

How do people manage to navigate the world of people relationships? Some use using alternative strategies to recognize people, using sensory system strategies that are unimpaired. They may remember how a person walks, or their hairstyle. This could be an “oops” initially. But if the friend knows about face blindness and is upfront about pointing out a new hairdo, it can just be an occasion to boost immune system function through laughter. Some remember others by the way they walk or tend to use familiar gestures, or typical clothing style, or voice recognition. Many adults with developmental prosopagnosia report that for a long time they had no idea that they had a deficit in face processing, unaware that others could distinguish people solely on facial differences. Imagine what it must be like for children in school, especially since personnel generally are not well versed in prosopagnosia, if they are aware of it at all. More tomorrow