Objective patterns of face recognition deficits in 165 adults with self-reported developmental prosopagnosia

Sarah Bate; Rachel J. Bennetts; Nicola Gregory; Jeremy J. Tree; Ebony Murray; Amanda Adams; Anna K. Bobak; Tegan Penton; Tao Yang; Michael J. Banissy

doi:10.3390/brainsci9060133

Objective patterns of face recognition deficits in 165 adults with self-reported developmental prosopagnosia

Sarah Bate^*, Rachel J. Bennetts, Nicola Gregory, Jeremy J. Tree, Ebony Murray, Amanda Adams, Anna K. Bobak, Tegan Penton, Tao Yang, Michael J. Banissy

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In the last 15 years, increasing numbers of individuals have self-referred to research laboratories in the belief that they experience severe everyday difficulties with face recognition. The condition “developmental prosopagnosia” (DP) is typically diagnosed when impairment is identified on at least two objective face-processing tests, usually involving assessments of face perception, unfamiliar face memory, and famous face recognition. While existing evidence suggests that some individuals may have a mnemonic form of prosopagnosia, it is also possible that other subtypes exist. The current study assessed 165 adults who believe they experience DP, and 38% of the sample were impaired on at least two of the tests outlined above. While statistical dissociations between face perception and face memory were only observed in four cases, a further 25% of the sample displayed dissociations between impaired famous face recognition and intact short-term unfamiliar face memory and face perception. We discuss whether this pattern of findings reflects (a) limitations within dominant diagnostic tests and protocols, (b) a less severe form of DP, or (c) a currently unrecognized but prevalent form of the condition that affects long-term face memory, familiar face recognition or semantic processing.

Original language	English
Article number	133
Journal	Brain Sciences
Volume	9
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci9060133
Publication status	Published - 1 Jun 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: S.B. was supported by a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship (MD170004), and M.J.B. was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/K00882X/1). The authors would also like to thank the many students who assisted with data collection for this paper, including Olivia Bryant, Sarah Chatterton, Kayleigh Dennis, Hannah Line, Emma Medlicott and Tian Boyce.

Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the British Academy, grant number MD170004 and the Economic and Social Research Council, grant number ES/K00882X/1. The APC was funded by Bournemouth University.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors. licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

Face perception
Face recognition
Individual differences
Prosopagnosia

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title = "Objective patterns of face recognition deficits in 165 adults with self-reported developmental prosopagnosia",

abstract = "In the last 15 years, increasing numbers of individuals have self-referred to research laboratories in the belief that they experience severe everyday difficulties with face recognition. The condition “developmental prosopagnosia” (DP) is typically diagnosed when impairment is identified on at least two objective face-processing tests, usually involving assessments of face perception, unfamiliar face memory, and famous face recognition. While existing evidence suggests that some individuals may have a mnemonic form of prosopagnosia, it is also possible that other subtypes exist. The current study assessed 165 adults who believe they experience DP, and 38% of the sample were impaired on at least two of the tests outlined above. While statistical dissociations between face perception and face memory were only observed in four cases, a further 25% of the sample displayed dissociations between impaired famous face recognition and intact short-term unfamiliar face memory and face perception. We discuss whether this pattern of findings reflects (a) limitations within dominant diagnostic tests and protocols, (b) a less severe form of DP, or (c) a currently unrecognized but prevalent form of the condition that affects long-term face memory, familiar face recognition or semantic processing.",

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note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments: S.B. was supported by a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship (MD170004), and M.J.B. was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/K00882X/1). The authors would also like to thank the many students who assisted with data collection for this paper, including Olivia Bryant, Sarah Chatterton, Kayleigh Dennis, Hannah Line, Emma Medlicott and Tian Boyce. Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by the British Academy, grant number MD170004 and the Economic and Social Research Council, grant number ES/K00882X/1. The APC was funded by Bournemouth University. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 by the authors. licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

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AU - Yang, Tao

AU - Banissy, Michael J.

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N2 - In the last 15 years, increasing numbers of individuals have self-referred to research laboratories in the belief that they experience severe everyday difficulties with face recognition. The condition “developmental prosopagnosia” (DP) is typically diagnosed when impairment is identified on at least two objective face-processing tests, usually involving assessments of face perception, unfamiliar face memory, and famous face recognition. While existing evidence suggests that some individuals may have a mnemonic form of prosopagnosia, it is also possible that other subtypes exist. The current study assessed 165 adults who believe they experience DP, and 38% of the sample were impaired on at least two of the tests outlined above. While statistical dissociations between face perception and face memory were only observed in four cases, a further 25% of the sample displayed dissociations between impaired famous face recognition and intact short-term unfamiliar face memory and face perception. We discuss whether this pattern of findings reflects (a) limitations within dominant diagnostic tests and protocols, (b) a less severe form of DP, or (c) a currently unrecognized but prevalent form of the condition that affects long-term face memory, familiar face recognition or semantic processing.

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Objective patterns of face recognition deficits in 165 adults with self-reported developmental prosopagnosia

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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