Facial Blindness
 

Did any of you happen to see 60 Minutes last night about Facial Blindness? Very interesting. It is just now being recognized by the medical community.

For those of you who didn't, it was about people, who for some neurological disorder (which has not been pinpointed, yet), cannot recognize anyone's face. One guy cannot even recognize his own face in the mirror at times. He has to go feature by feature and when he sees that the face has really big ears on the sides, he then knows it's him. People with this disorder can't even recognize their own children or spouses except by other means such as voice, how they walk, etc. They said that this would also explain why normal people often feel slighted (feel that they have been "high-hatted") or think that someone is being snobbish when they don't speak to them.

On the other hand, they also presented some who have just the opposite problem (if you can call it a problem sometimes) of remembering every face they have ever seen and can even recognize them from their childhood photos.

All if all, a very fascinating program. If you have access to online replays, I think you will find it very interesting.

Our brains are so interesting. Dr. Ursula Belugi, director of the Laboratory of Neuroscience at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Ca is doing some interesting research on that subject and have included people who have Williams Syndrome, who score much higher than the general population on face and facial emotion recognition and also are generally more musical.

We are learning so much these days about abilities that we are born with or without. I would like to stick around for another fifty years and see what else we will find out.

The first time I heard of facial blindness is when I watched the new tv show Perception. They had an episode where facial blindness was a key to solving a murder.

Facial blindness
 

I don't know maybe it's me but I just don't see it..

Please, just remember that if I don’t say hi when I see you next.

This disorder has been around for a long time. There is a wonderful book by Oliver Sacks called "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat."

Did they say at what age it typically starts? Could it be an early sign of dementia? Alzheimer's? My father lost his sense of smell about 20+ years before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Loss of balance can be an early sign of dementia too. I suppose it can be other things as well because everything we sense has a place in the brain where it registers. One of the first things that made me think my father needed to see a doctor was when he didn't recognize my mother working in the yard. He asked me, "who's that?"

I know someone who is very intelligent but seems NOT to be able to "read" facial expressions. I discovered it by accident. I was getting very bored with the conversation one day, to say the least. And I wondered, "doesn't this person realize I'm not interested in their rambling on and on?" So I decided to put on my most bored look and started glancing out the window. And to my surprise it had no effect whatsoever.

I think I have golf cart and car blindness. When I go for walks I often have difficulty recognizing neighbors as they approach in their vehicles. By the time I realize who it is, it's too late to wave. And they probably wonder why I ignore them. It's a good way to upset friendly neighbors. But a lot of the cars and carts look the same to me.

I saw the program (it was a re-run). There were young people on the show so I believe a person is born with it and it doesn't just evolve. THOUGH with one exception...a woman had had a seizure and it was found she needed brain surgery. When she was recovering in the hospital she had developed this condition. The doctors don't know why!

It would be a horrible thing to have as you'd NEVER really recognize those folks close to you. Plus how would you fall in love? It would be like meeting for the first time, EVERY time!!!

Well, actually they did say that it was because it left a hole in that particular section of the brain where her tumor had been removed. They got really excited about the location when they tested some others and found abnormalities in that same region. They got kinda deflated when some of the others they tested were perfectly normal in the area, so it's pretty much back to square one. They are optimistic now, though, that in time they will get it totally solved.

How big of a problem is it? Isn't it a rare disease?

I have major difficulty recognizing people. I've been known to walk by my former husband, my daughter, best friends, employers and co-workers when they were in unexpected locations. It is a very common affliction with people on the autistic spectrum. It can create some very embarrassing and uncomfortable situations. You try to train yourself to recognize certain features, body movement, voice on individuals. Sadly, it only works about 25% of the time. The rest you fake as best you can.

As to not recognizing facial emotions, totally an autistic trait. Bored is a very subtle emotion to pick up. It is much easier to recognize anger and joy. The stuff in between is confusing.

My advice: read "The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat" Explains eveything in interesting non-technical language. Yes, fortunately, it is quite rare.

Now if I could just remember his or her name.
 

Visual and Face Recognition Tests on the Internet

I took this test on famous people facial recognition but had a problems a few times with remembering the name of such and such an actor or actress.

Now, that test which is on the 60 Minutes website for the segment on super recognizors had be stumped as I could not reognize famous people when they were kids or teens.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_1...r-take-a-test/

Well, I know it should have been no surprise, but my 40% result was pretty disheartening. I didn't even recognize one of my heroes -- Gandhi.

Yea that's like a guy I knew who mistook his mistress for his wife...at least that iswhat he told his wife when she caught them both. Hmmmmmmmm:)