prosopagnosia

English

Etymology

Apparently derived from the German title of a 1947 paper by neurologist Joachim Bodamer describing the condition, titled Die Prosop-Agnosie, derived from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prosopon, “face”) and αγνωσία (agnosia, “non-knowledge”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˌpɹɒsəpaɡˈnəʊzɪə/, /ˌpɹɒsəpaɡˈnəʊsɪə/, /ˌpɹɒsəʊpaɡˈnəʊzɪə/, /ˌpɹɒsəʊpaɡˈnəʊzɪə/
• (US) IPA: /ˌpɹɑsoʊpæɡˈnoʊʒə/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

prosopagnosia

1. A form of visual agnosia characterised by difficulty with face recognition despite intact low-level visual processing. Also known as PA.
   • 1984. "The extent to which this function [recognition of faces] has become specialized is revealed by a brain disorder called prospagnosia. A normal person can name someone from facial features alone, even if the features have changed substantially over the years. People with prosopagnosia are not able to make this association, but have few other neurological symptoms other than a loss of some part of the visual field." —Robert Axelrod, The Evolution of Cooperation, p. 102

Synonyms

• face blindness

Derived terms

• acquired prosopagnosia
• congenital prosopagnosia
• developmental prosopagnosia
• hereditary prosopagnosia (AKA HPA)
• prosopagnosic

Translations

a disorder of face perception

French: please add this translation if you can German: Prosopagnosie (de) f.

Japanese: 相貌失認症 (ja) (sōbō shitsuninshō) Polish: prozopagnozja (pl) f.

See also

• Prosopagnosia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia