Actor Brad Pitt recently revealed that he had prosopagnosia, a rare neurological condition also known as “facial blindness,” in an interview. In a piece, Dani Blum describes the disorder’s signs, underlying causes, and available therapies.
the symptoms of prosopagnosia.
Borna Bonakdarpour, a behavioral neurologist at Northwestern Medicine, claims that face blindness, not color blindness or general visual impairment, is the main symptom of prosopagnosia.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke states that there is no connection between the condition and intellectual challenges, visual problems, or memory loss.
According to Blum, it’s not the same as forgetting or occasionally having trouble finding the appropriate term.
Depending on the individual, prosopagnosia can range in severity. For example, it may be difficult for some people to recognize the face of a close friend or relative, while it may be difficult for others to recognize their own reflection. The ability to distinguish faces from objects may also be lacking for some people.
Notably, some evidence indicates that people with prosopagnosia may experience chronic anxiety or depression due to the isolation and fear that are typically associated with the condition.
Blum observes that some people avoid interacting with family members and other close friends out of concern that they won’t be able to recognize or acknowledge them in a meaningful way. When one has prosopagnosia, it can be difficult to manage basic social interactions, she continues.
In a recent interview, Pitt claimed that despite never having received a formal prosopagnosia diagnosis, he has struggled to recognize people’s faces for years.
In fact, Pitt admitted in a 2013 interview that he frequently felt the need to put himself in a distance because it was so difficult for him to recognize people’s faces. I stay at home because of that, he said.
What is the underlying issue?
Most people who are diagnosed with prosopagnosia fall into one of two categories: those who have it as a genetic condition or those who have acquired it.
However, estimates suggest that up to one in every 50 people may struggle with the condition over the course of their lives, and scientists theorize that it may run in families. According to Blum, the evidence “suggests that congenital, or lifelong, prosopagnosia is less frequent.”.
Andrey Stojic, the Cleveland Clinic’s director of general neurology, claims that children with the condition “don’t seem to have any evident structural abnormalities” in their brains. Notably, doctors are unsure of the exact cause of congenital prosopagnosia because patients with the condition don’t appear to have any obvious brain abnormalities.
However, people who develop prosopagnosia later in life may have brain abnormalities brought on by a stressful situation or a head injury. Additionally, after a stroke or while dealing with Alzheimer’s disease, prosopagnosia is a possibility, according to Bonakdarpour.
What prosopagnosia medications are offered?
Prosopagnosia cannot currently be treated, according to Bonakdarpour. However, a solution is possible. The majority of the time, those who have the condition try to distinguish others by focusing on physical characteristics like voice, stride, or hair color.
A series of tests that assess a person’s memory and facial recognition skills are frequently used by neurologists to make the diagnosis. It can be a lengthy process because doctors frequently make sure that a patient’s facial blindness isn’t a sign of a more serious degenerative neurological illness, according to Blum.
It’s interesting to note that a lot of sufferers, like Pitt, won’t get a formal diagnosis. Many of the difficulties Stojic is citing and the issues he is having, in his opinion, are common occurrences for people.
Others may find it difficult to understand, but for some people, it may be pretty crippling.
