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Quarterly Journal of Experimental... Dec 2021In the last decade, a novel individual differences approach has emerged across the face recognition literature. While the field has long been concerned with... (Review)
Review
In the last decade, a novel individual differences approach has emerged across the face recognition literature. While the field has long been concerned with prosopagnosia (the inability to recognise facial identity), it has more recently become clear that there are vast differences in face recognition ability within the typical population. "Super-recognisers" are those individuals purported to reside at the very top of this spectrum. On one hand, these people are of interest to cognitive neuropsychologists who are motivated to explore the commonality of the face recognition continuum, whereas on the other hand, researchers from the forensic face matching field evaluate the implementation of super-recognisers into real-world police and security settings. These two rather different approaches have led to discrepancies in the definition of super-recognisers, and perhaps more fundamentally, the approach to identifying them, resulting in a lack of consistency that prohibits theoretical progress. Here, we review the protocols used in published work to identify super-recognisers, and propose a common definition and screening recommendations that can be adhered to across fields.
Topics: Face; Facial Recognition; Humans; Individuality; Prosopagnosia
PubMed: 34110226
DOI: 10.1177/17470218211027695 -
Journal of Clinical and Translational... Jun 2020Recognition of faces of family members, friends, and colleagues is an important skill essential for everyday life. Individuals affected by prosopagnosia (face blindness)...
INTRODUCTION
Recognition of faces of family members, friends, and colleagues is an important skill essential for everyday life. Individuals affected by prosopagnosia (face blindness) have difficulty recognizing familiar individuals. The prevalence of prosopagnosia has been estimated to be as high as 3%. Prosopagnosia can severely impact the quality of life of those affected, and it has been suggested to co-occur with conditions such as depression and anxiety.
METHODS
To determine real-world diagnostic frequency of prosopagnosia and the spectrum of its comorbidities, we utilized a large database of more than 7.5 million de-identified electronic health records (EHRs) from patients who received care at major academic health centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers in New York City. We designed a computable phenotype to search the database for diagnosed cases of prosopagnosia, revealing a total of n = 902 cases. In addition, data from a randomly sampled matched control population (n = 100,973) were drawn from the database for comparative analyses to study the condition's comorbidity landscape. Diagnostic frequency of prosopagnosia, epidemiological characteristics, and comorbidity landscape were assessed.
RESULTS
We observed prosopagnosia diagnoses at a rate of 0.012% (12 per 100,000 individuals). We discovered elevated frequency of prosopagnosia diagnosis for individuals who carried certain comorbid conditions, such as personality disorder, depression, epilepsy, and anxiety. Moreover, prosopagnosia diagnoses increased with the number of comorbid conditions.
CONCLUSIONS
Results from this study show a wide range of comorbidities and suggest that prosopagnosia is vastly underdiagnosed. Findings imply important clinical consequences for the diagnosis and management of prosopagnosia as well as its comorbid conditions.
PubMed: 33948237
DOI: 10.1017/cts.2020.497 -
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2021Face recognition is impaired in patients with prosopagnosia, which may occur as a side effect of neurosurgical procedures. Face selective regions on the ventral temporal...
Face recognition is impaired in patients with prosopagnosia, which may occur as a side effect of neurosurgical procedures. Face selective regions on the ventral temporal cortex have been localized with electrical cortical stimulation (ECS), electrocorticography (ECoG), and functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI). This is the first group study using within-patient comparisons to validate face selective regions mapping, utilizing the aforementioned modalities. Five patients underwent surgical treatment of intractable epilepsy and joined the study. Subdural grid electrodes were implanted on their ventral temporal cortices to localize seizure foci and face selective regions as part of the functional mapping protocol. Face selective regions were identified in all patients with fMRI, four patients with ECoG, and two patients with ECS. From 177 tested electrode locations in the region of interest (ROI), which is defined by the fusiform gyrus and the inferior temporal gyrus, 54 face locations were identified by at least one modality in all patients. fMRI mapping showed the highest detection rate, revealing 70.4% for face selective locations, whereas ECoG and ECS identified 64.8 and 31.5%, respectively. Thus, 28 face locations were co-localized by at least two modalities, with detection rates of 89.3% for fMRI, 85.7% for ECoG and 53.6 % for ECS. All five patients had no face recognition deficits after surgery, even though five of the face selective locations, one obtained by ECoG and the other four by fMRI, were within 10 mm to the resected volumes. Moreover, fMRI included a quite large volume artifact on the ventral temporal cortex in the ROI from the anatomical structures of the temporal base. In conclusion, ECS was not sensitive in several patients, whereas ECoG and fMRI even showed activation within 10 mm to the resected volumes. Considering the potential signal drop-out in fMRI makes ECoG the most reliable tool to identify face selective locations in this study. A multimodal approach can improve the specificity of ECoG and fMRI, while simultaneously minimizing the number of required ECS sessions. Hence, all modalities should be considered in a clinical mapping protocol entailing combined results of co-localized face selective locations.
PubMed: 33828468
DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.616591 -
PloS One 2021Anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) is the most common surgical treatment for drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Right ATL has been reported to reduce facial...
Anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) is the most common surgical treatment for drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Right ATL has been reported to reduce facial memory ability in patients with TLE, as indicated by poor performance on the Warrington Recognition Memory Test for Faces (RMF), which is commonly used to evaluate visual memory in these patients. However, little is known about whether patients with TLE exhibit difficulties in identifying faces in daily life after ATL. The aim of this study was to investigate facial memory ability and self-awareness of face identification difficulties in patients with TLE after ATL. Sixteen patients with TLE after right ATL, 14 patients with TLE after left ATL, and 29 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. We developed the multiview face recognition test (MFRT), which comprises a learning phase (one or three frontal face images without external facial feature information) and a recognition phase (frontal, oblique, or noise-masked face images). Facial memory abilities were examined in all participants using the MFRT and RMF, and self-awareness of difficulties in face identification was evaluated using the 20-item prosopagnosia index (PI20), which has been widely used to assess developmental prosopagnosia. The MFRT performance in patients with TLE after ATL was significantly worse than that in healthy controls regardless of the resected side, whereas the RMF scores in patients with TLE were significantly worse than those in healthy controls only after right ATL. The MFRT performance in patients with TLE after both left and right ATL was more influenced by working memory load than that in healthy controls. The PI20 scores revealed that patients with TLE after left ATL were aware of their difficulties in identifying faces. These findings suggest that patients with TLE not only after right ATL but also after left ATL might have difficulties in face identification.
Topics: Adult; Anterior Temporal Lobectomy; Case-Control Studies; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Facial Recognition; Female; Humans; Male; Memory Disorders; Neuropsychological Tests; Postoperative Complications
PubMed: 33793593
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248785 -
Cortex; a Journal Devoted To the Study... May 2021The organisational principles of the visual ventral stream are still highly debated, particularly the relative association/dissociation between word and face recognition...
The organisational principles of the visual ventral stream are still highly debated, particularly the relative association/dissociation between word and face recognition and the degree of lateralisation of the underlying processes. Reports of dissociations between word and face recognition stem from single case-studies of category selective impairments, and neuroimaging investigations of healthy participants. Despite the historical reliance on single case-studies, more recent group studies have highlighted a greater commonality between word and face recognition. Studying individual patients with rare selective deficits misses (a) important variability between patients, (b) systematic associations between task performance, and (c) patients with mild, severe and/or non-selective impairments; meaning that the full spectrum of deficits is unknown. The Back of the Brain project assessed the range and specificity of visual perceptual impairment in 64 patients with posterior cerebral artery stroke recruited based on lesion localization and not behavioural performance. Word, object, and face processing were measured with comparable tests across different levels of processing to investigate associations and dissociations across domains. We present two complementary analyses of the extensive behavioural battery: (1) a data-driven analysis of the whole patient group, and (2) a single-subject case-series analysis testing for deficits and dissociations in each individual patient. In both analyses, the general organisational principle was of associations between words, objects, and faces even following unilateral lesions. The majority of patients either showed deficits across all domains or in no domain, suggesting a spectrum of visuo-perceptual deficits post stroke. Dissociations were observed, but they were the exception and not the rule: Category-selective impairments were found in only a minority of patients, all of whom showed disproportionate deficits for words. Interestingly, such selective word impairments were found following both left and right hemisphere lesions. This large-scale investigation of posterior cerebral artery stroke patients highlights the bilateral representation of visual perceptual function.
Topics: Brain; Humans; Temporal Lobe
PubMed: 33770511
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.01.021 -
Neuropsychologia Jul 2021When you hear the word Super-Recognizer, you may think of comic-book-hero-esque agents searching the underground to find people who went missing decades ago. Compared to... (Review)
Review
When you hear the word Super-Recognizer, you may think of comic-book-hero-esque agents searching the underground to find people who went missing decades ago. Compared to this fantasy, the reality seems somewhat less exciting. Super-Recognizers (SRs) were initially reported a decade ago as a collateral while developing tests for developmental prosopagnosia. Today, the topic of SRs sparks interest from groups seeking to enhance scientific knowledge, public safety, or their monetary gain. With no immediate consequences of erroneous SR identification, there has been no pressure to establish a clear SR definition. This promotes heterogenous empirical evidence and the proliferation of unsupported claims in the media. Not only is this status quo unfortunate, it stands in opposition to the potential of special populations - both for science and application. SRs are a special population with imminent real-world value that can advance our understanding of brain functioning. To exploit their potential, I propose a needed formal framework for SR diagnosis, and introduce 70 cases identified based hereupon. These cases represent the core of a growing SR cohort, studied in my lab in the course of a long-term, multi-methodological research agenda involving academic and government collaborators. Finally, I provide recommendations for those interested in SR work, and highlight current caveats and future challenges.
Topics: Humans; Knowledge
PubMed: 33662395
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107809 -
Indian Journal of Endocrinology and... 2020Nursery rhymes represent the simplest and most innocent form of performance art. 'Humpty-Dumpty' is a popular character of a nursery rhyme. This character denotes a...
Nursery rhymes represent the simplest and most innocent form of performance art. 'Humpty-Dumpty' is a popular character of a nursery rhyme. This character denotes a humanized egg. In medicine, the term 'Humpty-Dumpty syndrome' has been used in many specialities. In neurology, "Humpty-Dumpty" syndrome is used to denote prosopagnosia and in rehabilitation medicine and psychiatry it is used to denote failure of a patient to recover from the psychological trauma of a stressful event in childhood. We believe that the character of "Humpty-Dumpty" potentially represents a patient with Cushing syndrome. In this article we have elaborated the scientific reasons for the same.
PubMed: 33643866
DOI: 10.4103/ijem.IJEM_546_20 -
PeerJ 2021The 20-Item Prosopagnosia Items (PI-20) was recently introduced as a self-report measure of face recognition abilities and as an instrument to help the diagnosis of...
The 20-Item Prosopagnosia Items (PI-20) was recently introduced as a self-report measure of face recognition abilities and as an instrument to help the diagnosis of prosopagnosia. In general, studies using this questionnaire have shown that observers have moderate to strong insights into their face recognition abilities. However, it remains unknown whether these insights are equivalent for the whole range of face recognition abilities. The present study investigates this issue using the Mandarin version of the PI-20 and the Cambridge Face Memory Test Chinese (CFMT-Chinese). Our results showed a moderate negative association between the PI-20 and the CFMT-Chinese. However, this association was driven by people with low and high face recognition ability, but absent in people within the typical range of face recognition performance. The implications of these results for the study of individual differences and the diagnosis of prosopagnosia are discussed.
PubMed: 33510971
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10629 -
BMC Ophthalmology Jan 2021Acquired color anomalies caused by cerebral trauma are classified as either achromatopsias or dyschromatopsias (Zeki, Brain 113:1721-1777, 1990). The three main brain...
BACKGROUND
Acquired color anomalies caused by cerebral trauma are classified as either achromatopsias or dyschromatopsias (Zeki, Brain 113:1721-1777, 1990). The three main brain regions stimulated by color are V1, the lingual gyrus, which was designated as human V4 (hV4), and the fusiform gyrus, designated as V4α. (Zeki, Brain 113:1721-1777, 1990). An acquired cerebral color anomaly is often accompanied by visual field loss (hemi- and quadrantanopia), facial agnosia, prosopagnosia, visual agnosia, and anosognosia depending on the underlying pathology (Bartels and Zeki, Eur J Neurosci 12:172-193, 2000), (Meadows, Brain 97:615-632, 1974), (Pearman et al., Ann Neurol 5:253-261, 1979). The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of a patient who developed dyschromatopsia following a traumatic injury to her brain.
CASE PRESENTATION
The patient was a 24-year-old woman who had a contusion to her right anterior temporal lobe. After the injury, she noticed color distortion and that blue objects appeared green in the left half of the visual field. Although conventional color vision tests did not detect any color vision abnormalities, short wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP) showed a decrease in sensitivity consistent with a left hemi-dyschromatopsia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detected abnormalities in the right fusiform gyrus, a part of the anterior temporal lobe. At follow-up 14 months later, subjective symptoms had disappeared, but the SWAP abnormalities persisted and a thinning of the sectorial ganglion cell complex (GCC) was detected.
CONCLUSION
The results indicate that although the subjective symptoms resolved early, a reduced sensitivity of SWAP remained and the optical coherence tomography (OCT) showed GCC thinning. We conclude that local abnormalities in the anterior section of fusiform gyrus can cause mild cerebral dyschromatopsia without other symptoms. These findings indicate that it is important to listen to the symptoms of the patient and perform appropriate tests including the SWAP and OCT at the early stage to objectively prove the presence of acquired cerebral color anomaly.
Topics: Adult; Color Vision Defects; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Occipital Lobe; Prosopagnosia; Visual Fields; Young Adult
PubMed: 33504343
DOI: 10.1186/s12886-020-01800-7 -
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 2020Face recognition deficits are frequently reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and often attributed to memory impairment. However, it has been hypothesized that failure...
Face recognition deficits are frequently reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and often attributed to memory impairment. However, it has been hypothesized that failure in identifying familiar people could also be due to deficits in higher-level perceptual processes, since there is evidence showing a reduced inversion effect for faces but not for cars in AD. To address the involvement of these higher processes, we investigated event-related potential (ERP) neural correlates of faces in a patient with AD showing a face recognition deficit. Eight healthy participants were tested as a control group. Participants performed different tasks following the stimulus presentation. In experiment 1, they should indicate whether the stimulus was either a face or a house or a scrambled image. In experiments 2 and 3, they should discriminate between upright and inverted faces (in experiment 2, stimuli were faces with neutral or fearful expressions, while in experiment 3, stimuli were famous or unfamiliar faces). Electrophysiological results reveal that the typical face-specific modulation of the N170 component, which is thought to reflect the structural encoding of faces, was not present in patient MCG, despite being affected by the emotional content of the face implicitly processed by MCG. Conversely, the N400 component, which is thought to reflect the recruitment of the memory trace of the face identity, was found to be implicitly modulated in MCG. These results may identify a possible role for gnosic processes in face recognition deficits in AD and suggest the importance of adopting an integrated approach to the AD diagnosis while considering electrophysiological markers.
PubMed: 33408626
DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.580609