Facial recognition and prosopagnosia: past and present concepts

Abstract

Facial recognition and discrimination are extremely important behaviors. This paper reviews evidence, including data from recent electrode,PET, and functional MRI studies, which has confirmed that there are areas of the brain located bilaterally in the fusiform gyri that are dedicated to this function. Prosopagnosia, which is the dramatic loss of facial recognition, is also reviewed. Many patients with this deficit have bilateral lesions involving the occipitotemporal areas, while some have damage restricted to the right side only.This suggests that the right side of the brain may be dominant for facial recognition.