WHEN EVERY FACE LOOKS NEW
Most of us recognize hundreds of faces without any effort: a neighbor across a busy street, a cousin in an old photograph, a teacher we have not seen for years. For people with face blindness, this everyday skill is missing. They can see eyes, a nose and a mouth perfectly clearly, yet their brain does not combine these parts into a face they know. Scientists believe that about one person in fifty is born with the condition, and many of them do not realize it until they are adults, assuming that everyone finds faces difficult.(lines 1–6)
Face blindness can turn ordinary social situations into a source of stress. People who have it often walk past close friends without saying hello, and the friends may decide that they are rude. Many sufferers avoid parties altogether, because they are afraid of offending someone they ought to know. It can affect family life, too. Some parents, for example, cannot pick out their own children at the school gate. Daniela Moretti, a secondary-school teacher, finds September the hardest month of the year, because she has to match thirty new faces to thirty new names. "I can teach a class for an hour," she says, "and then pass the same students in the corridor without knowing who they are."(lines 7–13)
Not everyone with face blindness is born with it. Some people lose the ability suddenly, after a stroke or a head injury damages a small area at the back of the brain. Unlike those who have had the condition since birth, these patients do not need anyone to tell them that something is wrong: they notice the change immediately. Researchers are now comparing brain scans of the two groups to find out whether the same area is affected in both.(lines 14–18)
There is no cure, but training can make a real difference. In one program, participants spend twenty minutes a day on a computer game in which they must spot small differences between similar faces. After about a month, most of them recognize faces noticeably better. Trainers also teach people to use other clues, such as the way a person walks or speaks. Hairstyles, however, are a poor clue, because people change them so often.(lines 19–23)
The hardest part is keeping it up. Progress can fade once the exercises stop, so participants must continue practicing for months, even after they start to feel more confident. As Moretti, who has completed the program twice, puts it: "It's like a muscle. Rest it too long and it gets weak again."(lines 24–26)