Day 72: Facial Recognition

Several weeks ago, I was listening to a show featuring the renowned neurologist and scientist Oliver Sacks.  Dr. Sacks studies the brain and its many fascinating aspects, and the interview was about a new book called The Mind's Eye.  What I found the most intriguing, though, was a specific discussion of a neurological condition Dr. Sacks himself has called prosopagnosia, or facial blindness.  The discussion was really quite interesting, and you can read it or listen to it here. 

Facial blindness is a condition affecting 2 to 2.5 percent of the population.  Basically, people with facial blindless cannot recognize facial features, which means from a visual perspective, every time they meet you, they are meeting you for the first time.  They cannot recognize their children, their spouse, their mother, even themselves as a result of this neurological malfunction.  Dr. Sacks talked about one instance when he saw himself in the mirror, but not recognizing himself, apologized to his reflection. 

I tell you about this condition because I woke up today and wondered if I had developed my own form of prosopagnosia.  I walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.  Honestly, I did not recognize the person reflected back at me.  I had to sit there and study my face for a few minutes to remember its features.  As an obese person, my face has been relatively fatty, but now that I am starting (slowly) to thin out, my face is losing some of its puff.  I have known this for a while, but today was the first day that I really didn't recognize myself (this can be a bit disconcerting, by the way).  Fortunately, every other person's face I have seen today looks recognizable.  So, no prosopagnosia diagnosis.  I have to say, though, despite having a little consternation about who I was this morning, it is great to see the signs of my efforts and I don't really mind the new face!