NOTE
DEVELOPMENTAL PROSOPAGNOSIA. A SINGLE CASE REPORT Helen R. McConachie (Institute of Psychiatry, Londonl )
Prosopagnosia, or the inability to recognise familiar faces, has been documented increasingly in recent years, in case studies and in experimental investigations (Taylor and Warrington, 1971; De Renzi, Faglioni and Spinnler, 1968 etc.). It appears to be an independent form of visual agnosia, more frequently associated with right than with left hemisphere brain damage (Hecaen and Angelergues, 1962). The present paper reports on a case in which no hard evidence of neurological lesion was obtained, but where the possibility of familial transmission was indicated. CASE REPORT
A.B., aged 12 years 9 months at testing, was referred to the Maudsley Hospital Children's Department, for social and psychological problems and for advice on future education. She is a highly intelligent, verbally fluent child, the only child of parents who are both professional people. The problems identified included poor co-ordination, difficulty with hand writing and drawing, and prosopagnosia. History
A.B. was born at 37 weeks' gestation (L.S.C.S. placenta praevia). She was a normal infant, but never settled into a routine. Her milestones were slow - she smiled at 3 months, sat at 11 months, stood and walked at 18 months, and was fully toilet trained at 4 years. She spoke her first words at age 11 months. She attended nursery school, but was unhappy there and frequently refused to go. She has attended a local girls' preparatory and grammar school since the age of 5 Yz years, except for one year at a school for gifted children in North America. She is usually first in her class in several subjects, despite very frequent absences from school, because of illness. She has had recurrent chest infections, and diarrhoea, all her life, requiring to hospitalisations. She is a sensitive, emotional child, very attached to her mother, easily hurt by criticism, and fearful of others' anger. She tends to be solitary and studious, having few friends, though her ability to get on with other girls at school is improving. She is very talkative with adults . • Now at Tayside Area Clinical Psychology Department, Royal Dundee Liff Hospital, Dundee, Scotland. Cortex (1976) 12, 76-82.
77
Developmental prosopagnosia
A.B . reports that she has never been able to recognise faces, except the most familiar ones. She recognises people by their clothing and mannerisms. She learned to recognise her classmates at the school for gifted children after a month or two, whereas she has much more difficulty at her own school where uniform is worn. She did not know the doctors at the clinic even after several visits, and learned to recognise the psychologist by dress. A.B.'s mother also claims not to be able to recognise familiar faces. She suggests that at as a child she had less difficulty than her daughter because she lived in a small community, and went to a school where no uniform was worn. She remembers believing that a family friend was two different people until one day he put on his spectacles in her company. She has found ways, over time, of overcoming the handicap, for example, by using tone of voice for recognition. Intellectual assessment
A.B. was tested on the W.I.S.c., and scored as follows Verbal Scale I.Q. = 144 Performance Scale I.Q. = 100 The Verbal-Performance discrepancy was both reliable and abnormal (p
DEVELOPMENTAL PROSOPAGNOSIA. A SINGLE CASE REPORT Helen R. McConachie (Institute of Psychiatry, Londonl )
Prosopagnosia, or the inability to recognise familiar faces, has been documented increasingly in recent years, in case studies and in experimental investigations (Taylor and Warrington, 1971; De Renzi, Faglioni and Spinnler, 1968 etc.). It appears to be an independent form of visual agnosia, more frequently associated with right than with left hemisphere brain damage (Hecaen and Angelergues, 1962). The present paper reports on a case in which no hard evidence of neurological lesion was obtained, but where the possibility of familial transmission was indicated. CASE REPORT
A.B., aged 12 years 9 months at testing, was referred to the Maudsley Hospital Children's Department, for social and psychological problems and for advice on future education. She is a highly intelligent, verbally fluent child, the only child of parents who are both professional people. The problems identified included poor co-ordination, difficulty with hand writing and drawing, and prosopagnosia. History
A.B. was born at 37 weeks' gestation (L.S.C.S. placenta praevia). She was a normal infant, but never settled into a routine. Her milestones were slow - she smiled at 3 months, sat at 11 months, stood and walked at 18 months, and was fully toilet trained at 4 years. She spoke her first words at age 11 months. She attended nursery school, but was unhappy there and frequently refused to go. She has attended a local girls' preparatory and grammar school since the age of 5 Yz years, except for one year at a school for gifted children in North America. She is usually first in her class in several subjects, despite very frequent absences from school, because of illness. She has had recurrent chest infections, and diarrhoea, all her life, requiring to hospitalisations. She is a sensitive, emotional child, very attached to her mother, easily hurt by criticism, and fearful of others' anger. She tends to be solitary and studious, having few friends, though her ability to get on with other girls at school is improving. She is very talkative with adults . • Now at Tayside Area Clinical Psychology Department, Royal Dundee Liff Hospital, Dundee, Scotland. Cortex (1976) 12, 76-82.
77
Developmental prosopagnosia
A.B . reports that she has never been able to recognise faces, except the most familiar ones. She recognises people by their clothing and mannerisms. She learned to recognise her classmates at the school for gifted children after a month or two, whereas she has much more difficulty at her own school where uniform is worn. She did not know the doctors at the clinic even after several visits, and learned to recognise the psychologist by dress. A.B.'s mother also claims not to be able to recognise familiar faces. She suggests that at as a child she had less difficulty than her daughter because she lived in a small community, and went to a school where no uniform was worn. She remembers believing that a family friend was two different people until one day he put on his spectacles in her company. She has found ways, over time, of overcoming the handicap, for example, by using tone of voice for recognition. Intellectual assessment
A.B. was tested on the W.I.S.c., and scored as follows Verbal Scale I.Q. = 144 Performance Scale I.Q. = 100 The Verbal-Performance discrepancy was both reliable and abnormal (p
