In a recent interview, actor Brad Pitt disclosed that he suffers from prosopagnosia, a rare neurological disorder sometimes referred to as “facial blindness.” Dani Blum outlines the symptoms, underlying causes, and available treatments of the illness in a written work.signs of hearing loss.Behavioral neurologist Borna Bonakdarpour of Northwestern Medicine says that the primary symptom of prosopagnosia is face blindness, not color blindness or general visual impairment.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke states that memory loss, vision issues, or intellectual difficulties are unrelated to the illness.
Blum argues that this is not the same as occasionally forgetting or having difficulty finding the right term.
Each person’s prosopagnosia may vary in severity. While some people may have little issue identifying their own reflection, others may struggle to recognize the face of a close friend or relative. Moreover, some individuals may not be able to discriminate between faces and objects.
Remarkably, some studies suggest that because prosopagnosia is often connected with dread and loneliness, individuals who suffer from it may have persistent anxiety or despair.
According to Blum, some people shy away from conversing with close friends and family members for fear that they won’t be able to really notice or appreciate them. She continues by saying that handling fundamental social relationships might be challenging for someone with prosopagnosia.
In a recent interview, Pitt stated that he has had years of difficulty recognizing people’s faces even though he has never been officially diagnosed with prosopagnosia.
In a 2013 interview, Pitt acknowledged that his inability to recall faces often made him feel as though he needed to separate himself. That’s why I stay at home, he remarked.
What is the reason behind the problem?
The majority of persons with prosopagnosia are classified as either having acquired the condition or having it as a genetic trait.
Although estimates imply that up to one in every 50 people may struggle with the illness throughout their life, scientists speculate that it may run in families. The findings “suggests that congenital, or lifelong, prosopagnosia is less frequent,” according to Blum.
Children with the illness, according to general neurology director at the Cleveland Clinic Andrey Stojic, “don’t seem to have any evident structural abnormalities” in their brains.
Notably, because congenital prosopagnosia sufferers don’t seem to have any evident brain abnormalities, medical professionals are uncertain of the precise source of the disorder.
However, brain abnormalities resulting from traumatic brain injuries or events can also be present in people who acquire prosopagnosia later in life. According to Bonakdarpour, people who are battling Alzheimer’s disease or have had a stroke may develop prosopagnosia.
Which treatments are available for prosopagnosia?
According to Bonakdarpour, there is currently no treatment for prosopagnosia. But a solution is in reach. Individuals with the illness sometimes try to identify others by concentrating on physical traits such as hair color, voice, or gait.
Neurologists often use a battery of tests to evaluate a patient’s memory and facial recognition abilities in order to make the diagnosis. As doctors usually take care to make sure that a patient’s face blindness is not an indication of a more serious degenerative neurological disorder, Blum adds, “it can be a drawn-out process.”
It’s interesting to note that many patients, including Pitt, with the illness will not receive an official diagnosis. According to Stojic, a lot of the problems and challenges he is going through are commonplace for people.
He went on, “It could be extremely debilitating for certain people and difficult to comprehend for others.”
