What is face blindness?

Face blindness, or prosopagnosia, is a condition where individuals have difficulty recognizing faces, even those of close friends or relatives. This condition is related to the functioning of the fusiform gyrus, a specific area in the brain responsible for face recognition. Those with face blindness cannot identify people by their facial features and might rely on other cues like voice or clothing to recognize individuals.

Andrew Huberman describes cases where individuals might not recognize faces they've seen many times, often asking for the person's identity even in familiar settings. This can happen regardless of factors like sleep deprivation, suggesting a distinct neural basis for the condition 1.