Apperceptive agnosia and face recognition

Abstract

Are faces and objects recognized by separate visual recognition systems or might a single system subserve the recognition of both classes of input? Recognition of faces and objects by a single system predicts that prosopagnosics, who selectively lose the ability to recognize faces due to brain damage, should also lose the ability to recognize objects. Contrary to this prediction, case studies of prosopagnosia have reported intact object recognition. Further support for separate visual recognition systems comes from the case of HH reported here. Following a stroke involving the left posterior cortex, HH has a severe apperceptive visual agnosia for visually presented objects and an alexia for words. Yet, he shows relatively spared visual face processing. Such a performance pattern completes a double dissociation between face and object processing when coupled with prosopaganosia. More importantly, HH is the first apperceptive visual object agnosic to demonstrate spared face processing. The severity of his object-processing deficit is such that from the earliest levels in the visual processing hierarchy, distinct neural substrates must be responsible for processing some objects and faces. These results are discussed as support for Farah's model (Visual agnosia: disorders of object recognition and what they tell us about normal vision. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1990) of object, face and word recognition.