Semantic information can facilitate covert face recognition in congenital prosopagnosia

Abstract

People with congenital prosopagnosia have never developed the ability to accurately recognize faces. This single case investigation systematically investigates covert and overt face recognition in “C.,” a 69 year-old woman with congenital prosopagnosia. Specifically, we: (a) describe the first assessment of covert face recognition in congenital prosopagnosia using multiple tasks; (b) show that semantic information can contribute to covert recognition; and (c) provide a theoretical explanation for the mechanisms underlying covert face recognition.