When you see someone you know, the easiest way to recognize them is by their face—but not everyone can do this. Many people have prosopagnosia, or face blindness, which is a neurological（神经病学的）condition where the part o the brain that recognizes faces fails to develop. It can stop people recognizing partners, family members, friends or even their own reflection. It was once though to be caused by brain injury (acquired prosopagnosia) but now a genetic link has been proved (development prosopagnosia).
Acquired prosopagnosia is a very rare but as many as one in 50 people may have developmental prosopagnosia. There’s no specific treatment, but training programmes are being developed to help improve facial recognition.
For many, the situation can be dangerous. I’ve heard stories of people being robbed by strangers claiming to be family members, or of children wandering off strange men.
It was only is this century that researchers began to realize exactly how many people in this world were quietly living with the condition.
Like a blind person who can recognize family members by their footsteps, prosopagnosics are forced to develop unusual ways of discovering who it is they’re meeting or talking to. From the obvious markers like hair and voice, to the way one sits, stands or walks, they rely on dozens of means to get through ordinary life.
Faces are an important part of identity. Not to be recognized feels terrible—it’s as if you’ve been overlooked, like someone’s saying you don’t matter. But it’s nothing to the pain of knowing that you’re hurting people’s feelings constantly, and yet being completely unaware that you’re doing it in the moment. To be alienated（隔离的）from the world of faces is a strange position to be in, but I’m comforted by the thought that articles like this will do a little to help people forgive me and others like me.
【小题1】Why do some people have developmental prosopagnosia?| A．Mainly due to brain injury. |
| B．Mainly due to their life styles. |
| C．Mainly for biological reasons. |
| D．Mainly for psychological reasons. |
| A．We can do nothing to deal with it. |
| B．One fifth of people suffer from it. |
| C．It can be cured by training programmes. |
| D．Developmental prosopagnosia is more common. |
| A．depend on their families for a normal life. |
| B．are embarrassed about their condition. |
| C．are usually laughed at by other people. |
| D．have special ways to recognize people |
| A．They are unfriendly to others. |
| B．They feel hurting others doesn’t matter. |
| C．They often make others feel ignored. |
| D．They avoid communicating with others. |
