One of my favorite words to say in the land of Psychology is fusiform gyrus. It is the area of the brain that controls face recognition and can also be called the fusiform face area. My interest in this particular part of the brain actually stems from the abnormality that exists in this part of the brain. One of the main disorders are Proposagnosia, which is "facial blindness". Proposagnosia is the inability to recognize people or faces that are familiar. If an individual has this disorder they have a normal intelligence level and memory. They are able to point out the facial features that make up a face, such as eyes, nose, mouth, but their inability stems from putting the pieces of the face together so that it makes a complete face.
The exact function of the fusiform gyrus is still under debate, but many researchers have concluded it to include the following functions: the processing of color information, body and face recognition (as stated), the ability to recognize words, the identification of things that belong to a certain group, and number recognition (this is under debate still). The location of the fusiform gyrus is in the inferior temporal cortex, as shown below.
This image is from this link.
The above information is just a general overview of the fusiform gyrus. I think the deterioration that occurs and results in Proposagnosia is an amazing act of the brain. No matter how many times someone passes the individual with this disorder, they won't really be able to recognize them.
Hope you enjoyed the Psych Knowledge for this time! If you have any questions or comments feel free to ask, or if you have any topics you'd like me to discuss feel free to ask. Thank you!
Fusiform gyrus seems to be an interesting topic. I was thinking to myself while I read your explanation as to what it is, whether there is a loss in this function as one grows older. I have seen many elderly who can not seem to recognize the face they see everyday. Plus I guess an infant grows into this fusiform gyrus function as they grow right? Is it possible to have a loss of this function as one grows older?
ReplyDeleteHow common is this disorder? This is really interesting. It is like a rhetorical analysis inverted. Someone with this disorder starts with the pieces but cannot put them together.
ReplyDelete