Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

What is Overt and what is Covert in Congenital Prosopagnosia?

  • Review
  • Published:
Neuropsychology Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The term covert recognition refers to recognition without awareness. In the context of face recognition, it refers to the fact that some individuals show behavioural, electrophysiological or autonomic indices of recognition in the absence of overt, conscious recognition. Originally described in cases of people that have lost their ability to overtly recognize faces (acquired prosopagnosia, AP), covert face recognition has more recently also been described in cases of congenital prosopagnosia (CP), who never develop typical overt face recognition skills. The presence of covert processing in a developmental disorder such as CP is a particularly intriguing phenomenon, and its investigation is relevant for a variety of reasons. From a theoretical point of view, it is useful to help shed light on the cognitive and neural underpinnings of face recognition deficits. From a clinical point of view, it has the potential to aid the design of rehabilitation protocols aimed at improving face recognition skills in this population. In the current review we selectively summarize the recent literature on covert face recognition in CP, highlight its main findings, and provide a theoretical interpretation for them.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson, M. J., & ter Braak, C. J. F. (2003). Permutation tests for multi-factorial analysis of variance. Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation, 78, 85–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avidan, G., & Behrmann, M. (2008). Implicit familiarity processing in congenital prosopagnosia. Journal of Neuropsychology, 2, 141–164.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Avidan, G., & Behrmann, M. (2009). Functional MRI reveals compromised neural integrity of the face processing network in congenital prosopagnosia. Current Biology, 19, 1–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avidan, G., Hasson, U., Malach, R. L., & Behrmann, M. (2005). Detailed Exploration of Face-related Processing in Congenital Prosopagnosia: 2. Functional Neuroimaging Findings. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 1150–1167.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Avidan, G., Tanzer, M., & Behrmann, M. (2011). Impaired holistic processing in congenital prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia, 49, 2541–2552.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barton, J. J. (2008). Structure and function in acquired prosopagnosia: Lesson from a series of 10 patients with brain damage. Journal of Neuropsychology, 2, 197–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barton, J. J., Cherkasova, M., & O'Connor, M. (2001). Covert recognition in acquired and developmental prosopagnosia. Neurology, 57, 1161–1168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bate, S., Haslam, C., Tree, J. J., & Hodgson, T. L. (2008). Evidence of an eye movement-based effect in congenital prosopagnosia. Cortex, 44, 806–819.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bate, S., Haslam, C., Jansari, A., & Hodgson, T. L. (2009). Covert face recognition relies on affective valence in congenital prosopagnosia. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 26, 391–411.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Behrmann, M., & Avidan, G. (2005). Congenital prosopagnosia: Face-blind from birth. Trends in Cognitive Neuroscience, 9, 180–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behrmann, M., Avidan, G., Marotta, J. J., & Kimchi, R. (2005). Detailed Exploration of Face-related Processing in Congenital Prosopagnosia: 1. Behavioral Findings. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 1130–1149.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bentin, S., Deouell, L. Y., & Soroker, N. (1999). Selective visual streaming in face recognition: Evidence from developmental prosopagnosia. Neuroreport, 10, 823–827.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bentin, S., Deouell, & Leon, Y. (2000). Structural encoding and identification in face processing: ERP evidence for separate mechanisms. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 17, 35–55.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bodamer, J. (1947). Die Prosop-agnosie. Archiv fur Psychiatrie und Nervkrankheiten, 179, 6–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breen, N., Caine, D., & Coltheart, M. (2000). Models of face recognition and delusional misidentification: A critical review. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 17, 55–71.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Catani, M., & Thiebaut de Schotten, M. T. (2008). A diffusion tensor imaging tractography atlas for virtual in vivo dissections. Cortex, 44, 1105–1132.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, J. M., McKone, E., Dennett, H., O’Connor, K. L., O’Kearney, R., & Palermo, R. (2011). Individual differences in face recognition ability are associated with social anxiety. PLoS One, 12. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028800.

  • De Haan, E. H., Edward, H. F., & Campbell, R. (1991). A 15 year follow-up of a case of developmental prosopagnosia. Cortex, 27, 489–509.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Renzi, E., Faglioni, P., Grossi, D., & Nichelli, P. (1991). Apperceptive and associative forms of prosopagnosia. Cortex, 27, 213–221.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Della Sala, S., & Young, A. W. (2003). Quaglino’s 1867 case of prosopagnosia. Cortex, 39, 533–540.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dobel, C., Bolte, J., Aicher, M., & Schweinberger, S. R. (2007). Prosopagnosia without apparent cause: Overview and diagnosis of six cases. Cortex, 43, 718–733.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duchaine, B., & Nakayama, K. (2005). Dissociations of Face and Object Recognition in Developmental Prosopagnosia. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 249–261.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duchaine, B., & Nakayama, K. (2006a). The Cambridge Face Memory Test: Results for neurologically intact individuals and an investigation of its validity using inverted face stimuli and prosopagnosic participants. Neuropsychologia, 44, 576–585.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duchaine, B., & Nakayama, K. (2006b). Developmental prosopagnosia: A window to content-specific face processing. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 16, 166–173.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Duchaine, B., Parker, H., & Nakayama, K. (2003). Normal recognition of emotion in a prosopagnosic. Perception, 32, 827–838.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duchaine, B., Germine, L., & Nakayama, K. (2007). Family resemblance: Ten family members with prosopagnosia and within-class object agnosia. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 24, 419–430.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eimer, M. (2000). Event-related brain potentials distinguish processing stages involved in face perception and recognition. Clinical Neurophysiology, 111, 694–705.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eimer, M., Gosling, A., and Duchaine, B. (2012). Electrophysiological markers of covert face recognition in developmental prosopagnosia. Brain, doi:10.1093/brain/awr1347.

  • Ewbank, M. P., Henson, R. N., Rowe, J. B., Stoyanova, R. S., and Calder, A. J. (2012). Different neural mechanisms within occipitotemporal cortex underlie repetition suppression across same and different-size faces. Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhs1070.

  • Fox, C. J., Iaria, G., & Barton, J. J. (2008). Disconnection in prosopagnosia and face processing. Cortex, 44, 996–1009.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Furl, N., Garrido, L., Dolan, R. J., Driver, J., & Duchaine, B. C. (2011). Fusiform gyrus face selectivity relates to individual differences in facial recognition ability. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 1723–1740.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gainotti, G. (2007a). Different patterns of famous people recognition disorders in patients with right and left anterior temporal lesions: A systematic review. Neuropsychologia, 45, 1591–1607.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gainotti, G. (2007b). Face familiarity feelings, the right temporal lobe and the possible underlying neural mechanisms. Brain Research Reviews, 56, 214–235.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gauthier, I., Tarr, M. J., Moylan, J., Skudlarski, P., Gore, J. C., & Anderson, A. W. (2000). The fusiform “face area” is part of a network that processes faces at the individual level. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12, 495–504.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gosling, A., & Eimer, M. (2011). An event-related brain potential study of explicit face recognition. Neuropsychologia, 49, 2736–2745.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haxby, J. V., Hoffman, E. A., & Gobbini, M. I. (2000). The distributed human neural system for face perception. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 223–233.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys, K., Avidan, G., & Behrmann, M. (2007). A detailed investigation of facial expression processing in congenital prosopagnosia as compared to acquired prosopagnosia. Experimental Brain Research, 176, 356–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, R. D., & Tranel, D. (2001). Severe developmental prosopagnosia in a child with superior intellect. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 23, 265–273.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J., & Chun, M. M. (1997). The fusiform face area: A module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face perception. Journal of Neuroscience, 17, 4302–4311.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y., Duchaine, B. C., Wilson, H. R., & Nakayama, K. (2010). Three cases of developmental prosopagnosia from one family: Detailed neuropsychological and psychophysical investigation of face processing. Cortex, 46, 949–964.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Osternhout, P., & Holcomb, P. (1993). Event-related potentials and synctactic anomaly: Evidence of anomaly detection during the perception of continuous speech. Language & Cognitive Processes, 8, 413–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palermo, R., Willis, M. L., Rivolta, D., McKone, E., Wilson, C. E., & Calder, A. J. (2011). Impaired holistic coding of facial expression and facial identity in congenital prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia, 49, 1226–1235.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rivolta, D., Schmalzl, L., Coltheart, M., & Palermo, R. (2010). Semantic information can facilitate covert face recognition in congenital prosopagnosia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 32, 1002–1016.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rivolta, D., Palermo, R., Schmalzl, L., & Coltheart, M. (2012a). Covert face recognition in congenital prosopagnosia: A group study. Cortex, 48, 344–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivolta, D., Palermo, R., Schmalzl, L., & Williams, M. A. (2012b). An early category-specific neural response for the perception of both places and faces. Cognitive Neuroscience, 3, 45–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossion, B., Schiltz, C., & Crommelinck, M. (2003). The functionally defined right occipital and fusiform “face areas” discriminate novel from visually familiar faces. NeuroImage, 19, 877–883.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rossion, B., Dricot, L., Goebel, R., & Busigny, T. (2011). Holistic face categorization in higher order visual areas of the normal and prosopagnosic brain: toward a non-hierarchical view of face perception. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 4, 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousselet, G. A., and Pernet, C. R. (2011). Quantifying the time course of visual object processing using ERPs: It’s time to up the game. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, doi:10.339/fpsyg.2011.00107.

  • Rousselet, G. A., Pernet, C. R., Caldara, R., & Schyns, P. G. (2011). Visual object categorization in the brain: What can we really learn from ERP peaks? Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 5, 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmalzl, L., Palermo, R., Green, M., Brunsdon, R., & Coltheart, M. (2008). Training of familiar face recognition and visual scan paths for faces in a child with congenital prosopagnosia. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 25, 704–729.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, C., Avidan, G., Humphreys, K., Jung, K., & Behrmann, M. (2009). Reduced structural connectivity in ventral visual cortex in congenital prosopagnosia. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 29–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tranel, D., & Damasio, H. (1994). Neuroanatomical correlates of electrodermal skin conductance responses. Psychophysiology, 31, 427–438.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tsukiura, T., Suzuki, C., Shigemune, Y., & Mochizuki-Kawai, H. (2008). Different contributions of the anterior temporal and medial temporal lobe to the retrieval of memory for person identity information. Human Brain Mapping, 29, 1343–1354.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Valdes-Sosa, M., Bobes, M., Quinones, I., Garcia, L., Valdes-Hernandez, P. A., Iturria, Y., et al. (2011). Covert face recognition without the fusiform-temporal pathways. NeuroImage, 57, 1162–1176.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wagenmakers, E.-J., Wetzels, R., Borsboom, D., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (2011). Why psychologists must change the way they analyze their data: the case of Psi: Comment on Bem (2011). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 426–432.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wetzels, R., Matzke, D., Lee, M. D., Rouder, J. N., Iverson, G. J., & Wagenmakers, E.-J. (2011). Statistical evidence in experimental psychology: An empirical comparison using 855 t tests. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 291–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, C. E., Palermo, R., Schmalzl, L., & Brock, J. (2010). Specificity of impaired facial identity recognition in children with suspected developmental prosopagnosia. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 27, 30–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yardley, L., McDermott, L., Pisarski, S., Duchaine, B., & Nakayama, K. (2008). Psychosocial consequences of developmental prosopagnosia: A problem of recognition. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 65, 445–451.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

DR is supported by the Neuronale Koordination Forschungsschwerpunkt Frankfurt (NeFF), RP is supported by the ARC Centre of Excellence Grant CE110001021, and LS is supported by the European Research Council.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Deutschordenstraße 46, 60528, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Davide Rivolta

  2. Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Davide Rivolta

  3. Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Davide Rivolta & Laura Schmalzl

  4. Slop, Scuola Lombarda di Psicoterapia Cognitiva Neuropsicologica, Retorbido, Pavia, Italy

    Davide Rivolta

  5. ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, and School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Romina Palermo

  6. Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Laura Schmalzl

Authors
  1. Davide Rivolta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Romina Palermo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Laura Schmalzl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Davide Rivolta.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rivolta, D., Palermo, R. & Schmalzl, L. What is Overt and what is Covert in Congenital Prosopagnosia?. Neuropsychol Rev 23, 111–116 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-012-9223-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-012-9223-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation