Prosopagnosia: adouble dissociation between the recognition offamiliar andunfamiliar faces

Prosopagnosia isarare condition inwhichrecognition offaces isimpaired, although thepatient can usually identify people bytheir voice andvisual features suchasclothing orstature. Oneformulation postulates animpairment ofperceptual classification (within aclass ofobjects) whichWhiteley andWarrington' foundtobespecific forfaces. Analternative formulation postulates amemorydeficit selective forfaces2 whichMeadows3 hasattributed toan occipitotemporal disconnection. We report two casesofprosopagnosia withcontrasting symptomatology. Inthefirst casetheprosopagnosia, but notother visuoperceptive defects, resolved while the secondpatient remained prosopagnosic despite improvement inothervisuoperceptive capacities, including matching ofunfamiliar faces.