European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                July 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 modern living seen As clue to brains function by Sandra Blakeslee new York times a rare brain disorder that leaves its victims perfectly Normal except that they can no longer consciously recognize familiar faces including their own in a lifelong the family dog has shed new Light on How Normal brains while the specific brain disorder involved in a recent study affects Only a handful of researchers say the findings could Lead to better understanding of other memory disorders like alzheimer disease and a new appreciation for the physiological role of the unconscious in Many psychological disorders May the reported in the journal also gives clues to Why some people never forget a and offers a physiological explanation for Why members of one race May have initial difficulty distinguishing among members of other the study indicates that people with the brain Disord recognize familiar faces on an unconscious level but do not know Only through some other such As hearing a voice or seeing an Odd piece of is the patients memory of the familiar person the author of the Antonio pro Fessor and chief of the department of neurology at the University of Iowa College of said this bizarre condition provides a rare insight into the ways conscious and unconscious thoughts Are integrated in the perception and recognition seem to occur in Damasio and a goal of modern neuroscience is to map the brain cell circuits that make the connections Between conscious and unconscious Damasio chose to study Proso Agnosia because the effects of the disorder Are highly specific and the causes can be traced directly to certain areas of the the condition has two some people develop the disorder after suffering a stroke caused by blood clots that become lodged in both the left and right sides of the the lesions must be in approximately the same place on both sides of the brain within the area that controls the Central visual other people develop Proso Agnosia As the result of herpes simplex which also produces twin lesions in the there must be lesions on both Damasio for facial recognition to be fully wiped the Condi Tion in its pure without other types of brain dam age or is extremely Damasio said he has studied nine pure victims can be Young or they do not recognize their own nor do they remember other familiar faces or learn to recognize new All other memories Are the victims can see As Well As distinguish faces without rec remember familiar voices and learn new they know a face is a face and can name it As they can name the parts of a face and Point to yet they do not recognize people they have known All their to determine what part of their visual recognition system had been Damasio recently showed two patients who had been wired with skin electrodes 50 photographs of fort two pictures were of strangers and eight were of close rela Tives or of the patient the both said they were unable to recognize a single but Damasio reported that the patients registered Strong autonomic or unconscious responses As picked up by the skin they recognized the faces on a primary he but failed to integrate that recognition into higher Levels of this study and others have led Damasio to postulate a Model for How Normal people recognize the general ability to recognize faces varies he and some people Are naturally better at it than Many people have trouble recalling the names of people they he which is altogether different from not recognizing familiar the first step in the process involves visual percept the eyes gather information on the shape of the face and placement of Damasio a template is created for each the he is not a fixed facsimile of a but a evolving record of each facial template is connected to other associated including conversations and Situa the memory of a person is embedded in a net work that includes the facial when a Normal person sees a familiar the tem plate is he and associated memories stored in other parts of the brain Are each in a probably creates at least to Damasio the Model also helps to explain Why people May experience initial difficulty recognizing the faces of individuals in other racial he the brain becomes familiar with new cues to you end up with a lot of false Damasio until the brain those with the disorder seem to have their templates Damasio they a familiar face but cannot then bring the recognition Forward to the Central the visual Channel seems to be but the patients can use he a familiar voice will open channels to the associated Mem ories that allow the patient to recognize a familiar per son once he templates exist for groups of objects other than Damasio and other forms of the disease affect objects in addition to a Farmer was unable to recognize specific animals in his Damasio a Birdwatcher could no longer Tell Birds a woman could Only identify her car by searching for the License plate she How Tell the difference Between a fire engine and an those with the disorder need help getting dressed in the we have a template for each article of clothing in our Damasio when you choose a you recall its history and treat it like an he cannot distinguish Between a Tuxedo and a Leisure one woman can recognize her husband Only because he wears his hair parted like Rudolph an other is Able to find her husband in shopping malls by virtue of the big Feather he wears in his All dogs look As do All including Lions and pet but Damasio Are almost always they Are in a class of Erma Bombeck anyone can intimidate in you show me an opponent who meets me on the Tennis court wearing a sweatband on his wrist and its All Over for ill lie Down on the Roll Over and throw in a can of new balls to the people dont even mean to unsettle my its just the Way i for i have considered people who write poetry the More of it i dont the deeper i think they for All i know they could be people who Are candidates for paper bedroom but i will go to my grave she was just too cerebral for in also in Awe of people who order artichokes in of i Cook them at Home and go through the whole ritual of pulling off the petals and dragging them through sauce and then pulling them through my but in Public never i think people who eat artichokes in Public Are the Sames ones who Park in front of a concert Hall and leave their keys in their and Send wine Back after Treyve sampled they defy traditions and thumb their noses at probably the bravest woman i Ever met was a Friend of mine who walked into a shoe store one Day right off the sat Down and i want to try on now that takes she didst ask if they had or a razor she just i want to try on i still cannot show my calves to anyone to whom i am not currently but the person who really makes me feel inadequate is the Man or woman who can introduce eight people to one another without grabbing them by the Chest and Reading off their name i would give anything to be Able to retain names like for years i whined around that it was sorority training and i was too to but it int its just a Superior human being who can i want you to meet mercantile Myo canot a Bonsai Dick Dyust and Carlyle but were All so lets make it Smit Dickie and i went Blank last week while introducing my someone once asked me if you could die from inti having just the answer is c los Angeles times Syndicate