Ability to recognise faces

fullofbeans · 09-16-2008, 03:53 PM

I was wondering if it is just me so I thought I'd ask.

I personally do not feel that my memory or mental ability wasmuch impaired due to treatment. But one thing I have noticed is my ability to recognise people's faces..

At first I thought it was the shock of the dx and associated mental hell of secondaries. I thoughts that I simply did not attached importance to what was happening around me..

But being in a much better place ( hope it continues) I still notice that I am no longer the one recognising people..

Apparently it is quite a complex process to recognise people:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4086319.stm

Anyone else has noticed this?

'lizbeth · 09-16-2008, 05:24 PM

Full of beans,

I went to a birthday party and got an acquaintance I'd known for a long time completely confused with one of his competitors - very embarrassing. I would have never done that before starting chemo.

'lizbeth

chicagoetc · 09-16-2008, 05:40 PM

I am thinking that more research goes into understanding what does/does not work while treatment is occurring than what happens afterwords. [If someone on this site said this already, please take credit.] Fullobeans, I wouldn't be surprised if this were related to treatment in some way. Face recognition is complex. I will share more later but am finding a number of apparent cognitive problems post treatment (AC+T) and possibly related to Herceptin (I hope not and doubt it). It's rough on the body/brain I think to be "poisoned" by chemotherapy which has as its primary purpose to kill anything that looks like cancer while not killing the patient. I should know more (will share more) after some additional testing here.

Difficulty with face recognition sounds frustrating.

Melanie

Actually, this might be interesting:

http://www.oncolink.org/conferences/...ss=270&id=1805

Catherine · 09-16-2008, 10:05 PM

It has been 6 plus months since my last Herceptin. It has been 2 and one half years since my DX. I really have to say that I am not the strong person I used to be. I do not process information as well as I used to. I read the newspaper and can remember the subject matter, but next to none of the details. I can not read books, have to re-read the pages. Have to keep notes and check them twice. I have learned to work around this congitive disability. I fake it the best I can. I, too, suspect chemo and or Herceptin for robbing our brains. But, I agree, I am happy to be alive, so who cares what I remember. I even get those of us on the Her2 site mixed up.

It could be worse, I am walking and talking and typing.

Hugs, Catherine

fullofbeans · 09-17-2008, 04:59 PM

Thanks for your answers.

Now it might be me being silly but it also seem to be only with the people that I have met post treatment.. as soon as they tell me who they are I click thing into place and I am surprise that I did not recognise them..could be embarrassing but I seem to get away with it so far..

other than face recognition I am still happy with my brain

MCS · 09-17-2008, 05:02 PM

I have to write everything down and I have forgotten some people's names as if I never met them

maria

R.B. · 09-18-2008, 04:37 PM

I have never been very good at recognising faces, in the way some people seem able to e.g. Celeb spotting etc.

So maybe the ability varies from person to person, and how we `train' our brain in terms of what is important to our function etc. It is amazing our 60% fat computer can do it at all (-:

Hopefully I have replied to the right post this time (-: