Psychologists Use ‘Game of Thrones’ to Gain Understanding of Face Blindness

People who struggle with facial recognition may struggle to form relationships, which can lead to mental health issues and social anxiety. A new study provides insight into prosopagnosia, or face blindness, a condition that impairs facial recognition and affects about 1 in 50 people.

The researchers scanned the brains of more than 70 study participants as they watched footage from the popular TV series “Game of Thrones.” Half of the participants were familiar with the show’s notoriously complex protagonists, while the other half had never seen the show.

When main characters appeared on screen, MRI scans showed that neurotypical participants who knew the characters had increased brain activity in areas of the brain associated with nonvisual knowledge about the characters, such as who they are and what we know about them.

Visual brain

Interestingly, the connections between the visual brain and these non-visual areas were also increased in people who were familiar with “Game of Thrones.” However, these waves of activity were significantly reduced in the group of neurotypical participants who had never watched the series.

To determine whether these regions were important for facial recognition, the researchers then repeated the study in people with prosopagnosia. As with the previous group, half had watched “Game of Thrones” and the other half had never seen the show.

Consistent with their difficulty recognizing faces, the familiarity effect was not found in the same brain regions as in neurotypical participants. Connections between visual and nonvisual areas were also reduced in face blindness.

Social anxiety

Professor Tim Andrews from the Department of Psychology, lead author of the study published in Cerebral cortex“We were very excited by the results of our study because they suggest that our ability to recognize faces depends on what we know about people, not just what they look like.

“While it has been thought that we recognize faces by learning about their visual properties, such as facial features, configuration and texture, our research shows that it is about linking a face to knowledge about the person, including their character traits, body language, our personal experiences with them and our feelings about them.

“Facial recognition is essential for daily life and social interactions. When people struggle with this, it can have a major impact on their lives and relationships, often leading to mental health issues and social anxiety.

“Our research advances our understanding of how prosopagnosia appears to be linked to reduced neural connectivity, which makes it difficult to associate faces with personal knowledge, which is crucial for recognition.”

Global appeal

The researchers chose to show participants footage from ‘Game of Thrones’ because of its international appeal and the variety of well-developed main characters.

Lead author of the study and PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology, Kira Noad, said: “We chose to show participants footage from ‘Game of Thrones’ because the series has captivated people around the world with its strong characters and their deep-rooted personalities.

“Many previous studies of the brain mechanisms behind facial recognition have been done in laboratory settings using 2D static images of faces. We wanted to create a study format that more closely resembled real life, using video to show complex scenes involving multiple people.

“We now need to do further research to investigate in more detail how activity in different brain areas allows us to recognize faces and what factors can disrupt this process.”