Start With When the Difficulty Began
If the difficulty started suddenly, or after a stroke or head injury, an emergency department, neurology, or neurosurgery are reasonable places to start. If it's been present consistently since childhood, neurology or a specialty clinic covering neuropsychology or higher cognitive function are good candidates. If the concern is about a child's daily life or school difficulties, starting with pediatrics or a developmental consultation service — who can refer on to a specialist if needed — is a common route.
Call Ahead Before You Go
How an Evaluation Works
There's still no single, universally agreed-upon set of diagnostic criteria for developmental prosopagnosia. An evaluation typically combines an interview about daily-life difficulties and how they developed, tasks measuring face memory and matching, and tests of recognizing familiar faces. Depending on the case, vision, general memory, object recognition, and brain imaging may also be checked.
The evaluation usually starts with a history — when the difficulty began and in what situations. From there, clinicians combine questionnaires about everyday difficulties (such as the PI20), face memory tasks like the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT), and assessments of familiar and unfamiliar face recognition such as those included in the VPTA, to rule out other visual or memory-related explanations.
The PI20 Isn't a Diagnostic Test
The PI20 is a 20-item self-report scale that helps you organize your everyday experience of face recognition, but a score alone can't provide a diagnosis — some people's self-assessment doesn't match their objective face recognition performance.
The Name Mnemonic Research Institute's self-check is the same: it's not a medical determination of whether you need to see a doctor. Use your result alongside notes on specific situations where you've struggled, when it started, and what cues you rely on — that record is useful if you do see a professional.
Finding Somewhere to Go
Searching for local clinics using terms like "higher cognitive dysfunction," "neuropsychological testing," or "cognitive function clinic" can help. In Japan, the National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities also publishes a list of consultation points for higher brain dysfunction by prefecture — though you'll need to confirm with each one whether they cover developmental prosopagnosia specifically.
References & Sources
The authors and organizations listed below are cited as sources for this content. This does not imply their review or endorsement of this article.
- 01Susilo & Duchaine (2016) — Developmental prosopagnosia diagnosis review
A review of the definition of developmental prosopagnosia and open questions in diagnosis.
- 02Oishi et al. (2024) — The role of the PI20 in assessing developmental prosopagnosia
Examines an evaluation approach combining the PI20, VPTA, and CFMT.
- 03National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities — List of consultation points
A directory of Japanese prefectural support centers and consultation points for higher brain dysfunction.
- 04NHO Tokyo Hospital — Neurology and higher brain dysfunction specialty clinic
An example of a specialty clinic pathway in Japan.
This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for individual diagnosis or treatment. For the full list of references across the site, see the References page.