One in three people have inherited a genetic variation that impairs their ability to remember faces, according to a study that could explain why some individuals recall everyone they have ever met while others have difficulty recognising their own relatives.
The study was carried out on nearly 200 families with an autistic child as part of research into genetic influences on the childhood disorder, which is linked with an inability to recognise faces as part of normal development.
However, the scientists believe that the findings have a wider significance by explaining – at least to some extent – the wide variation in the ability of the general population to recognise faces, whether of total strangers they have seen just once, or of close friends and relatives.
Read the full, original story: Never forget a face? Scientists unlock genetics that cause autism sufferers’ memory struggle
