Brad Pitt recently disclosed in an interview that he suffers from prosopagnosia, sometimes known as “facial blindness,” a rare neurological disorder. One of the symptoms, which varies in intensity depending on the person, is having trouble identifying faces. Some people may have persistent anxiety or sadness as a result of social issues, even when there is no connection to learning disabilities or memory loss.

Congenital or acquired prosopagnosia are both possible, and certain cases run in families. Since there are no obvious brain abnormalities associated with congenital prosopagnosia, its specific cause is unknown. Alzheimer’s disease and other brain traumas can cause acquired prosopagnosia.

Although there is no cure, people can learn to distinguish between different people by using non-traditional indicators like voice or movement. Memory and facial recognition tests are used in the diagnosis process, and neurologists make sure the issue isn’t a sign of something more serious.

Many people, including Pitt, may never acquire an official diagnosis because prosopagnosia presents many difficulties. Some are crippled by it, but others are able to deal with its social complexity.