Which visual disorder is characterized by the inability to recognize familiar faces?

The visual disorder characterized by the inability to recognize familiar faces is known as prosopagnosia. This condition specifically affects the brain's ability to process facial recognition, even though individuals with prosopagnosia might have intact vision and can see the faces; they struggle to identify them as familiar or to recall personal details associated with those faces. This condition often arises from damage to specific areas of the brain, particularly the fusiform gyrus, which plays a crucial role in facial recognition.

Other visual disorders listed in the choices have different characteristics. Visual agnosia refers to a general difficulty in recognizing objects, not specifically faces. Central achromatopsia involves a loss of color perception due to damage in the brain regions associated with color processing, rather than facial recognition. Flaccid hemiplegia, on the other hand, pertains to muscle weakness on one side of the body due to neurological damage and is unrelated to visual processing. Thus, prosopagnosia is the most accurate descriptor of the inability to recognize familiar faces.