Study Finds Who are you again? Face masks significantly reduce brain’s ability to recognize people BEER-SHEVA, Israel — As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, putting on a face mask has become as second nature to people as putting on pants. While it may be helping to limit of the virus’s spread, scientists say it’s also made it much harder to figure out who’s actually standing next to us in public. Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev say face masks are lowering the brain’s ability to properly recognize and distinguish between different faces. “For those of you who don’t always recognize a friend or acquaintance wearing a mask, you are not alone,” the research team says in a media release.