Jenny Parry has a rare condition called hyperfamiliarity for faces (HFF). When Jenny Parry walks down the street, she passes a sea of strangers. Except, to her, they seem all too familiar. She has a rare neurological condition which means that everyone she sees resembles a friend she has known for years, with accompanying cloudy memories of parties or workplace laughs. Photo released 19/05/2026
She is believed to be one of only a handful of people in Britain suffering from the condition (Picture: Tom Maddick / SWNS)

Some people make friends wherever they go, but as far as Jenny Parry is concerned, she’s mates with everyone already.

Due to a rare brain condition, whether she’s in a restaurant, on the bus or in the supermarket, the 54-year-old’s brain believes she knows every person she encounters.

‘My brain fires off these fake memories when I look at people’s faces,’ explains Jenny, from Scarborough.

‘My brain tells me I have been to the pub, to a concert, or on holiday when I see [someone], as if we had spent quality time together.’

Jenny has hyperfamiliarity for faces (HFF), an extremely rare neurological condition which causes the mum-of-one to have an overwhelming feeling that she recognises everyone she sees.

She’s believed to be one of only a handful of people in Britain suffering from the condition, and scientists are still attempting to understand it.

Jenny speaks to someone, creating false memories in her mind. Jenny Parry has a rare condition called hyperfamiliarity for faces (HFF). When Jenny Parry walks down the street, she passes a sea of strangers. Except, to her, they seem all too familiar. She has a rare neurological condition which means that everyone she sees resembles a friend she has known for years, with accompanying cloudy memories of parties or workplace laughs. Photo released 19/05/2026
This has had a challenging impact on Jenny (Picture: Tom Maddick / SWNS)

Jenny said she was ‘healthy and confident’ before she began experiencing strange symptoms seven years ago.

Following a severe migraine whilst on a walk with her daughter, Jenny ‘instantly recognised’ the very next person she saw and hasn’t ‘been the same since.’

She describes how she became ‘unnerved’ after returning home, when she thought she recognised everyone at a petrol station while she was filling up her car.

‘It gave me this really warm feeling. But then over the next couple of days, I became really unnerved by it, and that’s when I decided to do some research.’

During her online digging, Jenny came across Professor Brad Duchaine at Dartmouth University in the USA, who has studied HFF.

She sought out his expertise, and Jenny was put in touch with Professor Duchaine’s colleagues at the University of York, who were studying the condition.

Researchers used neuroimaging to monitor Jenny’s brain activity while she watched clips of the television series Game of Thrones, which she’d never seen before.

They then compared her results to two groups of people — devoted fans of the show and others who were entirely unfamiliar with it.

Results revealed that the activity in Jenny’s hippocampus — a region of the brain vital for memory — closely mirrored that of the long-term fans.

Jenny Parry has a rare condition called hyperfamiliarity for faces (HFF). When Jenny Parry walks down the street, she passes a sea of strangers. Except, to her, they seem all too familiar. She has a rare neurological condition which means that everyone she sees resembles a friend she has known for years, with accompanying cloudy memories of parties or workplace laughs. Photo released 19/05/2026
Despite understanding the problem, there isn’t a cure for the condition currently (Picture: Tom Maddick / SWNS)

‘It was like I had memories with them, which I was looking at through a frosted window so … I couldn’t quite see what the memories were’, said Jenny.

Professor Tim Andrews, senior researcher from the Department of Psychology at the University of York, said: ‘The problem arises because the communication between her visual system and her memory system has become exaggerated.’

But despite understanding the problem, there isn’t a cure for the condition.

Jenny says: ‘Doctors don’t know if the migraine caused the change to my brain or if my brain caused the migraine, it is all a big mystery.’

And, Jenny, a zookeeper at Filey Zoo, says HFF can have a big impact on her daily life.

Jenny speaks to someone, creating false memories in her mind. Jenny Parry has a rare condition called hyperfamiliarity for faces (HFF). When Jenny Parry walks down the street, she passes a sea of strangers. Except, to her, they seem all too familiar. She has a rare neurological condition which means that everyone she sees resembles a friend she has known for years, with accompanying cloudy memories of parties or workplace laughs. Photo released 19/05/2026
‘At first, it was unsettling, people have been freaked out and thought I was crazy’ (Picture: Tom Maddick / SWNS)

She says: ‘It has affected my self-esteem on many occasions throughout the years — leaving me now unable to look at people’s faces.

‘This one time I was convinced I knew this woman from my old business as a circus choreographer.

‘I had memories that we had spent a lot of time together and that I had been training her for years.

‘I crossed the road and tapped her on the shoulder but she just looked at me bluntly.

‘I apologised and went into my friend’s nearby cafe and burst into tears as I was so embarrassed.

‘At first, [encounters like this] were unsettling, people have been freaked out and thought I was crazy, but now I am learning to take control.’

‘I would always feel so shell-shocked afterwards and it would affect me for days — I can see how people who suffer with HFF can become introverted.’

She said it had also affected her previous job as a receptionist.

Jenny said: ‘It was my first job after I had suffered the migraine.

Jenny Parry has a rare condition called hyperfamiliarity for faces (HFF). When Jenny Parry walks down the street, she passes a sea of strangers. Except, to her, they seem all too familiar. She has a rare neurological condition which means that everyone she sees resembles a friend she has known for years, with accompanying cloudy memories of parties or workplace laughs. Photo released 19/05/2026
‘It has been difficult, but I had to make a positive change as otherwise I could snowball.’ (Picture: Tom Maddick / SWNS)

‘And I was put on reception and I was told that customers are allowed to come and go throughout the day.

‘When I ask if they would have a stamp on their hand so I would know they just told me to “look at their faces” and I would know if they had been in or not.

‘But when they came up to the counter, I recognised everyone unless they said otherwise and just let them in.

Jenny is now a zoo keeper at Filey Zoo, Scarborough, and says staff there have been very understanding of her condition.

Despite this, she says: ‘I can’t really engage with people anymore.

‘I have to make the condition work for me, and to do so I have to control when I look at people’s faces.

‘I now look for cues like rings, hair length, or their dog, which I use to recognise that person.

Hyperfamiliarity for faces (HFF)

Hyperfamiliarity for faces (HFF) is a rare condition in which unfamiliar faces evoke an abnormal sense of familiarity.
Although prior studies have linked HFF to damage in the temporal lobe, the precise neural mechanisms underlying this condition remain unclear. 
You can find out more here

‘I have had to train my friends, as if we are going to a restaurant, we have to be really organised, getting places on time, they have to wear a bright piece of clothing or wave erratically at me so I know it is them.

‘It has been difficult, but I had to make a positive change as otherwise I could snowball.

‘I can see why so many people who suffer from the condition become a shell of who they were.

‘It can be so demoralising when you speak to someone and they have no idea what you are talking about.’

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