This 2014 human study provided additional details on the specialized brain circuits we have for recognizing faces.

Damage to the hippocampus didn’t impair recognition of new faces, “..but only at a short retention interval. Recognition memory for words, buildings, famous faces, and inverted faces was impaired.”

http://www.pnas.org/content/111/27/9935.full “When recognition memory is independent of hippocampal function”