What's in a Face?

"These photographs of macaque faces were used in a study of human infants' face-processing abilities. The study found that infants can easily recognize individuals by their faces, including individuals of different species.

As most humans, grow, though, they lose this ability to discern faces of an unfamiliar type, the study says. This may explain why, for example, a person who grew up surrounded by, say, Asians might think all Caucasians look fairly similar."
Photograph courtesy PNAS

The following excerpt was taken from Hillary Mayell for National Geographic News
May 22, 2005:

"Human babies start out with the ability to recognize a wide range of faces, even among races or species different from their own, according to a new study.

The researchers focused on face processing—the ability to recognize and categorize faces, determine identity and gender, and read emotions. Their findings suggest that, in humans, this skill is a case of "use it or lose it."

In the study six-month-old infants were able to recognize the faces of individuals of a different species—in this case, monkeys. Babies who received visual training retained the ability. But those with no training lost the skill by the time they were nine months old.

Led by Olivier Pascalis, a psychologist at England's University of Sheffield, the team reported their findings this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." To read more, click: National Geographic News