Primates are among a couple of mammals that have a dedicated system for processing faces, something that involves a lot of neuropower and energy expenditure. While there are people that resemble each other, no two humans have the same exact faces (not even identical twins). Some people see, and thus analyze, thousands of faces each day, depending on how much
Recognizing faces may result from a specific brain mechanism
During a lifetime, a person sees hundreds of thousands of faces. Of course, you wont remember all of them, in fact you might find you’re embarrassed when you fail to recognize a distant relative at a family gathering. Things like this happen, but you shouldn’t be upset on your brain. In fact, it does a pretty fantastic job considering it
Emotion detectors could make driving safer
Technology and feelings Technology has gotten pretty good at understanding how we feel, being basically able to read at least the seven universal emotions a person is feeling: fear, anger, joy, sadness, disgust, surprise, or suspicion. This has become useful in medicine and psychology, marketing, police investigations, and more recently… driving safety. EPFL researchers, in collaboration with PSA Peugeot Citroën,
When interacting with other people, we first notice race and gender
What’s the first thing you notice when you first look at a person? Is it the shoes? The eyes? The nose? The mouth? There’s one thing to consciously notice and another to passively acquire data, something the brain constantly does. Harvard researchers have found that the first things the brain recognizes when interacting with other people is race and gender.
Human face perception not limited only to humans
In the theoretical and absurd case of a pigeon going on a police identification line, do you think it would use the same processes you’d use ? If your answer is “yes”, you may seem a bit strange… but you’re right. A study published by researchers from the University of Iowa found that pigeons recognize a human face and its
Why some people never forget a face while others can’t even remember who you are
Have you ever felt insignificant because someone didn’t remember your face (not to mention your name)? Have you ever freaked out because someone else remembered the exact time and date of your first meeting…three years earlier? Well, you’re not so unimpressive so as not to be recognized later and neither are the ones around you some weirdos. It’s just that
