Morgan BellMonkeys identified against an average face
July 11th 2006 05:56
A study led by David Leopold of the US National Institute of Mental Health found that a monkey's brain did not keep track of different parts of familiar faces; instead, it keeps a statistical average of the faces it has seen, and uses this information to recognise others.
"When it sees a new face it compares it to this average and then it remarks upon the differences ... and that is how the face is seen," Leopold said. "It elucidates how it is possible that you can so quickly and effortlessly, in just a few hundred milliseconds, recognise faces."
Researchers speculate that humans could use the same technique, which explains our ability to recognise faces in a fraction of a second.
"The results suggest that monkeys, and possibly humans, are primed to recognise minute facial changes," ABC Science reports. "Facial expression is an indicator of emotion and intent, which could be crucial for survival."
(image from ABC Science)
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