Three steps to recognising a face

Subject: Three steps to recognising a face Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:45 am

The brain goes through three separate stages to decide if it recognises a face, scientists claim.

A team from University College London says the first assesses a face's physical aspects.

Three steps to recognising a face 1

The second decides if it is known or unknown. If it is a recognisable face, the third part puts a name to it.

The researchers say their study, published in Nature Neuroscience, could help those people with dementia who lose their ability to recognise faces.

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The researchers say analysing how we respond to the stages of "morphing" a recognisable figure such as Margaret Thatcher into Marilyn Monroe gives clues as to how we process the facial features we see.

Their study found the brain tries to pin a single identity on a face, even if it looks like a mix of two people.

A face that was 60% Marilyn Monroe and 40% Margaret Thatcher will be identified as an older version of Marilyn Monroe.

But an image which is 40% Marilyn and 60% Maggie will be seen as the "sexier" side of Margaret Thatcher, say the researchers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4086319.stm

Three steps to recognising a face

Three steps to recognising a face

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