Brain’s face recognition keeps evolving
Print Edition
THE part of the human brain that is involved in face recognition keeps developing into adulthood, a pair of new studies found, surprising experts who thought brain tissue growth stopped in early childhood.
Researchers led by Kalanit Grill-Spector, a psychology professor at Stanford University, examined the brains of children and adults using a new type of imaging technique, focusing on an area of the cerebral cortex that plays a key role in face recognition.
In a study published in Cerebral Cortex, the researchers showed that regions of the brain that recognize faces have a unique cellular makeup.
In a separate study published in Science, they explained how they found microscopic structures within that region that change as children grow into adulthood.
The studies overturn a central notion in neuroscience — that people are born with excess neural connections that then pare back in early childhood when they stabilize.
“We actually saw that tissue is proliferating. Many people assume a pessimistic view of brain tissue: that tissue is lost as you get older. We saw the opposite — that whatever is left after pruning in infancy can be used to grow,” said Jesse Gomez, a student and lead author of the Science paper
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