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Related Experiment Video

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Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

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Human face recognition ability is specific and highly heritable.

Jeremy B Wilmer¹, Laura Germine, Christopher F Chabris

¹Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02481, USA. jwilmer@wellesley.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|February 24, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Face recognition ability is highly heritable, with genetics playing a significant role. This study highlights face-specific mechanisms underlying this crucial cognitive trait.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive neuroscience
Behavioral genetics
Human genetics

Background:

Genetics of basic sensory transduction is well-understood, but higher-level cognition genetics lags.
Investigating specific cognitive abilities like face recognition with defined neural substrates is proposed.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine the genetic contribution to face recognition ability.
To explore whether face recognition heritability is specific or general.

Main Methods:

A twin study design was employed to assess face recognition.
Correlations of scores between monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins were analyzed.

Main Results:

Monozygotic twins showed a higher correlation (0.70) than dizygotic twins (0.29) for face recognition.
Low correlations between face recognition and visual/verbal recognition suggest domain-specific mechanisms.
Face recognition ability and its genetic basis are largely attributable to face-specific mechanisms.

Conclusions:

Face recognition is a highly specific cognitive ability with a substantial genetic basis.
This finding opens the door for genetic investigations into this socially advantageous cognitive trait.