Facial Aging: A 54-Year, Three-Dimensional Population Study

There is no accurate visual representation of the aging process, one that visually shows how the shape of the face changes with age in a rigorous and three-dimensional way.

A total of 594 subjects were studied. Two hundred eighty three-dimensional images of male faces and 305 three-dimensional images of female faces were categorized into "young" and "old" groups by sex. The mean age of the younger men was 33.6, and the mean age of the older men was 70.3. The mean age of the younger women was 24, and the mean age of the older women was 74. Landmarks were placed on all images, and in the male groups the distances between these landmarks were analyzed with an independent t test to compare the differences between age groups. These measurements were then used to develop validated three-dimensional averaged models of the different groups. These averages were formed into comparative image transitions and studied.

The comparative image transitions of the average young and old faces in this series show accurate and registered age and shape changes. The faces of men and women age in almost identical ways. The images imply that the aging process is not solely along the surface planes of the face but at right angles to it, that is, many of the changes are in and out, not up and down. Males and females seem to age in quantitatively similar ways.

These images are unique in the facial aging literature. The main points and conclusions of this article are derived from and only visible in the comparative image transitions included in this article as supplemental digital content. The reader is encouraged to study them because the side-by-side still images do not show the changes.