The face looks familiar
Scientists have made the surprising discovery that people’s ability to recognize and remember faces peaks at ages 30 to 34, about a decade later than most other mental attributes. Researchers Laura T. Germine and Ken Nakayama of Harvard University and Bradley Duchaine of Dartmouth College will present their work in a forthcoming issue of the journal Cognition. While prior evidence suggested that face recognition might be slow to mature, Germine said few scientists had suspected it might continue building for so many years into adulthood. She said the late-blooming nature of face recognition simply may be a case of practice making perfect. “We all look at faces and practice face-watching, all the time,” said Germine, a Ph.D. student in psychology. “It may be that the parts of the brain we use to recognize faces require this extended period of tuning in early adulthood to help us learn and remember a wide variety of...