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-Short Attention Span Theater-
How the brain recognises a face
2004-12-14
Posted by:tipper

#13  A shame more politicians don't have Angie's condition.
Posted by: lex   2004-12-14 3:40:00 PM  

#12  Angie, interesting! For most people height is not a factor, which is why we can recognize faces on TV.
Posted by: phil_b   2004-12-14 2:40:53 PM  

#11  I support all research in this area because I have the damnedest time with this. As Krang says, all humans look alike to me. The only thing I have to go on is general body type (short, tall, skinny, fat) and hair color.

When I worked in Sydney I had three dark-haired female colleagues. For a long time I was never sure which one I was talking to. Took me about a month to realize that one was a lot taller than the others (they were all shorter than I, and all those short people look alike: like the tops of their heads).
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2004-12-14 12:27:14 PM  

#10  It's the third step I have trouble with.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen   2004-12-14 11:32:29 AM  

#9  they ought to study my brain since I am a mutant possessing only the first two functions.
Posted by: 2b   2004-12-14 9:32:09 AM  

#8  Maybe I can get a PhD for research on how to recognize a Joseph Mendiola comment.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-12-14 9:22:44 AM  

#7  So why is my name recall s*ithouse?
Always remember a face though.
Posted by: tipper   2004-12-14 8:13:39 AM  

#6  So which type of dementia did they diagnose, Howard? ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife   2004-12-14 7:48:57 AM  

#5  The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is got a bizarre look at this sort of recognition.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-12-14 7:36:50 AM  

#4  Bah. Humans all look the same to me.
Posted by: Krang   2004-12-14 6:50:45 AM  

#3  "Facial recognition is a very puzzling and complex process." It's a process of astonishing precision. Capable of differentiating an almost unlimited number of faces and recognize those faces under severely degraded conditions. Yet its not related to any major physical characteristics on a face. This can be demonstrated by getting people to recognize pictures of indivdiual sheep they have seen previously (which have ears, eyes, nose, chin just like a human face). Most people can't do this.
Posted by: phil_b   2004-12-14 6:07:14 AM  

#2  Just had to say a mate worked on this - it's more about finding which part of the brain does what.. in order to produce a cure for dementia etc. I think I was scanned for this study too.
Posted by: Howard UK   2004-12-14 5:36:01 AM  

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

They needed a study to figure this out??? May I ask for a PHD by suggesting that assessing the physical aspects of anything is usually the first step to recognizing it? Then if we indeed recognize it, it usually has a name attached. Big deal.
Posted by: Rafael   2004-12-14 3:16:58 AM  

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