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Facial pareidolia is when people see faces in random objects or light patterns.
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Whether it’s a cloud formation, a piece of tree bark, or even a slice of toast, we all think we’ve seen familiar faces in the most unexpected places.
The phenomenon, called facial pareidolia, occurs when people identify recognizable images in random objects or light patterns.
Now, research suggests that women who have just given birth are the most likely to experience this.
The researchers surveyed 401 women in three groups who were pregnant, had given birth in the past 12 months, or were not pregnant.
They were all shown a series of images that included “obvious” faces in vegetables or within rock formations, and “difficult” faces in leaves and fire.
The phenomenon, called facial pareidolia, occurs when people identify recognizable images in random objects or light patterns (pictured: the apparent face of Jesus on toast).
Now, research suggests that women who have just given birth are the most likely to experience this phenomenon.
The researchers surveyed 401 women in three groups who were pregnant, had given birth in the past 12 months, or were not pregnant. They were all shown a series of images that included “obvious” faces in vegetables or within rock formations, and “difficult” faces in leaves and fire.
Women who had recently given birth were more likely to see faces in both categories than women in the other groups.
It suggests that women are more sensitive to seeing faces in early parenthood, potentially promoting social bonding, the researchers said.
Writing in the journal Biology Letters, researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia said their findings provide “the first demonstration that our sensitivity to faces is not stable throughout our adult life.”
They said experiencing facial pareidolia has previously been linked to dementia, Parkinson’s and increased feelings of loneliness.
“Quantifying the factors that predict changes in this sensitivity will be essential to… decide whether facial pareidolia is just a fun side effect of a hypersensitivity to faces… or a diagnostic tool that would be leveraged to monitor the progression of the disease and warn about mental illnesses”. deterioration of health,” they added.
A previous study found that faces seen on inanimate objects are more likely to be perceived as masculine.
In a large experiment involving nearly 4,000 adults, researchers found that there was a strong bias in interpreting faces as male rather than female, in a ratio of about 4:1.
This could be because male is the “default” gender for a face, unless other visual details such as long eyelashes, shaped eyebrows and long hair are visible, the scientists said.