Neural correlates of babyish adult face processing in men

Abstract

The morphological characteristics of an infant's face are collectively referred to as baby schema or babyishness. It has been well established that infant traits are implicitly projected, or overgeneralized, to adults with babyish facial features. However, few studies to date have investigated the neural underpinnings of such overgeneralization. In the present study, we addressed this issue by comparing neural activations elicited by baby-faced and mature-faced adult faces in men using fMRI. We found increased activations in clusters surrounding the bilateral insula, bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, and right inferior frontal gyrus, which have been previously linked to the processing of facial attractiveness and infant-related information. We also discovered increased activation in the left medial prefrontal cortex, which might be related to emotional or empathic responses directed towards baby-faced adults. The activated region also included the left premotor cortex, which presumably reflects an embodied response or approach motivation directed toward infant-related information. Furthermore, the activation level of the left caudate correlated with the salivary concentration of oxytocin. Taken together, these findings indicate that passive viewing of babyish adult faces induces increased responses in neural regions linked to facial attractiveness and infant-related information processing, and that these responses are partially influenced by oxytocinergic factors.