Baby Face Research Articles

Right prefrontal HF-rTMS attenuates right amygdala processing of negatively valenced emotional stimuli in healthy females

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) studies investigating brain imaging correlates of emotion modulation in healthy volunteers can improve our understanding of the ‘affective’ impact of this application. In this fMRI study, we focused on lateralized amygdala functioning when processing salient emotional visual stimuli after one high-frequency (HF)-rTMS session. In a ‘uniform sample’ of 20 right-handed, non-depressed, healthy female subjects we examined whether one HF-rTMS session applied to the left ( n = 10) or right ( n = 10) dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) would influence amygdala responses to positively and negatively valenced baby faces. Subjects were given no other instructions than to focus on the emotion the visual stimuli elicited during scanning. One HF-rTMS session did not result in a conscious mood change. Whereas one left-sided HF-rTMS session did not affect amygdala processing of the positive or negative stimuli, after a single right-sided HF-rTMS session we found a significant right amygdala activity attenuation during the processing of negatively valenced baby faces. This finding provides additional evidence supporting the role of the right anterior hemisphere in the processing of negative emotional information, and increases our understanding of HF-rTMS treatment effects in mental disorders.

Facial Aesthetic Analysis in Beautiful Persian Female Subjects Aged 13 to 30 Years by Means of Photogrammetry

Sir: Facial analysis is of great importance for evaluation and planning in aesthetic surgery.1 Numerous studies have resulted in the vast array of reports available, the majority of which have been gathered from American Caucasians, and there are few regarding the Persian population.2–4 Porter reported the significant differences among various ethnicities and cited the need for ethnic data. Standard photogrammetry, using both anteroposterior and lateral views, incorporating a ruler or grid for adjustments, was performed (focal length, 95 cm; object distance to camera, 125 cm; zooming by means of Tele; real size printing). Standard facial landmarks were represented by points on printed photographs of 197 Persian beautiful female subjects, and measurements between facial landmarks were obtained and depicted in charts (Figs. 1 and 2).Fig. 1.: Standard landmarks, frontal view.Fig. 2.: Standard landmarks, lateral view.The criteria for being beautiful were based on the research committee's opinion. Charts were constructed on the basis of information regarding North American Caucasians.1 Findings were compared with those of Caucasians by using SPSS (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, Ill.) (one-sample t test, p < 0.05; 95 percent confidence interval). The results are listed in Table 1.Table 1: Results and Basic Data ComparedAll parameters regarding anterior and lateral views of face height were smaller compared with those of Caucasians (statistically significant), except for n-sn (n-sn = 59 mm versus 51 mm) and g-sn (g-sn = 65 ± 5 mm versus 63 ± 4 mm), which were longer (statistically significant). Therefore, the midface was a few millimeters longer in the study group, and the lower third of the face was a bit shorter (sn-st and st-gn); however, the “canons” still rule the face. The height of the forehead was the same, but the inclination and nasofrontal angle were higher. Surveying eyebrow and eye parameters showed reduced figures for eyebrow-pupil, eyebrow-crease, SOR, and IOR, and an increase for LOR, eye fissure, and upper lid-limbus. Although a statistical difference was reported, the standard deviations and means were within the values for Caucasians. However, clinically, eyes seemed to be more prominent (Table 1). In contrast, there was minimal scleral show, yet the overall beautiful appearance of the study group was not detrimentally affected (yet it is possible that otherwise they would appear prettier). The sum of these factors led to more prominent eyes in the study group. A review of nasal parameters showed statistical differences, but again, mean values and SD were within those of Caucasians. Generally, lips were somewhat shorter but more prominent in the study group (vermilion parameters and lip length, sn-st, st-sl). Overall, chin height was a bit shorter, clinically justifiable and regarding sn-st and st-gn values (statistically significant). Facial convexity was greater in the study group (g-sn < sn-pg, perp to FH through sn, inclination of the Lieber line) (statistically significant). The inclination of the Lieber line was 5 ± 1 degrees compared with 1.6 ± 2.5 degrees in Caucasians. In summary, the overall facies of the study group were as follows: small lower third of the face and chin, prominent eyes, prominent lips, and a more convex facial profile, all denoting a “baby face” appearance. It is obvious that for a reasonable deduction, we are still short of data, but according to the presented information, it seems that although some figures of Caucasians were still applicable to the Persian population, many of them might be changed for Persians if optimal operative results are to be achieved (Table 1). PATIENT CONSENT The patient provided written consent for the use of her image. Mohammad Reza Farahvash, M.D. Jamshid Khak, M.D. Department of Plastic Surgery Medical School of Tehran University of Medical Sciences Maryam Jafari Horestani, D.D.S. Aesthetic and Operative Dentistry Qazvin University of Medical Sciences Faculty of Dentistry Qazvin, Iran Yashar Farahvash Massachusetts College of Pharmacy Boston, Mass. Benyamin Farahvash Department of Dermatology Medical School of Boston University Boston, Mass.

Oral Contraceptives Suppress Ovarian Hormone Production

In “The Cutest Little Baby Face: A Hormonal Link to Sensitivity to Cuteness in Infant Faces,” Sprengelmeyer et al. (2009) reported results from three fascinating studies designed to test humans’ ability to discriminate among infants on the basis of cuteness. The first study indicated that women of reproductive age are superior to men and older women in this regard, and the second study revealed that premenopausal women perform better than age-matched postmenopausal women. Sprengelmeyer et al. compellingly argued that these findings, taken together, strongly indicate that female reproductive hormones (specifically, the two principal hormones, estrogen and progesterone) play a role in sensitivity to cuteness. The authors sought to explore this possibility in a third study, in which they tested women who were taking exogenous hormones for contraception. They found that such women differentiate cuteness in infant faces better than naturally cycling women do. The authors interpreted this result as consonant with their hypothesis about the contribution of estrogen and progesterone to cuteness detection—that oral contraceptives “raise hormone levels artificially” (p. 149). Although hormonal differences between the two groups may have been responsible for this difference, it is unlikely that the effect was due to elevated levels of estrogen1 and progesterone in the women using oral contraceptives. Contrary to many researchers’ beliefs, oral hormonal contraceptives actually suppress ovarian production of these hormones.

The Aesthetic Preferences of Infants: Pictures of Faces That Captivate Their Interest

This research focused on the observation of infants between the ages of 2 and 18 months with regard to their aesthetic preferences for a variety of visual stimuli. These stimuli included: a black-and-white schematic drawing of a baby, a popular cartoon image, a colorful abstract painting of a baby, and a photographic image of a baby's face. Prior research with this age group has determined that faces are of most interest to them. However, young children are now bombarded by the visual media (i.e. television and DVDs, picture books, etc.), and this preference may have changed. Determining the aesthetic preferences of babies will help parents, childcare providers, and picture book authors/illustrators to provide visual imagery that is aesthetically appealing to them. Providing visually stimulating imagery can help babies to develop their visual discrimination and tracking skills. Research confirms that birth to five years is the most important period for children with respect to brain development. Therefore, more research is needed that will provide us with clues about what forms of visual stimulation are appropriate in order to better facilitate this developmental process.

乳幼児の笑顔画像呈示による感情誘導手法の提案

乳幼児の笑顔画像呈示による感情誘導手法の提案

Distributed subordinate specificity for bodies, faces, and buildings in human ventral visual cortex

Previous studies have revealed regions in human visual cortex with a strong preference for faces, headless bodies, and buildings. We investigated whether the pattern of activity in these category-selective regions is related to more subordinate distinctions among objects. Our experiments included two types of faces (elderly faces and baby faces), body parts (hands and torsos), and buildings (rural buildings and skyscrapers). Multi-voxel pattern analyses revealed very clear differences in the activation pattern between hands and torsos, and smaller but significant differences in the activation pattern between the two face conditions and between the two building conditions. The subordinate specificity was very distributed, as all category-selective regions were most selective for the distinction between hands and torsos, independently from their preferred category. The selectivity for hands versus torsos was preserved across exemplars and image orientations in all category-selective regions, indicating that the distributed subordinate selectivity is related to relatively invariant and higher-order properties of the images.

Neural Activation Underlying Acute Grief in Women After the Loss of an Unborn Child

The traumatic loss of an unborn child by induced termination of pregnancy because of fetal malformation is a major life event that causes intense maternal grief. Increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that the same neural structures involved in the experience of physical pain are involved in the experience of social pain and loss. To investigate neural activation patterns related to acute grief, the authors conducted a functional MRI study of 12 post-termination women and 12 noninduced women who delivered a healthy child. Brain activation was measured while participants viewed pictures of happy baby, happy adult, and neutral adult faces. Relative to comparison women, post-termination women showed greater activation in the middle and posterior cingulate gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus, the middle temporal gyrus, the thalamus, and the brainstem in response to viewing happy baby faces. Functional connectivity between the cingulate gyrus and the thalamus during the processing of happy baby faces was significantly stronger in post-termination women. Overall, acute grief after the loss of an unborn child was closely related to the activation of the physical pain network encompassing the cingulate gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus, the thalamus, and the brainstem. To the authors' knowledge, the stronger functional thalamocingulate connectivity in post-termination women is the first in vivo demonstration of an involvement of the neural maternal attachment network in grief after the loss of an unborn child.

동안(童顔) 열풍의 사회문화적 배경과 골상학적 특징

Life expectancy has increased and people are more concerned with keeping their `youth`. Appearance is a competitive edge and people are caught up in a that has expanded into a culture and beauty trend. This study examined the definitions and phrenological characteristics of a and the causes of the in a review of the as a and beauty cultural code based on literature, journals, previous papers, and Internet materials. Anatomically speaking, a baby face refers to a that keeps the features of a child`s without aging signs. The gained momentum due to the influences of the digital culture, the encouragement of the mass media, changes to the social structure, dietary improvements, new living styles, and an evolving aesthetic sense. The results reveal the sociocultural backgrounds behind the baby fad settling down as a part of culture in addition to the phrenological characteristics of a face. It is also estimated that the could affect the beauty culture and trends as a social phenomena.

The Teddy-Bear Effect

Prior research suggests that having a baby face is negatively correlated with success among White males in high positions of leadership. However, we explored the positive role of such “babyfaceness” in the success of high-ranking Black executives. Two studies revealed that Black chief executive officers (CEOs) were significantly more baby-faced than White CEOs. Black CEOs were also judged as being warmer than White CEOs, even though ordinary Blacks were rated categorically as being less warm than ordinary Whites. In addition, baby-faced Black CEOs tended to lead more prestigious corporations and earned higher salaries than mature-faced Black CEOs; these patterns did not emerge for White CEOs. Taken together, these findings suggest that babyfaceness is a disarming mechanism that facilitates the success of Black leaders by attenuating stereotypical perceptions that Blacks are threatening. Theoretical and practical implications for research on race, gender, and leadership are discussed.

A History of Murder: Personal Violence in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present. By Pieter Spierenburg (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7456-4378-6. 17.99)

The title and cover shot alone of Spierenburg's latest piece of bravura scholarship promise the reader an academic text that is at once readable, informative and entertaining, two of which qualities are sadly rarer than they should be in many scholarly works. Spierenburg certainly delivers all three, along with a central thesis that will spark discussion and debate. The cover of A History of Murder features a fantastic still from Fritz Lang's M (1931), of the moment when the killer, Hans Beckert, realizes that he has been identified as such by the letter ‘M’ chalked onto the back of his coat. Horror reflects in the eyes of his disturbing baby face. This is a book with a massive sweep. Spierenburg traces the decline in murder and other forms of interpersonal violence in Europe from the Middle Ages to the present day. During this roughly 700-year period, fatal interpersonal violence changed from being something that occurred frequently, but caused little concern, to something exceptional, which provokes high levels of fear and anxiety. It also switched from being characteristically elite behaviour to the mark of the low-born and rough. The story of how this happened involves attention to shifting notions of masculinity and honour, as well as the emergence and consolidation of the state. Throughout this period, murder and other types of interpersonal violence are largely the preserve of men, although Spierenburg also examines women's use of violence.

Amygdala responses to positively and negatively valenced baby faces in healthy female volunteers: Influences of individual differences in harm avoidance

Research regarding the lateralization of processing emotional visual stimuli suggests various roles for affective information-processing by the amygdalae. However, individual differences seem to influence outcome results. In this study we re-investigate this question, paying special attention to the salient nature of the mood inducing stimuli. We presented blocks of happy looking baby faces and sad looking baby faces (disfigured by severe dermatological conditions), as well as blurred isoluminescent neutral pictures to a ‘homogeneous’ group of 40 healthy female subjects during fMRI. We used the temperament dimension harm avoidance (HA), extracted from the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), to evaluate the impact of this personality feature on ‘emotional’ amygdala responses. HA is related to behavioral inhibition and it implies a genetically determined bias towards being cautious, apprehensive and overly pessimistic. Because emotional valence and arousal may be controlled by different neural systems, the positively and negatively valenced baby faces were selected to be equal in arousal levels. Viewing blocks of negatively valenced baby faces evoked bilateral amygdala activity, whereas viewing positively valenced ones resulted in left amygdala activity only. Globally, we found no evidence of lateralized amygdala specialization. When taking into account individual differences in HA, only in female subjects who score high on this dimension did we find predominantly left amygdala activation when viewing blocks of negatively valenced baby faces. HA did not influence amygdala activity when processing positively valenced images. Our results might indicate that personality features, such as HA, could be of importance in ‘emotional’ fMRI paradigms examining amygdala lateralization patterns.

Mucosa Z-plasty for Correction of Transverse Facial Cleft

The aim of this study was to explore a new method for transverse facial cleft correction to improve dynamic outcome. In accordance with the traditional technique, we used another Z-plasty to reconstruct a commissure to obtain cosmetic outcome. The contour of the baby's face was repaired, which is better than that achieved by the traditional technique. Z-plasty is an ideal technique for transverse facial cleft correction.

This Side of Despair: How the Movies and American Life Intersected during the Great Depression (review)

Reviewed by: This Side of Despair: How the Movies and American Life Intersected during the Great Depression Anne Morey Philip Hanson, This Side of Despair: How the Movies and American Life Intersected during the Great Depression. Madison, N. J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2008. 247 pp. $53.50 (cloth). American film of the 1930s is so dynamic, and so different from the films of the decades that preceded and followed it, that film scholars perennially seek to explain its particular flavor. Major technological changes, such as the coming of sound in 1927, and significant institutional changes, such as the advent and strengthening of the Production Code between 1930 and 1934, lie ready to hand as possible sources of singularity. Above all, it would seem, is the Sturm und Drang of the decade itself. The Great Depression; the gathering of the forces of fascism; the Popular Front; the larger than life characters of, say, Huey Long and Al Capone, whose stand-ins populate films of the decade, often cracking wise in a vernacular more lively than any found in American popular culture before or since—all clearly help to explain why films of the 1930s seem so important and so entertaining even now. Yet, as Philip Hanson’s This Side of Despair suggests, it is very hard to account for the forest rather than the trees when writing about the cinematic production of this decade. There is almost always too much, too many films to account for, too much political detail, too much already remarkably sage analysis of popular culture produced in the decade under study. Commanding all of this detail and producing an argument that shapes the moment into something coherent is a great deal to ask, and, alas, the unquestionably erudite author of This Side of Despair doesn’t supply the book that would integrate the cases with a thesis. While the book is appealingly written, the argument never rises above a kind of thick description that leaves the reader with a series of commonplaces, such as that 1930s films were preoccupied with the theme of turning people into money, or that film noir of the 1940s cast its shadow before it in the final half of the 1930s. This failure to produce an argument is a pity inasmuch as the author controls a great deal of information that is frequently excluded from books and articles on the films of this decade. The book is much better informed on the political landscape than many produced by film scholars, for example, and films that almost never attract scholarly attention, such as Three-Cornered Moon and Back in Circulation, are part of useful discussions here. Yet for all the potentially new context the book offers, it does not mobilize these resources to produce new conclusions or shift the emphases in productive ways. Indeed, one of the more disappointing features of the book is its tendency to gesture at big ideas (people into money, for example) without grappling with the most relevant literature on the films at stake. It is hard to discuss the fallen woman film without acknowledging Richard Maltby’s work on Baby Face and the Production Code generally, and Lauren Berlant and others have produced work on Imitation of Life that needs to be deployed and examined here. The book contains eight chapters that are more or less focused on the dominant genres of the decade (the fallen woman film, the war film, the screwball comedy or the romantic comedy more generally, the city film or the proto-film [End Page 225] noir, and the newspaper film, among others) along with discussions of films harder to characterize generically, such as those dealing with race in some way either at home or abroad. While the chapter titles don’t indicate the genres to be discussed, and genre is by itself not a stated preoccupation, it forms the essential matrix of the analyses of films. The decision to use genre as a means of organization without considering more overtly the consequences of that choice has three unfortunate results: there is a recursive quality to the book, in which films examined in one context reappear in another with no acknowledgment of the...

Cradling side preference is associated with lateralized processing of baby facial expressions in females

Women’s cradling side preference has been related to contralateral hemispheric specialization of processing emotional signals; but not of processing baby’s facial expression. Therefore, 46 nulliparous female volunteers were characterized as left or non-left holders (HG) during a doll holding task. During a signal detection task they were then asked to detect the emotional baby faces in a series of baby portraits with neutral and emotional facial expressions, presented either to the left or the right visual field (VFP). ANOVA revealed a significant HG × VFP interaction on response bias data ( p < .05). Response bias was lowest when emotional baby faces were presented in the visual field of cradling side preference, suggesting that women’s cradling side preference may have evolved to save cognitive resources during monitoring emotional baby face signals.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes (review)

Reviewed by: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes Jeanette Hulick Fox, Mem Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes; illus. by Helen Oxenbury. Harcourt, 200840p ISBN 978-0-15-206057-2 $16.00 Ad 6-24 mos. A multicultural assortment of babies parades across the pages of this picture book, each of them with the requisite "ten little fingers and ten little toes," despite whatever cultural or racial differences they may possess. Each iteration of the nursery-rhyme-like text begins with a pairing of babies ("There was one little baby who was born far away// And another who was born on the very next day"), always united by their shared number of digits. The last baby described is the narrator's own, who not only has ten little fingers and toes, but also "three little kisses on the tip of its nose," inviting some sweet parent/child snuggling. The story is pleasant enough, but it's rather banal, and its length and viewpoint are likelier to please adults than little ones. Oxenbury's watercolor babies, however, retain their usual cozy and individual charm. A range of skin tones and dress (or undress) is depicted, and little ones will likely enjoy looking at the attractive, smiling baby faces. Global Babies (with basic text and bright photos of babies around the world) or Oxenbury's classic board-book collection (All Fall Down, Tickle Tickle, both BCCB 11/87, etc.) offer more engaging texts with a similar multicultural appeal, but this would be fine for a parent-baby lap session or a baby storytime. Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Beyond Fear

There is much empirical evidence for modulation of attention by negative -- particularly fear-relevant -- emotional stimuli. This modulation is often explained in terms of a fear module. Appraisal theories of emotion posit a more general mechanism, predicting attention capture by stimuli that are relevant for the needs and goals of the organism, regardless of valence. To examine the brain-activation patterns underlying attentional modulation, we recorded event-related potentials from 20 subjects performing a dot-probe task in which the cues were fear-inducing and nurturance-inducing stimuli (i.e., anger faces and baby faces). Highly similar validity modulation was found for the P1 time-locked to target onset, indicating early attentional capture by both positive and negative emotional stimuli. Topographic segmentation analysis and source localization indicate that the same amplification process is involved whether attention orienting is triggered by negative, fear-relevant stimuli or positive, nurturance-relevant stimuli. These results confirm that biological relevance, and not exclusively fear, produces an automatic spatial orienting toward the location of a stimulus.

Baby! Baby! (review)

Reviewed by Deborah Stevenson Ceelen, Vicky, illus. Baby! Baby!; illus. with photographs by Vicky Ceelen. Random House, 2008 22p; ISBN 978-0-375-84207-8 $6.99 Ad 6-24 mos. Babies' taste for looking at baby faces is widely known, and Ceelen indulges that inclination and takes it a step farther, with each spread in this wordless board book paralleling a photo of a baby with a photo of an animal in a similar pose. Some of the comparisons are more geared to adult than baby appeal (infants aren't likely to see the humor in the similarity between a frog's shape seen from above and a baby sprawled out on its stomach), and some images (such as the up-close face of a turtle) may be difficult for tinies to recognize, with the vacillation between black-and-white and color additionally confusing the situation. Many of the comparisons, though, are apt and inviting—a sacked-out kitten sprawls with careless paws just like the sleeping human baby opposite; a young ape sucks its fingers busily, just like the facing baby—and the multiracial cast of babies is expressive and enticing in its own right. Pictures are attractively inset into colored pages, with the human babies mostly shot against white backgrounds for additional clarity. Older kids with new sibs may also enjoy the beastly reflections, while little ones just beginning to focus on pages will likely want to get their paws on this.

With an Unintended Pregnancy, Both Mother and Baby Face Greater Risks

With an Unintended Pregnancy, Both Mother and Baby Face Greater Risks

Development of preference for baby faces across species in humans (Homo sapiens)

Previous studies have revealed that there is a close relationship between the strength of an infant’s baby schema and the degree of its perceived cuteness. The present study investigated the development of preference for baby schema in humans by examining the recognition of the cuteness of baby faces; two studies were conducted to examine whether children’s evaluation of cuteness differed from that of adults. Facial photographs not only of humans (Homo sapiens), but a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), dogs (Canis familiaris) and cats (Felis sylvestris catus) at different ages were used as stimuli. The volunteers were requested to rank these photographs in order of cuteness. Study 1 suggested that there was a range of period during which adults perceived the faces of these five species to be the cutest. Study 2 indicated that children’s judgment of cuteness closely corresponded to that of the adults. In conclusion, the preference for baby schema is observed in humans even before they get to be sexually mature enough to reproduce. Childhood preference for baby schema might be the basis of social learning, including caretaking behaviors.

1178: Three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) in small parts

Unfortunately, most people still tend to believe that 3DUS is only about getting nice and amazing pictures of baby faces, legs or genitalia. It is precisely this belief and lack of information what has driven us to present to you a set of some different and updated applications that have proved to be useful as well as a range of other feasible and promising uses of this outstanding technology, not only in the already known applications in obstetrics and gynecology, but also in the rest of the medical specialties.