Specific Facial Features Research Articles

(Eye-) Tracking the Other-Race Effect: Comparison of Eye Movements During Encoding and Recognition of Ingroup Faces With Proximal and Distant Outgroup Faces

People experience difficulties recognizing faces of ethnic outgroups, known as the other-race effect. The present eye-tracking study investigates if this effect is related to differences in visual attention to ingroup and outgroup faces. We measured gaze fixations to specific facial features and overall eye-movement activity level during an old/new recognition task comparing ingroup faces with proximal and distal ethnic outgroup faces. Recognition was best for ingroup faces and decreased gradually for proximal and distal outgroup faces. Participants attended more to the eyes of ingroup faces than outgroup faces, but this effect was unrelated to recognition performance. Ingroup-outgroup differences in eye-movement activity level did not emerge during the study phase, but during the recognition phase, with ingroup-outgroup differences varying as a function of recognition accuracy and old/new effects. Overall, ingroup-outgroup effects on recognition performance and eye movements were more pronounced for recognition of new items, emphasizing the role of retrieval processes.

Gauging facial feature viewing preference as a stable individual trait in autism spectrum disorder.

Eye tracking provides insights into social processing deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially in conjunction with dynamic, naturalistic free-viewing stimuli. However, the question remains whether gaze characteristics, such as preference for specific facial features, can be considered a stable individual trait, particularly in those with ASD. If so, how much data are needed for consistent estimations? To address these questions, we assessed the stability and robustness of gaze preference for facial features as incremental amounts of movie data were introduced for analysis. We trained an artificial neural network to create an object-based segmentation of naturalistic movie clips (14 s each, 7410 frames total). Thirty-three high-functioning individuals with ASD and 36 age- and IQ-equated typically developing individuals (age range: 12-30 years) viewed 22 Hollywood movie clips, each depicting a social interaction. As we evaluated combinations of one, three, five, eight, and 11 movie clips, gaze dwell times on core facial features became increasingly stable at within-subject, within-group, and between-group levels. Using a number of movie clips deemed sufficient by our analysis, we found that individuals with ASD displayed significantly less face-centered gaze (centralized on the nose; p < 0.001) but did not significantly differ from typically developing participants in eye or mouth looking times. Our findings validate gaze preference for specific facial features as a stable individual trait and highlight the possibility of misinterpretation with insufficient data. Additionally, we propose the use of a machine learning approach to stimuli segmentation to quickly and flexibly prepare dynamic stimuli for analysis. LAY SUMMARY: Using a data-driven approach to segmenting movie stimuli, we examined varying amounts of data to assess the stability of social gaze in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We found a reduction in social fixations in participants with ASD, driven by decreased attention to the center of the face. Our findings further support the validity of gaze preference for face features as a stable individual trait when sufficient data are used.

Γλωσσικά και γνωστικά ελλείμματα στο σύνδρομο Sotos: μια μελέτη περίπτωσης

Sotos syndrome is a genetic disorder of mental retardation characterized by specific facial characteristics, overgrowth in childhood, cognitive impairment and speech and language difficulties. In this paper, we report on a single case study of a female adolescent, TK, aged 15;9 diagnosed with Sotos syndrome. The main goal was to investigate her phonological short-term memory abilities as well as her visuospatial memory abilities and language abilities. We employed the following tests: (a) Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales (Greek edition) (Raven et al., 2003/2004), (b) Renfrew Word Finding Vocabulary Test – Greek edition (Vogindroukas et al., 2009), (c) Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test –Special Edition (Greek edition) (Simos et al., 2012), (d) Action Picture Test – Greek edition (Vogindroukas et al., 2011), and (e) Bezevegis et al.’s (2008) memory test. The most profound deficiencies were observed in expressive vocabulary and pragmatic/communicative skills, while difficulties were also found in verbal short-term memory. Deficiencies were also observed in verbal and non-verbal IQ in agreement with previous findings (Cole &amp; Hughes, 1994. de Boer et al., 2004. Finegan et al., 1994). TK’s performance on visuospatial sketchpad was slightly better compared to the results obtained through the other tests. We discuss the clinical implications of our findings.

Imaging Diagnosis of Lateral Meningocele Syndrome

Lateral meningocele syndrome, also known as Lehman syndrome, is an exceptionally uncommon genetic disorder, which is characterized by specific facial features and multisystem involvement, including skeletal, cardiac, and urogenital anomalies, akin to other connective tissue disorders, but it is set apart by the unique occurrence of multiple lateral meningoceles. Knowledge of the distinctive imaging features can strongly suggest the diagnosis in patients with complex clinical presentations to assist in the guidance of appropriate and timely clinical management.

Genotype-Phenotype Analysis of 8q24.3 Duplication and 21q22.3 Deletion in a Chinese Patient and Literature Review

Introduction: Copy number variants (CNVs) are responsible for many patients with short stature of unknown etiology. This study aims to analyze clinical phenotypes and identify pathogenic CNVs in a patient with short stature, intellectual disability, craniofacial deformities, and anal imperforation. Methods: G-banded karyotyping and chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) was used on the patient to identify pathogenic causes. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was applied to explore the abnormal genetic origin. Literatures were searched using identified CNVs as keywords in the PubMed database to perform genotype-phenotype analysis. Results: Cytogenetic analysis revealed a normal karyotype 46,XY. CMA detected a 6.1 Mb duplication at 8q24.3 and a 3.6 Mb deletion at 21q22.3. FISH confirmed that the abnormal chromosomes were inherited from paternal balanced translocation. We compared phenotypes of our patient with 6 patients with 8q24.3 duplication and 7 cases with 21q22.3 deletion respectively. Conclusions: A novel 8q24.3 duplication and 21q22.3 deletion was identified in a Chinese patient. Genotype-phenotype analysis demonstrated that patients with 8q24.3 duplication and 21q22.3 deletion had specific facial features, intellectual disability, short stature, and multiple malformations.

Realism of the face lies in skin and eyes: Evidence from virtual and human agents

Despite advancements in computer graphics and artificial intelligence, it remains unclear which aspects of intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) make them identifiable as human-like agents. In three experiments and a computational study, we investigated which specific facial features in static IVAs contribute to judging them human-like. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with facial images of state-of-the-art IVAs and humans and asked to rate these stimuli on human-likeness. The results showed that IVAs were judged less human-like compared to photographic images of humans, which led to the hypothesis that the discrepancy in human-likeness was driven by skin and eye reflectance. A follow-up computational analysis confirmed this hypothesis, showing that the faces of IVAs had smoother skin and a reduced number of corneal reflections than human faces. In Experiment 2, we validated these findings by systematically manipulating the appearance of skin and eyes in a set of human photographs, including both female and male faces as well as four different races. Participants indicated as quickly as possible whether the image depicted a real human face or not. The results showed that smoothening the skin and removing corneal reflections affected the perception of human-likeness when quick perceptual decisions needed to be made. Finally, in Experiment 3, we combined the images of IVA faces and those of humans, unaltered and altered, and asked participants to rate them on human-likeness. The results confirmed the causal role of both features for attributing human-likeness. Both skin and eye reflectance worked in tandem in driving judgements regarding the extent to which the face was perceived human-like in both IVAs and humans. These findings are of relevance to computer graphics artists and psychology researchers alike in drawing attention to those facial characteristics that increase realism in IVAs.

Decoding of facial expressions of pain in avatars: does sex matter?

The decoding of facial expressions of pain plays a crucial role in pain diagnostic and clinical decision making. For decoding studies, it is necessary to present facial expressions of pain in a flexible and controllable fashion. Computer models (avatars) of human facial expressions of pain allow for systematically manipulating specific facial features. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether avatars can show realistic facial expressions of pain and how the sex of the avatars influence the decoding of pain by human observers. For that purpose, 40 female (mean age: 23.9 years) and 40 male (mean age: 24.6 years) observers watched 80 short videos showing computer-generated avatars, who presented the five clusters of facial expressions of pain (four active and one stoic cluster) identified by Kunz and Lautenbacher (2014). After each clip, observers were asked to provide ratings for the intensity of pain the avatars seem to experience and the certainty of judgement, i.e. if the shown expression truly represents pain. Results show that three of the four active facial clusters were similarly accepted as valid expressions of pain by the observers whereas only one cluster ("raised eyebrows") was disregarded. The sex of the observed avatars influenced the decoding of pain as indicated by increased intensity and elevated certainty ratings for femaleavatars. The assumption of different valid facial expressions of pain could be corroborated in avatars, which contradicts the idea of only one uniform pain face. The observers' rating of the avatars' pain was influenced by the avatars' sex, which resembles known observer biases for humans. The use of avatars appeared to be a suitable method in research on the decoding of the facial expression of pain, mirroring closely the known forms of human facial expressions.

A Japanese boy with NAA10-related syndrome and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

NAA10-related syndrome is an extremely rare X-chromosomal disorder, the symptoms of which include intellectual disability (ID), ocular anomalies, or congenital heart diseases, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Here, we describe a 4-year-old Japanese male patient who exhibited mild ID, HCM, and specific facial features. A hemizygous mutation (NM_003491.3: c.455_458del, p. Thr152Argfs*6) in exon 7 of NAA10 was detected. We recommend that patients undergo precise medical follow-up considering the characteristics of NAA10-related syndrome.

Dual molecular diagnosis of tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome type I and Okur-Chung neurodevelopmental syndrome in one Chinese patient: a case report

BackgroundOkur-Chung neurodevelopmental syndrome (OCNDS) and tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome type I (TRPSI) are rare Mendelian diseases. OCNDS is caused by CSNK2A1 gene variants and TRPSI is caused by the TRPS1gene. However, to have two Mendelian diseases in one patient is even rarer.Case presentationA 6-year-10-month-old boy characterized by special facial features, short stature and mental retardation was referred to our pediatric endocrinology department. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was done to detect the molecular basis of his disease. This patient was confirmed to carry two variants in the CSNK2A1 gene and one in the TRPS1 gene. The variant in the CSNK2A1 gene was vertically transmitted from his father, and the variant in TRPS1 gene from his mother. These two variants are classified as pathogenic and the causes of the presentation in this child. This patient’s father and mother have subsequently been diagnosed as having OCNDS and TRPSI respectively.ConclusionThis is the first reported case of a dual molecular diagnosis of tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome type I and Okur-Chung neurodevelopmental syndrome in the same patient. This patient is the first published example of vertical transmission of this recurrent CSN2A1 variant from parent to child. A novel variant in the TRPS1 gene that is pathogenic was also identified. In conclusion, identification of the variants in this patient expands the phenotypes and molecular basis of dual Mendelian diseases.

A study on facial features of children with Williams syndrome in China based on three-dimensional anthropometric measurement technology.

To describe special facial features of children with Williams syndrome in China by using method of three-dimensional craniofacial anthropometry. Using three-dimensional stereo photogrammetric device, 14 craniofacial anthropometric measurements were performed and five indices were calculated in 52 children with Williams syndrome and 208 age and sex matched controls of Han Chinese ethnicity. Except intercanthal width, mouth breadth, morphological face height, nasal height-breadth index, nasal breadth-depth index, morphological ear index, the Williams syndrome group under 3 years old were smaller than the control group in the other 12 variables. Compared with the control group, the Williams syndrome group aged 3-5 years old had smaller biocular breadth, nasal length, nasorostral angle, bitragal breadth, ear width, morphological ear index and face depth. The Williams syndrome group aged above 6 years old had smaller biocular breadth, nasal breadth, bitragal breadth, ear width, ear length and face depth than the control group. The craniofacial variability index of the Williams syndrome group was greater than the control group. Greater variation was found among children with Williams syndrome than normal in China, specifically at eye, nose, ear and face shape, which demonstrate the usefulness of three-dimensional stereo photogrammetric analysis in supporting accurate diagnose of the patient with Williams syndrome.

Pure 9p duplication syndrome with aplasia of the middle phalanges of the fifth fingers

9p duplication syndrome is a common congenital anomaly syndrome with specific facial features, mental and developmental retardations, and characteristic fingers. Pure 9p duplication without other chromosomal structural variations is very rare. It has recently been reported that cases with partial 9p duplication including SMARCA2 have phenotypes overlapping with Coffin–Siris syndrome (CSS). Herein, we present a family with pure 9p duplication syndrome in which phenotypes partially characteristic of CSS were identified. In one of two siblings, X-ray examination revealed hypoplasia of the distal phalanges of the fifth fingers, aplasia of the middle phalanges of the fifth fingers, and aplasia of the distal phalanges of the second to fifth toes. In pure 9p duplication together with our one affected case, 9 out of 14 cases (64.3%), excluding cases whose clinical data were unavailable, presented the absence or hypoplasia of the middle phalanges of fingers or toes. Interestingly, there are no reports on CSS with aplasia or hypoplasia of the middle phalanx. Therefore, this family might suggest that the aplasia or hypoplasia of the middle phalanges of the fifth fingers or toes is a distinct finding that can distinguish between pure 9p duplication and CSS.

Bainbridge-ropers syndrome caused by loss-of-function variants in ASXL3: Clinical abnormalities, medical imaging features, and gene variation in infancy of case report

BackgroundBainbridge–Ropers syndrome (BRPS) is a recently described developmental disorder caused by de novo truncating mutations in the Additional sex combs-like 3 (ASXL3) gene. Only four cases have been reported in China and are limited to the analysis of its clinical abnormalities, medical imaging features and gene variation. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical phenotype, imaging manifestations and genetic characteristics of BPRS syndrome caused by ASXL3 gene mutation. Clinical data, medical imaging data and gene test results of BRPS in infant patients were retrospectively analyzed, and related literature was summarized.Case presentationAt the age of 8 months, brain MRI showed that the subarachnoid space of the forehead was widened, part of the sulci was deepened, and the corpus callosum was thin. The development quotient (DQ) was determined using the 0~6-year-old pediatric examination table of neuropsychological development at 6 months and 8 months. The DQ of both tests was less than 69. Whole-exome sequencing revealed a heterozygous frameshift mutation c.3493_3494deTG in exon 12 of the ASXL3 gene, resulting in the amino acid change p. (Cys1165Ter). No variation was present at this site in her parents. Sanger sequencing of family members validated this analysis, suggesting a de novo mutation. The de novo ASXL3 mutations generated stop codons and were predicted, in silico, to generate a truncated ASXL3.ConclusionsThe main clinical features of the patient included psychomotor development retardation, difficulty in feeding, hypotonia, and special facial features. MRI features showed that brain development lagged behind that of normal children. Genetic testing is helpful in the early diagnosis of BRPS.

MON-054 First Report of Monozygotic Twins with Russell Silver Syndrome in China: Recombinant Growth Hormone Therapy and 3-Year Observation

BACKGROUND: Russell Silver syndrome (RSS) is a rare genetic condition that includes an important index of suspicion when a child presents with hemihyperthrophy. There are more than 400 cases described in the literature, but twin pairs with RSS have rarely been reported. Up to now only six monozygotic twin pairs have been described [1]. However, this has not been reported in east Asian population yet. Clinical Case: A 4 years and 9 months old monozygotic twin girl with a history of growth retardation was admitted to our hospital. The first impression of the patient was: poor growth, specific facial features, asymmetry of the lower and upper limbs for length and width. Detailed physical examination revealed a small triangular face with prominent forehead, micrognathia, lips with downturned corners, and fifth finger clinodactyly on bothhands. On admission into our hospital, the examination measured a weight of 9.0 kg (-4.9SD) and a length of 88.4 cm (-5.2SD). Anthropometrically she was classified as second grade malnutrition according to World Health Organization (WHO) charts. By contrast, her twin sister was physically and anthropometrically normal.Intrauterine growth retardation, postnatal growth retardation, normal head circumference and asymmetry of the body were the major criteria that made the clinical diagnosis of Russell-Silver syndrome. Confirmation of Russell-Silver syndrome was made based on clinical findings, birth history and results of molecular genetic testing showed hypomethylation of the paternal imprinting center 1 (IC1) of chromosome 11p15.5.Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) was administered by subcutaneous injection once daily, in the evening, at a dose of 0.05 mg/ kg/day. The check-up visits in the outpatient were held every three months, and the following issues were evaluated: response to treatment, tolerability, and laboratory test results, with particular emphasis on carbohydrate metabolism and bone age progression. Currently, after 28 months of rhGH treatment, the girl has grown 18 cm, reaching a body height of 106.5 cm (-3.2SD, ΔHt SDSCA: 2SD). Her current weight is 14.1 kg (-2.9SD, ΔWt SDSCA: 2SD). So far, no serious adverse events have been observed. Conclusion: This is the first case of monozygotic twin with Russell Silver syndrome reported in east Asian population. The possibility of rhGH treatment can be considered in cases of documented GH deficiency in patients with Russell Silver syndrome, under close endocrinic supervision.

Line Drawings for Face Portraits From Photos Using Global and Local Structure Based GANs.

Despite significant effort and notable success of neural style transfer, it remains challenging for highly abstract styles, in particular line drawings. In this paper, we propose APDrawingGAN++, a generative adversarial network (GAN) for transforming face photos to artistic portrait drawings (APDrawings), which addresses substantial challenges including highly abstract style, different drawing techniques for different facial features, and high perceptual sensitivity to artifacts. To address these, we propose a composite GAN architecture that consists of local networks (to learn effective representations for specific facial features) and a global network (to capture the overall content). We provide a theoretical explanation for the necessity of this composite GAN structure by proving that any GAN with a single generator cannot generate artistic styles like APDrawings. We further introduce a classification-and-synthesis approach for lips and hair where different drawing styles are used by artists, which applies suitable styles for a given input. To capture the highly abstract art form inherent in APDrawings, we address two challenging operations-(1) coping with lines with small misalignments while penalizing large discrepancy and (2) generating more continuous lines-by introducing two novel loss terms: one is a novel distance transform loss with nonlinear mapping and the other is a novel line continuity loss, both of which improve the line quality. We also develop dedicated data augmentation and pre-training to further improve results. Extensive experiments, including a user study, show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art methods, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Epilepsy in the X-linked Syndromic Intellectual Disability, Christianson Type Resulted from c.584+1 G&gt;T SLC9A6 Variant

Christianson syndrome (CS) is an X-linked intellectual disorder caused by mutations in the SLC9A6 gene (Xq26 locus, XLD inheritance). It is characterized by specific facial and behavioral features, postnatal microcephaly, absent speech, truncal ataxia and epilepsy. We present a history of a 2, 5-year-old boy diagnosed with refractory epilepsy with polymorphic seizures (tonic-clonic, myoclonic, atypical absence and atonic seizures), diagnosed at the age of 15 months.

Face Adaptation and Face Priming as Tools for Getting Insights Into the Quality of Face Space.

During the recognition of faces, the incoming perceptual information is matched against mental representations of familiar faces stored in memory. Face space models describe an abstract concept of face representations and their mental organization, in which facial representations are located on various characteristic dimensions, depending on their specific facial characteristics. However, these models are defined just as incompletely as the general understanding of face recognition. We took two phenomena from face processing to better understand face recognition, and so the nature of face space: face adaptation and face priming. The face literature has mainly focused on face adaptation, largely neglecting face priming when trying to integrate outcomes regarding face recognition into the face space framework. Consequently, the present paper aims to review both phenomena and their contributions to face recognition, representation, and face space.

Immunopathological manifestations in Kabuki syndrome: a registry study of 177 individuals

PurposeKabuki syndrome (KS) (OMIM 147920 and 300867) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by specific facial features, intellectual disability, and various malformations. Immunopathological manifestations seem prevalent and increase the morbimortality. To assess the frequency and severity of the manifestations, we measured the prevalence of immunopathological manifestations as well as genotype–phenotype correlations in KS individuals from a registry. MethodsData were for 177 KS individuals with KDM6A or KMT2D pathogenic variants. Questionnaires to clinicians were used to assess the presence of immunodeficiency and autoimmune diseases both on a clinical and biological basis. ResultsOverall, 44.1% (78/177) and 58.2% (46/79) of KS individuals exhibited infection susceptibility and hypogammaglobulinemia, respectively; 13.6% (24/177) had autoimmune disease (AID; 25.6% [11/43] in adults), 5.6% (10/177) with ≥2 AID manifestations. The most frequent AID manifestations were immune thrombocytopenic purpura (7.3% [13/177]) and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (4.0% [7/177]). Among nonhematological manifestations, vitiligo was frequent. Immune thrombocytopenic purpura was frequent with missense versus other types of variants (p = 0.027). ConclusionThe high prevalence of immunopathological manifestations in KS demonstrates the importance of systematic screening and efficient preventive management of these treatable and sometimes life-threatening conditions.

Gain-of-Function MN1 Truncation Variants Cause a Recognizable Syndrome with Craniofacial and Brain Abnormalities

MN1 was originally identified as a tumor-suppressor gene. Knockout mouse studies have suggested that Mn1 is associated with craniofacial development. However, no MN1-related phenotypes have been established in humans. Here, we report on three individuals who have de novo MN1 variants that lead to a protein lacking the carboxyl (C) terminus and who presented with severe developmental delay, craniofacial abnormalities with specific facial features, and structural abnormalities in the brain. An invitro study revealed that the deletion of the C-terminal region led to increased protein stability, an inhibitory effect on cell proliferation, and enhanced MN1 aggregation in nuclei compared to what occurred in the wild type, suggesting that a gain-of-function mechanism is involved in this disease. Considering that C-terminal deletion increases the fraction of intrinsically disordered regions of MN1, it is possible that altered phase separation could be involved in the mechanism underlying the disease. Our data indicate that MN1 participates in transcriptional regulation of target genes through interaction with the transcription factors PBX1, PKNOX1, and ZBTB24 and that mutant MN1 impairs the binding with ZBTB24 and RING1, which is an E3 ubiquitin ligase. On the basis of our findings, we propose the model that C-terminal deletion interferes with MN1's interaction molecules related to the ubiquitin-mediated proteasome pathway, including RING1, and increases the amount of the mutant protein; this increase leads to the dysregulation of MN1 target genes by inhibiting rapid MN1 protein turnover.

The transcriptional coactivator and histone acetyltransferase CBP regulates neural precursor cell development and migration

CREB (cyclic AMP response element binding protein) binding protein (CBP, CREBBP) is a ubiquitously expressed transcription coactivator with intrinsic histone acetyltransferase (KAT) activity. Germline mutations within the CBP gene are known to cause Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RSTS), a developmental disorder characterized by intellectual disability, specific facial features and physical anomalies. Here, we investigate mechanisms of CBP function during brain development in order to elucidate morphological and functional mechanisms underlying the development of RSTS. Due to the embryonic lethality of conventional CBP knockout mice, we employed a tissue specific knockout mouse model (hGFAP-cre::CBPFl/Fl, mutant mouse) to achieve a homozygous deletion of CBP in neural precursor cells of the central nervous system.Our findings suggest that CBP plays a central role in brain size regulation, correct neural cell differentiation and neural precursor cell migration. We provide evidence that CBP is both important for stem cell viability within the ventricular germinal zone during embryonic development and for unhindered establishment of adult neurogenesis. Prominent histological findings in adult animals include a significantly smaller hippocampus with fewer neural stem cells. In the subventricular zone, we observe large cell aggregations at the beginning of the rostral migratory stream due to a migration deficit caused by impaired attraction from the CBP-deficient olfactory bulb. The cerebral cortex of mutant mice is characterized by a shorter dendrite length, a diminished spine number, and a relatively decreased number of mature spines as well as a reduced number of synapses.In conclusion, we provide evidence that CBP is important for neurogenesis, shaping neuronal morphology, neural connectivity and that it is involved in neuronal cell migration. These findings may help to understand the molecular basis of intellectual disability in RSTS patients and may be employed to establish treatment options to improve patients’ quality of life.

Effects of Baby Schema and Mere Exposure on Explicit and Implicit Face Processing.

In an increasingly multicultural society, the way people perceive individuals from the same vs different ethnic groups greatly affects their own and societal well-being. Two psychological effects that influence these perceptions are the Mere-Exposure Effect (MRE), wherein familiarity with certain objects or persons suffices for people to develop a preference for them, and the Baby Schema (BS), a set of specific facial features that evokes caregiving behaviors and an affective orientation in adults. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether these two effects play a role in implicit physiological responses to babies vs. adults faces belonging to participants in-group vs. out-group. In study 1, the pupillary diameter of 62 Caucasian participants (M = 31; F = 31) who observed adult and infant faces of different ethnic groups (Caucasian, Chinese) was measured. In study 2, brain waves of 38 Caucasian participants (M = 19; F = 19), who observed the same set of faces, were recorded using EEG. In both studies, adults explicit preferences (i.e., attitudes) toward faces were assessed using questionnaires. In Study 1, females showed greater attention to infant than adult faces (BS effect) in both pupils, regardless of the ethnic group of the face. By contrast, males attended to infant more than adult faces for out-group faces only (BS effect). In Study 2, greater left posterior-parietal alpha activation toward out-group compared to in-group adult faces was found in males (MRE). Participants with a low BS effect toward in-group baby faces exhibited greater left posterior alpha activation to out-group than in-group baby faces (MRE). These findings reveal how different levels of sensitivity to in-group infants may moderate perceptions of both in-group and out-group baby faces. Questionnaire measures on attitudes showed that males and females preferred in-group to out-group adult faces (MRE). Participants in Study 2 also reported a greater preference for infants than adults faces (BS effect). These findings explicate the roles of gender and the Baby Schema effect in moderating implicit processing of in-group and out-group faces, despite their lack in moderating explicit reports. Contradictory findings at the implicit (physiological) and explicit (self-report) levels suggest that differential processing of faces may occur at a non-conscious level.