Infants prefer a trustworthy person: An early sign of social cognition in infants.

Recently, various studies have clarified that humans can immediately make social evaluations from facial appearance and that such judgment have an important role in several social contexts. However, the origins and early development of this skill have not been well investigated. To clarify the mechanisms for the acquisition of this skill, we examined whether 6- to 8-month-old infants show a preference for a more trustworthy-looking person. Results showed that infants preferred a trustworthy face to an untrustworthy one when both faces were high in dominance. This difference was not seen when both faces were low in dominance. Moreover, this preference disappeared when the faces were upside down. These findings suggest that the perception of trustworthiness based on facial appearance emerges in early development with little social experience. Further research is needed to verify whether infants also perceive other traits, such as competence

Differences in the Pattern of Hemodynamic Response to Self-Face and Stranger-Face Images in Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa: A Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Study.

There have been no reports concerning the self-face perception in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). The purpose of this study was to compare the neuronal correlates of viewing self-face images (i.e. images of familiar face) and stranger-face images (i.e. images of an unfamiliar face) in female adolescents with and without AN. We used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure hemodynamic responses while the participants viewed full-color photographs of self-face and stranger-face. Fifteen females with AN (mean age, 13.8 years) and 15 age- and intelligence quotient (IQ)-matched female controls without AN (mean age, 13.1 years) participated in the study. The responses to photographs were compared with the baseline activation (response to white uniform blank). In the AN group, the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) significantly increased in the right temporal area during the presentation of both the self-face and stranger-face images compared with the baseline level. In contrast, in the control group, the concentration of oxy-Hb significantly increased in the right temporal area only during the presentation of the self-face image. To our knowledge the present study is the first report to assess brain activities during self-face and stranger-face perception among female adolescents with AN. There were different patterns of brain activation in response to the sight of the self-face and stranger-face images in female adolescents with AN and controls