Do domestic chicks have innate ability to recognise faces?

Multiple behavioural studies have suggested that face selectivity might be an inborn feature of the brain. Both newborn human babies and newly hatched domestic chicks that have never seen faces before show spontaneous attraction toward face-like stimuli composed of three dark features representing eyes and a mouth/beak. Researchers uncovered a population of neurons that respond to a face-like visual stimulus, which consisted of two eyes and a beak, in one-week-old chicks that were not previously exposed to faces. By recording single-cell neural responses to face-like stimuli in young face-naïve domestic chicks the researchers revealed a population of neurons selectively responding to a canonical face-like configuration, compared to alternative configurations or isolated facial features. The findings suggest that face-responsive neurons in the brain of young chicks may be innate and emerge in young domestic chicks, and potentially other animals, without any previous face exposure. 

Published - September 28, 2024 09:05 pm IST