The Game of Thrones television series is helping psychologists to understand how the brain recognises faces.
The research, at the University of York, suggests that our ability to recognise people relies on what we know about them, not just what they look like.
It also providing fresh insights into a condition called prosopagnosia which impairs facial recognition for around one in 50 people.
As part of the study, the brains of 70 people were scanned as they watched footage from Game of Thrones.
“Half of the participants were familiar with the show’s famously complex lead characters and the other half had never seen the series,” the University of York study report said.
“When lead characters appeared on screen, MRI scans showed that in neurotypical participants who were familiar with the characters, brain activity increased in regions of the brain associated with non-visual knowledge about the characters, such as who they are and what we know about them.”
For people with prosopagnosia, the brain effect of familiarity was not evident in the same regions of the brain found in other participants. The connections between the visual and non-visual regions were also reduced for those with face blindness.
Senior study author Professor Tim Andrews said facial recognition was essential for daily life and social interactions.
People who struggled to recognise faces could struggle with relationships, leading to mental health issues and social anxiety.
“We were really excited to see the results of our study as they suggest that our ability to recognise faces relies on what we know about people, not just what they look like,” Professor Andrews said.
“While it was believed that we recognise faces by learning their visual properties – such as features, configuration, and texture – our study indicates that it involves connecting a face with knowledge about the person, including their character traits, body language, our personal experiences with them, and our feelings towards them.”
The researchers chose to show participants footage from Game of Thrones because of its international appeal and the multitude of well-developed lead characters.
The full report is on the University of York website.
