Unnikrishnan, MK (2012) Koinophilia revisited: the evolutionary link between mate selection and face recognition. CURRENT SCIENCE, 102 (4). pp. 563-570. ISSN 0011-3891

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Abstract

Previous reports suggest that average faces are attractive, and that humans innately recognize and appreciate the attractiveness in the average face. The exception report model of face recognition employs the koinophilic fittest (modal) face for efficient and rapid recognition of conspecifics. The closeness of a face to the modal face is a measure of its attractiveness, whereas the departures from it are a measure of its ugliness and individuality. The ‘fusiform face area’ on the inferior surface of the temporal lobes of the brain might evaluate both the beauty and individuality of a face in a single, efficient and an evolutionarily well-honed operation.

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