记住并分辨人的长相是我们每天都要使用的能力，有的人见一面就可以记住别人的长相。一项最新研究显示，这种识别长相的能力与基因有关，是天生和可遗传的。
英国伦敦大学学院等机构的研究人员在新一期美国《国家科学院院刊》（PNAS）上报告说，对164对同卵双胞胎和125对异卵但同性别双胞胎进行脸谱记忆测试的结果显示，同卵双胞胎的成绩相关度远远高于异卵双胞胎的成绩相关度。
由于同卵双胞胎的基因完全相同，异卵双胞胎的基因不完全相同，而异卵同性别双胞胎的后天生活环境又高度相似，研究人员由此推论辨认相貌的能力与基因有关。参与研究的布拉德迪谢纳说，这一结果显示辨认相貌的能力是可以遗传的，下一步可确定哪些基因与大脑的这种认知能力有关。
在研究中，受试者还接受了记忆词语和分辨抽象画的测试，结果显示这两种认知能力与辨认相貌的能力关系不大，辨认相貌的能力很可能来自大脑中的一套独立机制。
英文原文出处及摘要：
Human face recognition ability is specific and highly heritable
Jeremy B. Wilmera,1, Laura Germineb, Christopher F. Chabrisc, Garga Chatterjeeb, Mark Williamsd, Eric Lokene, Ken Nakayamab, and Bradley Duchainef
+ Author Affiliations
aDepartment of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02481;
bDepartment of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
cDepartment of Psychology, Union College, Schenectady, NY 12308;
dMacquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia;
eDepartment of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802; and
fInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
Edited by Nancy G. Kanwisher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and approved January 5, 2010 (received for review November 15, 2009)
Abstract
Compared with notable successes in the genetics of basic sensory transduction, progress on the genetics of higher level perception and cognition has been limited. We propose that investigating specific cognitive abilities with well-defined neural substrates, such as face recognition, may yield additional insights. In a twin study of face recognition, we found that the correlation of scores between monozygotic twins (0.70) was more than double the dizygotic twin correlation (0.29), evidence for a high genetic contribution to face recognition ability. Low correlations between face recognition scores and visual and verbal recognition scores indicate that both face recognition ability itself and its genetic basis are largely attributable to face-specific mechanisms. The present results therefore identify an unusual phenomenon: a highly specific cognitive ability that is highly heritable. Our results establish a clear genetic basis for face recognition, opening this intensively studied and socially advantageous cognitive trait to genetic investigation.
