Postpartum women are more likely to see “faces” in inanimate objects – study
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Scientists have found that after giving birth, women are more prone to pareidolia (when a person notices human faces in everyday objects) than others. The reason for this may be an increase in the level of oxytocin in new mothers, according to Live Science. Pareidolia is an optical illusion in which a person sees a face in inanimate objects, such as a bear’s face on Mars, Jesus’ face on toast, or a face on a socket. Scientists from the University of Queensland in Australia are sure that if a woman has just given birth, she is more prone to such visual illusions. You see a human face on this stump – this phenomenon is called pareidolia. Photo: Melinda Podor/GettyImages The study was published in the journal Biology Letters. 380 women took part in it, about two-fifths of whom were pregnant or had given birth in the past year. The researchers showed all the participants a certain set of images that could resemble faces. “We found that postpartum women rated objects with illusory faces as ‘more face-like’ than pregnant and non-pregnant women,” said lead study author Jessica Taubert, a psychologist at the University of Queensland in Australia. Susceptibility to facial pareidolia is modulated by the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT), scientists say. The team hypothesized that during life stages associated with high levels of endogenous oxytocin, people may be more prone to facial pareidolia. This hypothesis was tested on two groups of women: pregnant (low level of endogenous OT) and women in the postpartum period (high level of endogenous OT). “We found evidence that postpartum women are more likely to report facial pareidolia than women who are currently pregnant. This evidence suggests that our sensitivity to face-like patterns is not fixed and may change throughout adulthood “, says the study. At the same time, scientists say that additional research is needed on this issue. We will remind, earlier experts explained how and when to make love in order to get pregnant. Read also: Women are not more emotional than men. Scientists refuted the widespread stereotype
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