Posts Tagged ‘genes’

Are you one of those people who never forgets a face? Well, it seems that the credit for your ability (or lack of ability) may go to your genes. In the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences new research results show that there’s a clear genetic basis for higher level perception and cognitive abilities such as facial recognition. By comparing groups of twins, scientists found that identical twins (who share 100% of their genetic material) were more than twice as likely to share the same competence level in recognizing faces, compared to non-identical twins (who share 50% of their genetic material). “We are excited about this finding because the brain mechanisms carrying out face recognition are fairly well understood, meaning that the high heritability of face recognition could provide a good opportunity to connect genes to brain mechanism and then to behavior,” said lead author, Dr. Brad Duchaine. [via PNAS]

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Edna Parker of Shelbyville, Indiana, who became the world’s oldest person more than a year ago, has died at the age of 115.  UCLA gerontologist Dr. Stephen Coles keeps a list of the world’s oldest people and said Parker was the 14th oldest supercentenarian in history. Maria de Jesus of Portugal, born Sept. 10, 1893, is now the world’s oldest living person. Research has shown that children of parents that live to be 100 or more also live longer and have less risk of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. However, good genes won’t necessarily get you past 100 on their own, but it certainly helps. Friends and family say Edna walked a lot and always stayed active, even after moving into a nursing home at age 100 where she, coincidentally, lived with 7-foot-7 Sandy Allen, who is recognized by Guinness as the world’s tallest woman until her death this past August.

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