Women who were mothers are more likely to represent faces in objects.

New research shows that women who have just become mothers more sensitive to the experience of pareidolia. That is, they tend to see faces in objects more easily than other people. For example, imagine the scissors as two large eyes on top of an aquiline nose. Or a tape with a long face and two very round eyes. You can even see faces in the coffee foam. This can happen to anyone. We have all experienced this to a greater or lesser extent. But why are there more of them than others?

The authors of this study are from University of Queenslanddecided to analyze this phenomenon after becoming convinced that many women said that they experienced a lot of pareidolia during this period of their lives.

For this reason, they assembled a group of volunteers who were located in three different states: pregnant, recently given birth, or none. They were then shown pictures of human faces or objects that were more or less prone to pareidolia and were forced to rate them. from 0 to 10, where 0 is the maximum distance from a human face, and 10 is with full confidence that there is a face in the image. The results were consistent with what they already suspected, so they already began to hypothesize what the reason might be.

What is pareidolia for?

Although it may seem nonsensical, pareidolia can also have evolutionary explanation.

This conclusion was reached by many scientists who previously studied this phenomenon. And our ancestors needed easy to recognize the animal’s face which can attack them or become food. Whether he was in the weeds or in complete darkness, the most minimal facial features they had to be interpreted.

Thus, the brain has developed the ability to find these features even where they did not come from. It’s better to choose more than less.

It has persisted to this day as something we all experience to a greater or lesser extent, even when we are babies. In fact, a study published in 2015 found that children 8 or 10 months They are already experiencing pareidolia. They could not speak to explain what they saw. Therefore, they were shown images of objects that, given a certain orientation, could look like faces. After this, a series of vocalization-like sounds were heard and most of the children were seen looking at what would be the object’s mouth.

Therefore, this is what accompanies us, peculiar to the human species. But this does not happen the same for all people. It has been seen to be more common in certain conditions, such as some neurodegenerative diseases. And we now know that in healthy people, the disease may be more common at certain stages of life, such as after the birth of a child.

Why do new mothers see faces everywhere?

The study authors believe that the key to success lies in oxytocin. This hormone is released during childbirth to ease contractions, and also afterward because it helps strengthen the bond between mother and baby. It is known as the love hormone precisely because it is involved in the formation of attachment at all levels, starting with maternal filial even romantic couples.

It also appears that oxytocin, along with other hormones, is associated with the brain changes that mothers experience. And there are endless new abilities which are acquired immediately after birth. For example, mothers are much more sensitive to waking up when their baby cries. They even become addicted to the smell of their children.

It’s no surprise that they also purchase opportunity to find your child with the same desire with which our ancestors searched for animals in the darkness. They must be very sensitive to the figure of their children and this is achieved by a greater ability to find faces even where there are none.

This may be why pareidolia is so common after childbirth. There may be other reasons, but this one seems quite plausible. Another reason why mothers become superheroes from the moment they hear their baby’s first cry. These are not superpowers, they are the science.