Twins study shows genetic basis for face and place r...(marily learned through experience Polk s...),Health

But in the face and house categories, the scientists saw a different story. The neural pathways used to process these images were more similar in identical than fraternal twins. This suggests that genes play a significant role in this type of brain function. Identical twins are genetic copies of one another. Fraternal twins are as genetically different as regular siblings.

These results cannot be chalked up to greater structural similarity in identical twins' brains, the study says. If they could be, then the brain activity patterns for made-up words and chairs should also have been more similar in identical twins. They weren't.

"Face and place recognition are older than reading on an evolutionary scale," Polk said. "They are shared with other species and they provide a clearer adaptive advantage. It's therefore plausible that evolution would shape the cortical response to faces and places, but not symbols such as words and letters."

He said that this research could help scientists understand what's innate and what is learned. "If we can figure out the extent to which the brain can change as a result of experience and what makes it change, we could potentially develop therapies for people with brain damage," Polk said. When parts of the brain are damaged, other areas often compensate.

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