Face recognition and place recognition are both critical for everyday interactions, and they both depend on specialized regions of the brain. Neuroscientists generally suspect that as these regions develop, facial and place recognition improve. If so, there may be a lot of room for improvement. A recent study published in Science found that the parts of the brain that are associated with face and place recognition continue to develop well into adulthood, long after most of the brain’s architecture is in place.

The study looked at 26 children ages five through 12 and 26 adults aged 22 to 28. These subjects all participated in MRI and quantitative MRI imaging. These techniques allowed the researchers to assess the amount of brain matter in different regions, as well as the lipid composition of different parts of the brain. The brain is primarily made up of lipids—also known as fats—so differences in lipid distribution within the brain could be related to differences in functionality for different brain regions.

The researchers also looked at the activity of different brain regions. Participants’ responses to images of places and faces were tracked using fMRI, which allowed the scientists to see changes in blood flow to the brain that occur in response to stimulation. This helped them to identify which brain regions were primarily associated with recognizing these items.