It’s written all over your face
To potential mates, your mug may reveal more than you think
Eye candy might more appropriately be called brain candy. Seeing a pretty face is like eating a piece of oh-so-sweet chocolate — for the brain, if not for the stomach. In fact, attractive faces activate the same reward circuitry in the brain as food, drugs and money. For humans, there is something captivating and unforgettable about the arrangement of two balls, a point and a horizontal slit on the front of the head.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/9444.jpg?resize=235%2C300&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/9445.jpg?resize=300%2C141&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/9446.jpg?resize=300%2C230&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/9447.jpg?resize=300%2C141&ssl=1)
The power of faces isn’t lost on psychologists. “Faces are interesting because they impart so much information — expression, attention — and these interact with facial beauty,” says Anthony Little of the University of Stirling in Scotland.