What's the file format for faces?

by phil on Wednesday May 12, 2010 3:42 PM
cogsci

What file format are images stored in our brains? In particular, what format are faces stored in? If I'm driving and I catch a fleeting glimpse of someone attractive, the face will burn into my memory for at least a couple minutes. But I don't think my brain stores a camera-style pixel-by-pixel snashop of the face. I don't see an actual image in my head, but rather a ghost of various features floating in and out of significance, like the particular curvature and thickness of her eyebrows.

My guess, is that the file format for faces is the highest-density file format human brains have, given its relevance to our social fabric. But how is that data structured? How does it decay?