The human face as a memory storage device and dunbar’s number

The human face is one of the most defining characteristics of our species. Our protruding noses adds geometry and contrast which amongst the primates is unique to humans.

The sensory and motor cortex devotes a large cortical mass to the human face.

I’ve had a personal experience of how the brain uses those areas to map and store memory, and of how big a role the human face plays in memory, mapping, and identity. During a cannabis trip, I experienced a form of photographic recall of pictures and images of my own face, and how I had viewed myself throughout life. These visual perceptions, which enters consciousness from the occipital cortex and backwards through the thalamus, showed me that my brain did in fact map memories based on the human face, and that is why it devotes such a large area to innervating it.

Dunbar’s number puts forth that the human brain has a memory limit of around 150 people. From my own recollection of resident memes, memeplexes of how I had mapped my own emotions, I’ve had a sort of access to that limitation. The memory limit originates from the brain’s ability to map other people’s faces into memory, and to build an identity from that. The human face can only sync with around 150 other faces, 5 close ties, 15 medium close, and 130 long ties.

Note

With the internet and social media, our digital self, we gain a form of “extended face”, as our online avatars are an extension of how we can convey emotions, and social media acts as an external memory storage device.

Clues

On the hypothesis that the face is a memory storage device, how facial paralysis, which disconnects the storage from the information in the associational cortex, can lead to memory problems.

“Although defined as a mononeuritis (involving only one nerve), people diagnosed with Bell’s palsy may have “myriad neurological symptoms” including “facial tingling, moderate or severe headache/neck pain, memory problems, balance problems, ipsilateral limb paresthesias, ipsilateral limb weakness, and a sense of . “

“I was wondering has anyone had any short term memory loss with bells paley. I got the fullness of it Feb. 27th but do remember having some eye problems 3 weeks before with sensitivity to light so much I had to leave my friends house my eye was acting up so much and being tired too..then that Friday before I thought to my self my voice sounded wierd like i was really down or sad I thought it was a lack of sleep…but one thing that bothers me is the short term memory. this is my 4th time once when I about 5 year old that was bad and 2 times that were really nothing slight and this time when I’m 41 and this is got to be the worst besides when i was little…I went after it like a crazy lady from chriopractic , facials at the local beauty school under 20.00 ,massage, steamed my face at home and went to the accpuncture which has helped me soo much so please try it to see if it helps”