那些总担心因为年纪增长而变成“老糊涂”的人也许应该观察一下自己的脸型，因为英国一项最新研究称，脸型的对称程度与人到老年的智商之间存在联系。

英国爱丁堡大学研究人员在新一期美国《进化与人类行为》（Evolution and Human Behavior）杂志上报告说，他们找到了1932年英国数百名11岁大的儿童智商测试的数据，然后又为其中还健在的200多名老人在79岁和83岁时进行了智商测试，并对他们的脸部进行了摄像分析。

研究人员发现，脸部的对称程度与79岁到83岁之间的智商变化有一定联系，脸型越对称的人越不容易变成“老糊涂”。这里的脸型对称与脸部皮肤或脂肪没有关系，指的是脸上眼、耳、鼻、口等位置的对称。

不过，研究只发现在男性身上存在这种联系，而女性没有。研究人员解释说，这可能是因为女性比男性寿命更长，这一项目中的女性对象的年龄还不足够老，没有到生命最后三四年智商迅速下降的时候。

研究人员说，脸型对称与老年智商之间有联系，可能是因为决定脸型的基因与保持大脑活力的基因之间存在某种关系。由于目前还没有发现一个能独立解释老年智商下降的因素，脸型对称程度也许可以作为一个重要指标，用于医疗中辨认那些可能出现相关疾病的患者。

推荐原始出处：

Evolution and Human Behavior doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.06.001

Symmetric faces are a sign of successful cognitive aging

Lars Penkeab, Timothy C. Batesa, Alan J. Gowab, Alison Pattiea, John M. Starrab, Benedict C. Jonesc, David I. Perrettd, Ian J. Dearyab

It has been proposed that a common cause underlies individual differences in bodily and cognitive decline in old age. No good marker for this common cause has been identified to date. Here, fluctuating asymmetry (FA), an indicator of developmental stability that relates to intelligence differences in young adults, was measured from facial photographs of 216 surviving members of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 at age 83 and related to their intelligence at ages 11, 79 and 83 years. FA at age 83 was unrelated to intelligence at ages 11 and 79 and to cognitive change between 11 and 79 years. It was, however, associated with intelligence and information processing efficiency at age 83 and with cognitive change between 79 and 83 years. Significant results were limited to men, a result predicted by sex differences in life history tradeoffs and life expectancy. Results were stronger when directional asymmetries were corrected in facial FA measures. Thus, FA is a candidate marker for the common cause of differential senescence.