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By Daniella Gray
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Within hours of being born, babies are already taking in the faces around them.
Scientists have long debated whether that early fascination is universal or whether subtle differences exist from the very start of life.
A new University of Cambridge study of 130 newborns offers fresh evidence in the debate.
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Researchers found that female infants showed a stronger interest in face-like images than male infants, despite having had almost no opportunity to learn from their surroundings.
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The findings, published in Biology of Sex Differences, point to sex differences in social attention that may emerge from birth.
Yumnah Khan, a PhD student at the Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge and the lead researcher on the study, said that scientists reported similar findings more than two decades ago, but concerns about the study's design left questions about whether the effect was real.
“We conducted this study building upon the previous study, though this time we used more rigorous experimental methods,” Khan told Newsweek. “We were surprised to observe similar findings once again. Some of our recent research also found that sex differences in the brain begin prenatally. What I find particularly interesting is to see that early sex differences are present not only in the brain, but also in behavior.”
What has remained unclear is whether males and females differ in this preference from birth or whether any differences emerge later through experience and socialization.
To investigate, researchers tested 130 healthy newborns shortly after birth. By studying babies within hours of birth, the team aimed to minimize the influence of postnatal experiences and focus on behaviors present from the very beginning of life.
The infants were shown visual patterns, including face-like images, while researchers recorded where the babies directed their attention.
The results showed that female newborns were more likely to look at faces than male newborns.
Because the babies had only just been born, the findings could suggest that biological factors may contribute to early differences in social attention.
However, the researchers stressed that the study does not determine exactly what caused the difference or predict how individual children will develop as they grow older.
“Sex differences are highly shaped by the environment, but we were interested to understand whether some early biological factors might also play a role,” Khan said.
“During the prenatal period, male fetuses are exposed to higher levels of testosterone compared to female fetuses,” she continued. “This is what produces sex differences in the body, but it is also hypothesized to produce differences in the brain.”
The findings also have potential implications for research into developmental conditions that affect social interaction.
Scientists are increasingly interested in understanding how newborns process social information because these early behaviors may offer clues about later cognitive and behavioral development.
“Because the newborns in our study were tested so early in life, before having much opportunity to learn from the environment, it is possible that early prenatal factors might have contributed to the findings we observed,” Khan said. “However, we will need further research to test whether this is actually the case and to better understand the causes behind early sex differences.”
The researchers said future studies will explore whether these early differences in social attention influence later development, including language acquisition and the differing rates of some psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions in both males and females.
Reference
Khan, Y.T., Tsompanidis, A., Hymanson, E. et al. Sex differences in face looking preferences at birth. Biol Sex Differ 17, 155 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-026-00976-9
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