Final answer:
Research by Paul Ekman on universal facial expressions implies an innate ability to recognize faces, indicating the existence of a facial recognition center. David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel's work on the visual system reinforces the presence of specialized brain regions for processing visual cues like faces. An fMRI scan showing brain activity linked to face recognition further supports this idea.
Step-by-step explanation:
The model of face recognition that supports the existence of a specific facial recognition center is supported by the work of various researchers, including Paul Ekman and the collaboration of David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel. Paul Ekman's research into universal facial expressions of emotion, such as happiness, surprise, sadness, fright, disgust, contempt, and anger, implies that our ability to recognize and produce facial expressions is inherent and universal. This is consistent with the existence of a facial recognition center in the brain. Moreover, Hubel and Wiesel's discovery that certain brain cells respond to specific visual cues implies that there are dedicated structures in the brain for processing visual information like faces.
An fMRI scan showing increased activity in the brain's vision center when a subject recognizes faces further supports the concept of a specialized facial recognition center. The combined evidence from these studies suggests the presence of brain regions specialized for face perception, which aligns with the possibility of a specific area responsible for this function.