Facial growth parameters in Down syndrome: Review of the literature and forensic application for missing persons age progression.

PURPOSE: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) show growth trajectories which deviate from standard ones due to variations in the growth of facial structures. Studying the effect of aging on the faces of DS individuals is necessary to obtain an accurate result through age progression, a technique based on the study of physiognomic features and used in cases of missing persons. Here we present scientific publications that delve into the rhythms of aging and morphological characteristics of facial features in DS individuals to enable appropriate age progression in cases of missing DS individuals. RESULTS: The scientific literature considered in this review studies the growth of soft tissue and bone substrate by comparing standard growth values with those measured through anthropometric measurements of individuals with DS. Growth trajectories are described by considering morphological trends both by comparing standard values with those found in individuals with DS and by observing individual physiognomic traits. CONCLUSIONS: When a young individual with DS goes missing, the realization of an age progression requires knowledge of the aging dynamics peculiar to the DS face. Therefore, physical, cognitive, and clinical factors must be considered. Delayed physical development and early aging, such as the onset of puberty and weight gain, have an important impact on the realization of age progression. In fact, depending on the life period to be considered, the effects of aging must be calibrated based on the knowledge gathered from scientific research.

The forensic imaging technique of age progression used within missing people cases: The Italian Missing Children association realizing age progression for Missing Child Kenya.

The age progression technique allows to update identification photos of individuals who have been missing for years. This method is based on the study of the facial variation and on the dynamics of facial growth. Knowledge about changes in the distribution of facial fat and the tone of the cartilage allows realistic predictions of the facial appearance after many years. Beside these elements, age progression is also supported by similar characters between family members. This is why photos of the missing and family members are used to create an age progression, making the new identikit accurate. Non-profit associations are crucial for the dissemination of information on the problem of missing persons. In Italy, the Italian Missing Children association provides for free an age progression service with the support of forensic anthropology. With the activation of a protocol, consisting of guidelines, and a form for the request for age progression by family members, the Italian Missing Children has started a collaboration with Missing Child Kenya. It allowed to disseminate up-to-date photos of the presumed current appearance of the missing children in Kenya. Thus, in the present study some cases are reported, in which age progression technique was applied. The photos provided by Italian Missing Children were shown in video documentaries made by Missing Child Kenya, allowing to continue the dissemination of age progression photo during the Covid quarantines and to keep the population active in the search for the missing.

Father figure: Study of the age progression process from old pictures and its value in forensic sciences.

The application of age progression to the search for missing persons demonstrates its usefulness in being able to reconstruct the aged face based on the current age of a person who has been missing for many years. Age progression takes into account facial physiognomic elements and their changes over time. Based on these premises, the present study aims to investigate the evolution of somatic features, from childhood to adulthood, of one of the authors' father using photos at different ages of him. Sixteen photos were collected depicting an individual of Italian origin between the age of 1 and 72. The photos were processed in Adobe© Photoshop software to graphically highlight the shape development of individual physiognomic elements. The shape of the face, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, and cheeks were analysed in detail using a morphological approach. The ageing processes that occurred in this case were discussed on the basis of the literature. The present study demonstrates the in-depth analysis of the dynamics of facial growth in a single case. Nonetheless, aging is different for each individual, so further studies are necessary to observe facial development on as many subjects as possible.

Development of an epigenetic clock to predict visual age progression of human skin.

Aging is a complex process characterized by the gradual decline of physiological functions, leading to increased vulnerability to age-related diseases and reduced quality of life. Alterations in DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns have emerged as a fundamental characteristic of aged human skin, closely linked to the development of the well-known skin aging phenotype. These changes have been correlated with dysregulated gene expression and impaired tissue functionality. In particular, the skin, with its visible manifestations of aging, provides a unique model to study the aging process. Despite the importance of epigenetic age clocks in estimating biological age based on the correlation between methylation patterns and chronological age, a second-generation epigenetic age clock, which correlates DNAm patterns with a particular phenotype, specifically tailored to skin tissue is still lacking. In light of this gap, we aimed to develop a novel second-generation epigenetic age clock explicitly designed for skin tissue to facilitate a deeper understanding of the factors contributing to individual variations in age progression. To achieve this, we used methylation patterns from more than 370 female volunteers and developed the first skin-specific second-generation epigenetic age clock that accurately predicts the skin aging phenotype represented by wrinkle grade, visual facial age, and visual age progression, respectively. We then validated the performance of our clocks on independent datasets and demonstrated their broad applicability. In addition, we integrated gene expression and methylation data from independent studies to identify potential pathways contributing to skin age progression. Our results demonstrate that our epigenetic age clock, VisAgeX, specifically predicting visual age progression, not only captures known biological pathways associated with skin aging, but also adds novel pathways associated with skin aging.

Future projection therapy: Techniques and case examples.

As noted by some recent authors, psychotherapy has traditionally focused primarily on how the past affects present functioning. For example, in the hypnosis literature, there is much written about age regression and more recently there has been a focus on the future. In the 1950's there was discussions about embodying expectancy and pseudo-orientation-in-time, but there was not much in the literature again until the 1980's and thereafter about the importance of future focus. Some authors refer to future work as age progression. This article summarizes a "future projection" approach including why this terminology appears more suited for the approach. Techniques and strategies are described. Six case examples are presented covering varied clinical issues in which there was evidence of positive change.

Age Progression in the Treatment of Suicidal Patients.

Suicide is a very distressing but preventable phenomenon; it is also the most profound and serious outcome for patients and healthcare professionals. Suicidal ideations and hopelessness are a high-risk predictor for suicide attempts and death by suicide. The proper therapeutic management of suicidal patients continues to be an important challenge to all practicing clinicians. This article provides a review of age progression and specific information on the value and use of hypnotically mediated age progression as a therapeutic tool in the effective clinical management of patients with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Case examples are provided to illustrate the use of age progression in clinical practice. The literature that explores a future-oriented strategy in the treatment of suicidal patients is reviewed. Moreover, information on a method of enhancing a future oriented strategy with hypnotically mediated age progression interventions is provided. The goal is to improve therapeutic results and reducing the risk of suicide attempts and death by suicide.

Age progression in hypnosis for pain and fatigue in individuals with disabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to describe in detail a specific age progression approach that we use in our clinical practice and clinical trials in interventions including hypnosis for chronic pain and fatigue in individuals with disabilities. Moreover, we present preliminary evidence regarding the effects of the hypnosis sessions that use age progression suggestions compared to hypnosis sessions that provide different suggestions, as well as to sessions that did not include hypnotic procedures. Findings indicate that age progression suggestions for pain management with individuals participating in hypnosis treatment resulted in substantial immediate reductions in pain intensity, which were greater than pain reductions associated with treatments sessions providing pain education or cognitive therapy. In addition, age progression sessions provided to individuals receiving online hypnosis treatment for fatigue resulted in immediate large reductions in fatigue severity. Although the design of these two studies does not allow to report specific or long-term effects of the age progression techniques, findings indicate that including age progression suggestions to hypnosis protocols for pain and fatigue management is effective for reducing the immediate level of both symptoms. The development and continued evaluation of hypnotic interventions that increase or restore hope in, and optimism, for the future has the potential for enhancing the psychosocial well-being and quality of life of individuals with pain and fatigue.

Encouraging hindsight in advance: Age progression in therapy - and life.

Each person forms a relationship to the dimension of time, called a "temporal orientation." How that relationship is defined and prioritized, whether consciously or non-consciously, plays a huge role in the way people go about living their lives. In psychotherapy, the quality of one's expectations plays a pivotal role in virtually every phase of treatment. As a class of hypnotic interventions, age progression treatment strategies are intricately connected to expectancy since they typically involve guiding the client experientially, i.e., subjectively, into the future. While absorbed in this suggested projection, clients may have the opportunity to imagine and experience the consequences of current or new choices, integrate suggestions at deeper levels for eventual activation, rehearse new patterns of thought, feeling or behavior, and, in general, obtain a greater overview of his or her life than a narrower focus on day-to-day living typically affords. To paraphrase Milton Erickson, one can think of it as encouraging hindsight while it is still foresight.

White matter is increased in the brains of adults with neurofibromatosis 1.

BACKGROUND: Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterized by increased Schwann cell proliferation in peripheral nerves. Several small studies of brain morphology in children with NF1 have found increased total brain volume, total white matter volume and/or corpus callosum area. Some studies (mostly in children with NF1) also attempted to correlate changes in brain morphology and volume with cognitive or behavioural abnormalities, although the findings were inconsistent. We aimed to characterize alterations in brain volumes by three-dimensional (3D) MRI in adults with NF1 in major intracranial sub-regions. We also aimed to assess the effect of age on these volumes and correlated brain white matter and grey matter volumes with neuropsychometric findings in adults with NF1. METHODS: We obtained brain volume measurements using 3D magnetic resonance imaging for 351 adults with NF1 and, as a comparison group, 43 adults with neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2) or Schwannomatosis. We assessed a subset of 19 adults with NF1 for clinical severity of NF1 features and neurological problems and conducted psychometric testing for attention deficiencies and intelligence quotient. We compared brain volumes between NF1 patients and controls and correlated volumetric measurements to clinical and psychometric features in the NF1 patients. RESULTS: Total brain volume and total and regional white matter volumes were all significantly increased in adults with NF1. Grey matter volume decreased faster with age in adults with NF1 than in controls. Greater total brain volume and white matter volume were correlated with lower attention deficits and higher intelligence quotients in adults with NF1. CONCLUSION: Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that dysregulation of brain myelin production is a cardinal manifestation of NF1 and that these white matter changes may be functionally important in affected adults.

UK women smokers' experiences of an age-progression smoking cessation intervention: Thematic analysis of accounts.

Objectives: Appearance-related interventions to promote healthy behaviour have been found effective to communicate health risks. The current study aimed to explore women smokers' experiences of age-progression software showing the effects of smoking on the face. Methods: A qualitative design was implemented, utilizing both individual interviews and focus groups within a critical realist framework. Fifteen, 19-52 year-old women smokers were administered an age-progression intervention. All participants responded to the intervention, engaged in semi-structured interviews, and were invited back to attend one of three focus groups. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Four main themes were identified: Health versus Appearance, Shock Reaction, Perceived Susceptibility, and Intention to Quit. Participants found the intervention useful, voicing need for a comprehensive approach that includes both appearance and health. Despite increases in appearance-based apps which could diminish impact, women's accounts of shock induced by the aged smoking-morphed images were similar to previous work conducted more than ten years previously. Conclusions: The study provides novel insights in how women smokers currently perceive, and react to, an age-progression intervention for smoking cessation. Innovation: Findings emphasise the implementation of this intervention type accompanied by health information in a range of patient settings.

Prediction of face age progression with generative adversarial networks.

Face age progression, goals to alter the individual's face from a given face image to predict the future appearance of that image. In today's world that demands more security and a touchless unique identification system, face aging attains tremendous attention. The existing face age progression approaches have the key problem of unnatural modifications of facial attributes due to insufficient prior knowledge of input images and nearly visual artifacts in the generated output. Research has been continuing in face aging to handle the challenge to generate aged faces accurately. So, to solve the issue, the proposed work focuses on the realistic face aging method using AttentionGAN and SRGAN. AttentionGAN uses two separate subnets in a generator. One subnet for generating multiple attention masks and the other for generating multiple content masks. Then attention mask is multiplied with the corresponding content mask along with an input image to finally achieve the desired results. Further, the regex filtering process is performed to separates the synthesized face images from the output of AttentionGAN. Then image sharpening with edge enhancement is done to give high-quality input to SRGAN, which further generates the super-resolution face aged images. Thus, presents more detailed information in an image because of its high quality. Moreover, the experimental results are obtained from five publicly available datasets: UTKFace, CACD, FGNET, IMDB-WIKI, and CelebA. The proposed work is evaluated with quantitative and qualitative methods, produces synthesized face aged images with a 0.001% error rate, and is also evaluated with the comparison to prior methods. The paper focuses on the various practical applications of super-resolution face aging using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs).

Age-related increase of alpha-synuclein oligomers is associated with motor disturbances in L61 transgenic mice.

The pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease involves fibrillization and deposition of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) into Lewy bodies. Accumulating evidence suggests that α-syn oligomers are particularly neurotoxic. Transgenic (tg) mice overexpressing wild-type human α-syn under the Thy-1 promoter (L61) reproduce many Parkinson's disease features, but the pathogenetic relevance of α-syn oligomers in this mouse model has not been studied in detail. Here, we report an age progressive increase of α-syn oligomers in the brain of L61 tg mice. Interestingly, more profound motor symptoms were observed in animals with higher levels of membrane-bound oligomers. As this tg model is X-linked, we also performed subset analyses, indicating that both sexes display a similar age-related increase in α-syn oligomers. However, compared with females, males featured increased brain levels of oligomers from an earlier age, in addition to a more severe behavioral phenotype with hyperactivity and thigmotaxis in the open field test. Taken together, our data indicate that α-syn oligomers are central to the development of brain pathology and behavioral deficits in the L61 tg α-syn mouse model.

Parental reference photos do not always improve the accuracy of forensic age progressions.

During long-term missing children cases, forensic artists construct age-progressions to estimate the child's current appearance. It is commonly believed that incorporating information about the child's biological relatives is critical in accurately estimating the child's current appearance. However, some evidence suggests that predicting appearance based on inheritance of features may be error prone. The present studies examine whether age-progressions constructed with the aid of a biological reference photos led to better recognition than those constructed without a biological reference. We also investigated whether there would be any variation depending on the age-range of the age-progressions. Eight professional forensic artists created age-progressions based upon photographs provided by each of our eight targets. Half of their age progressions with the aid of parental reference photos and half without parental reference photos. Furthermore, half were age-progressed across a longer age-range (5-20 years) and half covered a shorter age-range (12-20 years). In Experiment 1 similarity scores were higher over shorter age-ranges. Further, across longer age-ranges age-progressions created with the aid of a parental reference were lower than those without a reference. In Experiment 2 recognition performance was higher across shorter age-ranges. Additionally, across longer age-ranges age-progressions created with the aid of a parental reference were recognized worse than those without a reference. These results suggest that in long-term missing person cases, forensic artists may benefit from not relying on biological references. Finally, consistent with previous research (e.g. Lampinen et al., 2012) age-progressions provided no benefit over using outdated photographs.

Depiction of ethnic facial aging by forensic artists and preliminary assessment of the applicability of facial averages.

Many characteristics of facial aging are common to all. The age of their onset and which characteristics tend to predominate varies among individuals depending on many factors including their genetic makeup, life experiences, environment in which they live, and the regional, ethnic, or socially perceived group to which they belong. Forensic artists are often asked to provide sketches, 2D or 3D digital renderings, or sculptures representative of how an individual may appear at an older age based on a provided photograph, victim or witness description, and/or cranial remains. The challenge escalates when the subject is a member of a regional, ethnic, or other socially perceived group to which the artist has had little or no exposure. We describe aspects of adult facial aging that are of particular relevance to the forensic artist, applicable software tools, and pertinent facial databases, especially those emphasizing non-white populations. We demonstrate that facial averaging offers two key advantages to the artistic portrayal of facial aging: first, the technique requires relatively small reference databases from groups that may present logistical challenges to collect and second, that a facial average provides a useful representation of the gestalt of the age and ethnicity cohort to which a subject belongs. The artist may use an average along with other available information such as photo reference books, eyewitness descriptions, photos of immediate family members, and cranial structure to guide production of a facial composite drawing, digital age progression, or sculpture of the subject in question.

A guided manual method for juvenile age progression using digital images.

Predicting the possible age-related changes to a child's face, age progression methods modify the shape, colour and texture of a facial image while retaining the identity of the individual. However, the techniques vary between different practitioners. This study combines different age progression techniques for juvenile subjects, various researches based on longitudinal radiographic data; physical anthropometric measurements of the head and face; and digital image measurements in pixels. Utilising 12 anthropometric measurements of the face, this study documents a new workflow for digital manual age progression. An inter-observer error study (n = 5) included the comparison of two age progressions of the same individual at different ages. The proposed age progression method recorded satisfactory levels of repeatability based on the 12 anthropometric measurements. Seven measurements achieved an error below 8.60%. Facial anthropometric measurements involving the nasion (n) and trichion (tr) showed the most inconsistency (14-34% difference between the practitioners). Overall, the horizontal measurements were more accurate than the vertical measurements. The age progression images were compared using a manual morphological method and machine-based face recognition. The confidence scores generated by the three different facial recognition APIs suggested the performance of any age progression not only varies between practitioners, but also between the Facial recognition systems. The suggested new workflow was able to guide the positioning of the facial features, but the process of age progression remains dependant on artistic interpretation.

An overview of the latest developments in facial imaging.

Facial imaging is a term used to describe methods that use facial images to assist or facilitate human identification. This pertains to two craniofacial identification procedures that use skulls and faces-facial approximation and photographic superimposition-as well as face-only methods for age progression/regression, the construction of facial graphics from eyewitness memory (including composites and artistic sketches), facial depiction, face mapping and newly emerging methods of molecular photofitting. Given the breadth of these facial imaging techniques, it is not surprising that a broad array of subject-matter experts participate in and/or contribute to the formulation and implementation of these methods (including forensic odontologists, forensic artists, police officers, electrical engineers, anatomists, geneticists, medical image specialists, psychologists, computer graphic programmers and software developers). As they are concerned with the physical characteristics of humans, each of these facial imaging areas also falls in the domain of physical anthropology, although not all of them have been traditionally regarded as such. This too offers useful opportunities to adapt established methods in one domain to others more traditionally held to be disciplines within physical anthropology (e.g. facial approximation, craniofacial superimposition and face photo-comparison). It is important to note that most facial imaging methods are not currently used for identification but serve to assist authorities in narrowing or directing investigations such that other, more potent, methods of identification can be used (e.g. DNA). Few, if any, facial imaging approaches can be considered honed end-stage scientific methods, with major opportunities for physical anthropologists to make meaningful contributions. Some facial imaging methods have considerably stronger scientific underpinnings than others (e.g. facial approximation versus face mapping), some currently lie entirely within the artistic sphere (facial depiction), and yet others are so aspirational that realistic capacity to obtain their aims has strongly been questioned despite highly advanced technical approaches (molecular photofitting). All this makes for a broad-ranging, dynamic and energetic field that is in a constant state of flux. This manuscript provides a theoretical snapshot of the purposes of these methods, the state of science as it pertains to them, and their latest research developments.

Facial Age Synthesis Using Sparse Partial Least Squares (The Case of Ben Needham).

Automatic facial age progression (AFAP) has been an active area of research in recent years. This is due to its numerous applications which include searching for missing. This study presents a new method of AFAP. Here, we use an active appearance model (AAM) to extract facial features from available images. An aging function is then modelled using sparse partial least squares regression (sPLS). Thereafter, the aging function is used to render new faces at different ages. To test the accuracy of our algorithm, extensive evaluation is conducted using a database of 500 face images with known ages. Furthermore, the algorithm is used to progress Ben Needham's facial image that was taken when he was 21 months old to the ages of 6, 14, and 22 years. The algorithm presented in this study could potentially be used to enhance the search for missing people worldwide.

When age-progressed images are unreliable: The roles of external features and age range.

When children go missing for many years, investigators commission age-progressed images from forensic artists to depict an updated appearance. These images have anecdotal success, and systematic research has found they lead to accurate recognition rates comparable to outdated photos. The present study examines the reliability of age progressions of the same individuals created by different artists. Eight artists first generated age progressions of eight targets across three age ranges. Eighty-five participants then evaluated the similarity of these images against other images depicting the same targets progressed at the same age ranges, viewing either whole faces or faces with external features concealed. Similarities were highest over shorter age ranges and when external features were concealed. Implications drawn from theory and application are discussed.