Honda Motor Company scientists studying the way the brain reacts to different imagery found that motorcycles that resemble a human face - especially an angry one evoked with diagonal headlights and abbreviated nose - are "significantly" more visible to other drivers.

Measurements taken with functional magnetic resonance imaging confirm that a more lifelike front-end design "elicits a response similar to that when a human face is seen," suggesting that other drivers will more quickly recognize the motorcycle's presence and react accordingly.

"People in four-wheeled vehicles will see not just motorcycles coming at them but motorcycles with human characteristics and faces," says Charles Kenny, president of Right Brain People, a consumer psychology firm specializing in motor vehicles. "It connects to something very basic in the psyche that goes back to when they were little children."

By way of example, Kenny points to the Disney movie Cars, and to kids' toys such as Thomas & Friends trains, both of which cause youngsters to emotionally identify with inanimate objects.

"The human brain," Honda's 2005 study explains, "exhibits a strong response to facial patterns, especially to the eyes and mouth." The observation led to the extrapolation that human-looking bikes are more quickly recognized by motorists, making them more easily avoided.

Major manufacturers such as Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha, Buell, Triumph and Ducati all feature 2008 sportbikes fitted with menacing cat's eye headlights, and according to Money.CNN.com the new Honda DN-01 deliberately incorporates a human look into its front view.

"The sportbike community really wants an aggressive, hard-edged design," says John Paolo Canton, spokesman for Ducati North America. "Nobody wants to buy a 300-km/h motorcycle that looks cute."

With motorcycle use worldwide near an all-time high, "conspicuity enhancement" as researchers call it, can help promote awareness and avoidance of motorcycles sharing the road.