'Reverse development' is more correct," said Pawel Burkhardt, one of the researchers, an evolutionary neuroscientist and group leader at the Michael Sars Centre, at the University of Bergen in Norway.

Set in a Cornish fishing village, it tells the story of Benjamin Button – a man who ages in reverse. F Scott Fitzgerald’s short story has been adapted for the stage by Jethro Compton and Darren Clark.