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Memory for faces: evidence of retrieval-based impairment.

Four experiments investigated whether and how interpolated faces cause impairment to memories for related target faces. Participants viewed target faces and then saw a presentation of interpolated faces that were related to some of the targets. Modified tests, which offered target and novel faces as recognition alternatives, detected impairment effects after short retention intervals but not after 48-hr intervals, indicating that spontaneous recovery had occurred. For the interpolated presentations, some participants were misled to believe that the faces were the same as the targets, and others were informed that they were similar but different. The impairment and recovery effects were not moderated by participants' beliefs about the interpolated faces. The recovery effects suggest that interpolated faces affected the retrieval but not the storage of memories for targets, even for participants who were successfully misled about the interpolated faces.

Attention↗

What is "special" about face perception?

There is growing evidence that face recognition is "special" but less certainty concerning the way in which it is special. The authors review and compare previous proposals and their own more recent hypothesis, that faces are recognized "holistically" (i.e., using relatively less part decomposition than other types of objects). This hypothesis, which can account for a variety of data from experiments on face memory, was tested with 4 new experiments on face perception. A selective attention paradigm and a masking paradigm were used to compare the perception of faces with the perception of inverted faces, words, and houses. Evidence was found of relatively less part-based shape representation for faces. The literatures on machine vision and single unit recording in monkey temporal cortex are also reviewed for converging evidence on face representation. The neuropsychological literature is reviewed for-evidence on the question of whether face representation differs in degree or kind from the representation of other types of objects.

Face↗

Linear theory, dimensional theory, and the face-inversion effect.

We contrast 2 theories within whose context problems are conceptualized and data interpreted. By traditional linear theory, a dependent variable is the sum of main-effect and interaction terms. By dimensional theory, independent variables yield values on internal dimensions that in turn determine performance. We frame our arguments within an investigation of the face-inversion effect--the greater processing disadvantage of inverting faces compared with non-faces. We report data from 3 simulations and 3 experiments wherein faces or non-faces are studied upright or inverted in a recognition procedure. The simulations demonstrate that (a) critical conclusions depend on which theory is used to interpret data and (b) dimensional theory is the more flexible and consistent in identifying underlying psychological structures, because dimensional theory subsumes linear theory as a special case. The experiments demonstrate that by dimensional theory, there is no face-inversion effect for unfamiliar faces but a clear face-inversion effect for celebrity faces.

Computer Simulation↗

Norm-based face encoding by single neurons in the monkey inferotemporal cortex.

The rich and immediate perception of a familiar face, including its identity, expression and even intent, is one of the most impressive shared faculties of human and non-human primate brains. Many visually responsive neurons in the inferotemporal cortex of macaque monkeys respond selectively to faces, sometimes to only one or a few individuals, while showing little sensitivity to scale and other details of the retinal image. Here we show that face-responsive neurons in the macaque monkey anterior inferotemporal cortex are tuned to a fundamental dimension of face perception. Using a norm-based caricaturization framework previously developed for human psychophysics, we varied the identity information present in photo-realistic human faces, and found that neurons of the anterior inferotemporal cortex were most often tuned around the average, identity-ambiguous face. These observations are consistent with face-selective responses in this area being shaped by a figural comparison, reflecting structural differences between an incoming face and an internal reference or norm. As such, these findings link the tuning of neurons in the inferotemporal cortex to psychological models of face identity perception.

Animals↗

High-resolution imaging reveals highly selective nonface clusters in the fusiform face area.

A region in ventral human cortex (fusiform face area, FFA) thought to be important for face perception responds strongly to faces and less strongly to nonface objects. This pattern of response may reflect a uniform face-selective neural population or activity averaged across populations with heterogeneous selectivity. Using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we found that the FFA has a reliable heterogeneous structure: localized subregions within the FFA highly selective to faces are spatially interdigitated with localized subregions highly selective to different object categories. We found a preponderance of face-selective responses in the FFA, but no difference in selectivity to faces compared to nonfaces. Thus, standard fMRI of the FFA reflects averaging of heterogeneous highly selective neural populations of differing sizes, rather than higher selectivity to faces. These results suggest that visual processing in this region is not exclusive to faces. Overall, our approach provides a framework for understanding the fine-scale structure of neural representations in the human brain.

Adult↗

Is right hemisphere specialization for face discrimination specific to humans?

Patterns of neural activation during face recognition were investigated in sheep by quantifying altered c-fos mRNA expression in situations where faces (sheep vs. human) can (faces upright) and cannot (faces inverted) be discriminated. Exposure to upright faces selectively increased expression significantly more in the right inferior temporal cortex than in the left, and active choice between upright faces additionally increased expression bilaterally in basal amygdala and hippocampus (CA1-4). Exposure to inverted faces did not lead to enhanced activation in the right inferior temporal cortex, amygdala or hippocampus but instead increased expression levels in the diagonal band of Broca, parietal and cingulate cortices. These results show that discrimination of upright faces in sheep preferentially engages the right temporal cortex, as it does in humans, and that performance of active choices between such faces may additionally involve the basal amygdala and hippocampus.

Amygdala↗

A comparison of 3 methods of face-bow transfer recording: implications for orthognathic surgery.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the occlusal plane inclination of models mounted using 3 different systems for face-bow transfer with the actual occlusal plane inclination as measured on a cephalometric radiograph. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-two subjects were enrolled in this study. Three alginate impressions of the maxillary dentition were taken, and 3 stone dental models were produced for each subject. Face-bow recordings were obtained on each subject using the SAM Anatomical Face-bow (Great Lakes Orthodontics Products, Ltd, Tonawanda, NY), the Erickson Surgical Face-bow (Great Lakes Orthodontics Products, Ltd) and a new technique developed by one of the authors (J.G.). For each subject, the dental models were mounted on a SAM articulator using each of the 3 face-bow recordings. Finally, a lateral cephalometric radiograph was obtained for each subject. The occlusal plane inclination was measured on the models and on the cephalometric radiographs. Differences among groups were tested using a 1-way analysis of variance. Bonferroni test was used for post hoc comparison between different pairs of groups. RESULTS: The average occlusal plane inclination using the SAM Anatomical Face-bow was 7.8 degrees +/- 4.2 degrees greater than the actual-a difference that was statistically significant. The mean occlusal plane inclination of the models obtained using the Erickson Surgical Face-bow was 4.4 degrees +/- 2.2 degrees greater than the actual-a difference that was also statistically significant. The mean occlusal plane inclination of the models obtained by the new technique was only 0.9 degrees +/- 1.2 degrees greater than the actual; this difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The new mounting technique is more accurate than the conventional SAM Face-bow or the Erickson Face-bow for reproducing the actual occlusal plane inclination.

Analysis of Variance↗

Sex discrimination: how do we tell the difference between male and female faces?

People are remarkably accurate (approaching ceiling) at deciding whether faces are male or female, even when cues from hair style, makeup, and facial hair are minimised. Experiments designed to explore the perceptual basis of our ability to categorise the sex of faces are reported. Subjects were considerably less accurate when asked to judge the sex of three-dimensional (3-D) representations of faces obtained by laser-scanning, compared with a condition where photographs were taken with hair concealed and eyes closed. This suggests that cues from features such as eyebrows, and skin texture, play an important role in decision-making. Performance with the laser-scanned heads remained quite high with 3/4-view faces, where the 3-D shape of the face should be easiest to see, suggesting that the 3-D structure of the face is a further source of information contributing to the classification of its sex. Performance at judging the sex from photographs (with hair concealed) was disrupted if the photographs were inverted, which implies that the superficial cues contributing to the decision are not processed in a purely 'local' way. Performance was also disrupted if the faces were shown in photographic negatives, which is consistent with the use of 3-D information, since negation probably operates by disrupting the computation of shape from shading. In 3-D, the 'average' male face differs from the 'average' female face by having a more protuberant nose/brow and more prominent chin/jaw. The effects of manipulating the shapes of the noses and chins of the laser-scanned heads were assessed and significant effects of such manipulations on the apparent masculinity or femininity of the heads were revealed. It appears that our ability to make this most basic of facial categorisations may be multiply determined by a combination of 2-D, 3-D, and textural cues and their interrelationships.

Adolescent↗

Effects of face configuration change on shape perception: a new illusion.

We report two experiments indicating that varying the configuration of face features changes perception of an oval aperture windowing the face: as the eyes and mouth of a frontal-view face photograph are moved vertically toward face boundaries, the oval appears increasingly clongated, taller, and narrower; when eyes and mouth are moved toward the nose, the oval appears increasingly rounder, shorter, and wider. This shape illusion is maximised when faces appear upright within the oval and major face features (eyes, nose, and mouth) appear in their correct relative locations. These results establish that processing of a face configuration can affect perception of a geometric shape that shares visual space with a face. Whether the illusion is face-specific or a special case of a more general geometric illusion is discussed.

Face↗

A sideways look at configural encoding: two different effects of face rotation.

Inversion has a disproportionate disruptive effect on the recognition of faces. This may be due to the disruption of holistic or configural encoding employed to recognise upright faces. The paradigm developed by Tanaka and Farah (1993 Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Section A 46 225-246) was used to investigate the effect of 90 degrees (or orthogonal) rotation on configural encoding. Faces learnt in the orthogonal condition were not recognised as well as upright faces, but a whole-face advantage was found in both cases. This whole-face advantage did not occur for inverted faces. It appears that 90 degrees rotation affects recognition but not specifically configural encoding. It is concluded that rotating a face can have at least two different effects on face processing depending on the range of rotation. Implications for the nature of facial dimensions and the expertise account of the inversion effect are considered.

Analysis of Variance↗

Face detection: mapping human performance.

The recognition of faces has been the focus of an extensive body of research, whereas the preliminary and prerequisite task of detecting a face has received limited attention from psychologists. Four experiments are reported that address the question how we detect a face. Experiment 1 reveals that we use information from the scene to aid detection. In experiment 2 we investigated which features of a face speed the detection of faces. Experiment 3 revealed inversion effects and an interaction between the effects of blurring and reduction of contrast. In experiment 4 the sizes of effects of reversal of orientation, luminance, and hue were compared. Luminance was found to have the greatest effect on reaction time to detect faces. The results are interpreted as suggesting that face detection proceeds by a pre-attentive stage that identifies possible face regions, which is followed by a focused-attention stage that employs a deformable template. Comparisons are drawn with automatic face-detection systems.

Adult↗

Dissociation of face-selective cortical responses by attention.

We studied attentional modulation of cortical processing of faces and houses with functional MRI and magnetoencephalography (MEG). MEG detected an early, transient face-selective response. Directing attention to houses in "double-exposure" pictures of superimposed faces and houses strongly suppressed the characteristic, face-selective functional MRI response in the fusiform gyrus. By contrast, attention had no effect on the M170, the early, face-selective response detected with MEG. Late (>190 ms) category-related MEG responses elicited by faces and houses, however, were strongly modulated by attention. These results indicate that hemodynamic and electrophysiological measures of face-selective cortical processing complement each other. The hemodynamic signals reflect primarily late responses that can be modulated by feedback connections. By contrast, the early, face-specific M170 that was not modulated by attention likely reflects a rapid, feed-forward phase of face-selective processing.

Attention↗

ERPs associated with familiarity and degree of familiarity during face recognition.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) triggered by three different faces (unfamiliar, famous, and the subject's own) were analyzed during passive viewing. A familiarity effect was defined as a significant difference between the two familiar faces as opposed to the unfamiliar face. A degree of familiarity effect was defined as a significant difference between all three conditions. The results show a familiarity effect 170 ms after stimulus onset (N170), with larger amplitudes seen for both familiar faces. Conversely, a degree of familiarity effect arose approximately 250 ms after stimulus onset (P2) in the form of progressively smaller amplitudes as a function of familiarity (subject's face < famous face < unfamiliar). These results demonstrate that the structural encoding of faces, as reflected by N170 activities, can be modulated by familiarity and that facial representations acquire specific properties as a result of experience. Moreover, these results confirm the hypothesis that N170 is sensitive to face versus, object discriminations and to the discrimination among faces.

Analysis of Variance↗

Development of differential recognition for own- and other-race faces.

Subjects (N = 106) ranging in age from six to 20 years performed two face-recognition tasks--one with Caucasians' photo portraits and one with Orientals'. Although the youngest children recognized both kinds of faces equally well, recognition accuracy for Caucasian faces was superior to that for Oriental faces among older subjects. Results are interpreted in terms of development of a familiar-face schema which facilitates recognition of exemplars of the more familiar sort of face with increasing age and experience. Boys and girls recognized faces about equally well up to approximately age 13; at that age a trend appeared for girls to be superior to boys in recognizing faces. Females at college level were clearly superior to males at recognizing faces.

Adolescent↗

Repetition priming follows spontaneous but not prompted recognition of familiar faces.

Reaction times to make a familiarity decision to the faces of famous people were measured after recognition of the faces in a pre-training phase had occurred spontaneously or following prompting with a name or other cue. At test, reaction times to familiar faces that had been recognized spontaneously in the pre-training phase were significantly facilitated relative to an unprimed comparison condition. Reaction times to familiar faces recognized only after prompting in the pre-training phase were not significantly facilitated. This was demonstrated both when a name prompt was used (Experiments 1 and 3) and when subjects were cued with brief semantic information (Experiment 2). Repetition priming was not found to depend on prior spontaneous recognition per se. In Experiment 3, spontaneously recognizing a familiar face did not prime subsequent familiarity judgements when the same face had only been identified following prompting on a prior encounter. In Experiment 4, recognition memory for faces recognized after cueing was found to be over 90% accurate. This indicates that prompted recognition does not yield repetition priming, even though subjects can remember the faces. A fusion of "face recognition unit" and "episodic record" accounts of the repetition priming effect may be more useful than either theory alone in explaining these results.

Cues↗

Face configuration processing in the human brain: the role of symmetry.

Symmetry is an important cue in face perception. We manipulated symmetry and other configurational variables to study their role in face processing in the human brain. We employed 2 types of symmetry: image symmetry (where one part of the image is defined as the mirrored transform of the other part about an axis) and object symmetry (where the spatial relationships among the image components are interpreted as parts of a symmetric 3-dimensional object). We compared blood oxygenation level dependent responses in healthy human observers for upright front-view faces with responses to different symmetry-controlled images. The cortical areas activated by the face images, relative to Fourier-matched scrambled images, were the fusiform (FFA) and occipital (OFA) face areas, the middle occipital gyri (MOG), and areas around the superior temporal and intraoccipital sulci (IOS). Contrasting faces and their image-symmetric scrambled versions showed a similar activation pattern except in the right OFA, suggesting an involvement in facial symmetry processing. The upright versus inverted faces (with the same image symmetry but unfamiliar object identity) showed robust differential activation in the FFA, OFA, MOG, IOS, and precuneus. The response to frontal-view versus 3/4-view faces (having the same object symmetry but disrupted image symmetry) showed little differential activation in the FFA or the OFA but strong responses in the MOG and IOS, suggesting that face processing in the FFA and the OFA is holistic and viewpoint invariant.

Brain Mapping↗

It takes longer to recognize the eyes than the whole face in humans.

Brain responses to eyes and whole face were studied by magnetoencephalography (MEG). We used five different visual stimuli, face with opened eyes, face with closed eyes, eyes, scrambled face, and hand. 1M was evoked in response to all kinds of stimuli but 2M peaking at approximately 180 ms was recorded only for face and eyes. The peak latencies of 1M and 2M and the interpeak latency 1M-2M to eyes were significantly longer than those to face, and there was no significant difference of latency between face with opened eyes and face with closed eyes. The 2M both for face and eyes was generated in the same area, the inferior temporal cortex, around the fusiform gyrus.

Adult↗

Face-specific N170 component is modulated by facial expressional change.

We examined processing of change in facial expression. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were elicited by successive presentation of two different faces without interval. Smile faces were preceded by either a neutral face of the same person, a smile face of a different person, or a neutral face of a different person, which generated expressional, individual, or both expressional and individual change, respectively. For the preceding faces, there were no differences in face-specific N170. In contrast, the second faces elicited a larger N170 for expressional change relative to individual or both changes, which indicates that facial expression was processed in the early stage of face processing in the posterior temporal region, when they are presented in change context.

Adult↗