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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis
Published on: November 9, 2011
Cross-modal self-recognition: the role of visual, auditory, and olfactory primes
Steven M Platek1, Jaime W Thomson, Gordon G Gallup
1Department of Psychology, Drexel University, 245 N 15th Street, Mail Stop 626, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Steven.M.Platek@drexel.edu
Abstract:
Three priming experiments were conducted to determine how information about the self from different sensory modalities/cognitive domains affects self-face recognition. Being exposed to your body odor, seeing your name, and hearing your name all facilitated self-face recognition in a reaction time task. No similar cross-modal facilitation was found among stimuli from familiar or novel individuals. The finding of a left-hand advantage for self-face recognition was replicated when no primes were presented. These data, along with other recent results suggest the brain processes/represents information about the self in highly integrated ways.
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