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Updated: Jun 8, 2026
09:25
Detecting Pre-Stimulus Source-Level Effects on Object Perception with Magnetoencephalography
Published on: July 26, 2019
Early influence of prior experience on face perception
Lucile Gamond1, Nathalie George, Jean-Didier Lemaréchal
1CNRS, UMR 7225, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France. lucile.gamond@upmc.fr
Neuroimage
|September 14, 2010
Summary
Prior experience shapes how we perceive faces, influencing neural responses within milliseconds. This study reveals two distinct brain pathways interacting to integrate new facial information with existing knowledge.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Cognition
Background:
- Humans automatically infer personality from faces, even without reliable cues.
- Perception is an active process combining sensory input with prior experience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how and when neural responses to faces are modulated by prior experience.
- To understand the neural mechanisms underlying the integration of learned associations with facial perception.
Main Methods:
- Magneto-encephalography (MEG) recorded neural responses to faces before and after induced associations.
- Experimental manipulation linked facial features (inter-eye distance) to personality judgments.
- Intracranial recordings confirmed source localization of MEG signals.
Main Results:
- Neural responses to faces were modulated as early as 60-85 ms after brief associative learning.
- Prior experience influences early neural processing via two distinct pathways: an anterior system (orbitofrontal cortex, temporal poles) and the ventral visual pathway.
- These pathways interact later (135-160 ms).
Conclusions:
- Early neural processing of faces is shaped by prior experience.
- A fast anterior pathway interacts with the ventral visual system to link experience with perception.
- Perception is not solely data-driven but actively constructed based on learned associations.
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