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Published on: June 3, 2013
Bodies adapt orientation-independent face representations.
Ellyanna Kessler1, Shawn A Walls, Avniel S Ghuman
1Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Frontiers in Psychology
|July 23, 2013
Summary
Bodies activate face perception representations that are largely independent of orientation. This finding suggests a flexible visual system processing body and face information.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Faces and bodies share semantic attributes like identity and emotion.
- Body perception can influence face perception, but the nature of this interaction is unclear.
- Both face and body representations exhibit orientation specificity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether bodies activate face representations in an orientation-dependent manner.
- To explore the influence of body orientation on face perception aftereffects.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a body-face adaptation aftereffect paradigm.
- Employed a two-by-two design with upright/inverted body adaptors and upright/inverted face targets.
Main Results:
- Significant body-face adaptation was observed across all experimental conditions.
- No significant main effect of body orientation or interaction between body and face orientation was found.
- Inverted target faces exhibited larger aftereffects than upright faces, mirroring face-face adaptation findings.
Conclusions:
- Bodies activate face representations that are relatively independent of orientation.
- The visual system processes body and face information in a flexible, orientation-invariant manner.
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