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Face perception is tuned to horizontal orientation in the N170 time window
Corentin Jacques1, Christine Schiltz, Valerie Goffaux
1Research Institute for Psychological Science (ISPSY), UC Louvain, Belgium.
Journal of Vision
|February 11, 2014
Summary
Early face perception relies on horizontal image features. This study reveals that horizontal information is crucial for face-specific neural processing, influencing how we recognize faces even when inverted.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Face perception is uniquely sensitive to image orientation, particularly inversion.
- Horizontal image features are hypothesized to play a critical role in face recognition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate when in the visual processing stream face perception becomes tuned to horizontal information.
- To determine the impact of orientation (horizontal vs. vertical) on face-specific processing.
Main Methods:
- Behavioral discrimination tasks and scalp event-related potentials (ERPs) were used.
- Participants viewed upright and inverted images of faces, cars, and scenes with controlled orientation randomization (vertical, horizontal, or nonrandomized).
Main Results:
- The inversion effect on behavioral performance was reduced for horizontally randomized faces.
- Early neural processing (N170 component) showed a reduced inversion effect for horizontally randomized faces compared to nonrandomized or vertically randomized faces.
Conclusions:
- Early face-specific neural representations are preferentially tuned to horizontal image information.
- This finding provides new insights into the visual information critical for face perception and its processing stream.
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