Modulation of the N170 adaptation profile by higher level factors

Event-related potentials provide strong evidence for a face-specific process that peaks at about 170 ms following stimulus onset--the N170 effect. The N170 has been shown to be sensitive to adaptation, reflected in an amplitude reduction by repeated face presentation, which is usually considered to be driven by bottom-up processes. Here we investigated whether the N170 adaptation profile can be modulated by top-down factors aiming at holistic or feature-based processing. Adaptor stimuli were Mooney faces, isolated facial features (eyes or mouths), or houses. Target faces required either a gender decision (holistic task), or a decision on a facial feature (detail task). We observed an intricate crossover interaction pattern, reflected in opposite effects on adaptation to Mooney faces and eyes as compared to mouth conditions. These findings provide evidence that adaptation effects can be modulated by top-down processes.