Altering second-order configurations reduces the adaptation effects on early face-sensitive event-related potential...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Visual Perception
• Human Face Recognition

Background:

• Second-order relations, the spatial distances between facial features, are crucial for face recognition.
• Previous research on the N170 component's sensitivity to these relations yielded inconsistent findings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if the N170 event-related potential component is sensitive to second-order spatial relations in faces.
• To explore how adaptation to manipulated facial features affects gender perception and N170 responses.

Main Methods:

• Participants underwent long-term adaptation (5s) to normal or vertically stretched male and female faces.
• Gender discrimination of ambiguous faces was assessed post-adaptation.
• Event-related potentials (ERPs), specifically the N170 component, were recorded.

Main Results:

• Adaptation to faces altered subsequent gender judgments, creating an aftereffect.
• This aftereffect was significantly smaller for vertically stretched faces compared to normal faces.
• N170 amplitude reduction due to adaptation was less pronounced for stretched faces, indicating sensitivity to spatial feature relations.

Conclusions:

• Early face processing, reflected by the N170 component, involves the extraction of spatial relations among inner facial features.
• The N170 is sensitive to alterations in these second-order spatial properties of faces.