Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 22, 2026

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues
Published on: June 3, 2013
The neural representation of personally familiar and unfamiliar faces in the distributed system for face perception
Matteo Visconti di Oleggio Castello1, Yaroslav O Halchenko2, J Swaroop Guntupalli3
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA. mvdoc.gr@dartmouth.edu.
Abstract:
Personally familiar faces are processed more robustly and efficiently than unfamiliar faces. The human face processing system comprises a core system that analyzes the visual appearance of faces and an extended system for the retrieval of person-knowledge and other nonvisual information. We applied multivariate pattern analysis to fMRI data to investigate aspects of familiarity that are shared by all familiar identities and information that distinguishes specific face identities from each other. Both identity-independent familiarity information and face identity could be decoded in an overlapping set of areas in the core and extended systems. Representational similarity analysis revealed a clear distinction between the two systems and a subdivision of the core system into ventral, dorsal and anterior components. This study provides evidence that activity in the extended system carries information about both individual identities and personal familiarity, while clarifying and extending the organization of the core system for face perception.
Related Concept Videos
Association Areas of the Cortex
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
Prosopagnosia
Parallel Processing
Visual System
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Vision

