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Brain connectivity for constructing new face representations in typical adults versus a prosopagnosic patient
Ela I Olivares1, Jorge F Bosch-Bayard1, Ana S Urraca2
1Department of Biological and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus de Cantoblanco, Calle Iván Pávlov 6, Madrid 28049, Spain.
Neuroimage
|January 22, 2025
Summary
Learning new faces is more effective when external features are processed before internal ones. This approach optimizes right-hemisphere pathways for face recognition, offering insights for cognitive training in face agnosia.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Visual Perception
Background:
- The process of constructing new face representations involves integrating external and internal facial features.
- Understanding the neural pathways involved in face recognition is crucial, especially in cases of prosopagnosia (face agnosia).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neurophysiological evidence for the relevance of external versus internal facial features in constructing new face representations.
- To contrast successful face processing with a case of acquired prosopagnosia using electroencephalography (EEG).
Main Methods:
- A face-feature matching task was administered to a patient with acquired prosopagnosia and 14 age-matched controls.
- Participants viewed unknown faces with features presented in two sequences: external then internal (E→I), or internal then external (I→E).
- Induced EEG activity was analyzed using isolated effective coherence to map intracortical causal information flow among face-sensitive brain regions.
Main Results:
- Presenting external features first (E→I) activated widespread right-hemisphere pathways, from posterior visual cortices to prefrontal areas, crucial for face identity processing.
- The E→I sequence resulted in more integrative neural connections compared to the I→E sequence, which showed more restricted activity and higher attentional load.
- In the I→E sequence, the patient with prosopagnosia differed from controls by recruiting left posterior visual regions, suggesting reliance on analytical subroutines.
Conclusions:
- Initial exposure to external facial features followed by internal features provides the optimal visual cue for acquiring new face configurations.
- The findings suggest that the sequence of feature presentation significantly impacts neural processing efficiency in face recognition.
- For individuals with face agnosia, particularly after right hemisphere damage, focusing on internal features and left hemisphere processing may offer a viable cognitive training strategy.
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