Contrast Adaptation in Face Perception Revealed Through EEG and Behavior
Exposure to a face can produce biases in the perception of subsequent faces. Typically, these face aftereffects are studied by adapting to an individual face or category (e.g., faces of a given gender) and can result in renormalization of perceptions such that the adapting face appears more neutral....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2021.701097/full |
| _version_ | 1818691469490257920 |
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| author | O. Scott Gwinn Talia L. Retter Sean F. O’Neil Michael A. Webster |
| author_facet | O. Scott Gwinn Talia L. Retter Sean F. O’Neil Michael A. Webster |
| author_sort | O. Scott Gwinn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Exposure to a face can produce biases in the perception of subsequent faces. Typically, these face aftereffects are studied by adapting to an individual face or category (e.g., faces of a given gender) and can result in renormalization of perceptions such that the adapting face appears more neutral. These shifts are analogous to chromatic adaptation, where a renormalization for the average adapting color occurs. However, in color vision, adaptation can also adjust to the variance or range of colors in the distribution. We examined whether this variance or contrast adaptation also occurs for faces, using an objective EEG measure to assess response changes following adaptation. An average female face was contracted or expanded along the horizontal or vertical axis to form four images. Observers viewed a 20 s sequence of the four images presented in a fixed order at a rate of 6 Hz, while responses to the faces were recorded with EEG. A 6 Hz signal was observed over right occipito-temporal channels, indicating symmetric responses to the four images. This test sequence was repeated after 20 s adaptation to alternations between two of the faces (e.g., horizontal contracted and expanded). This adaptation resulted in an additional signal at 3 Hz, consistent with asymmetric responses to adapted and non-adapted test faces. Adapting pairs have the same mean (undistorted) as the test sequence and thus should not bias responses driven only by the mean. Instead, the results are consistent with selective adaptation to the distortion axis. A 3 Hz signal was also observed after adapting to face pairs selected to induce a mean bias (e.g., expanded vertical and expanded horizontal), and this signal was not significantly different from that observed following adaption to a single image that did not form part of the test sequence (e.g., a single image expanded both vertically and horizontally). In a further experiment, we found that this variance adaptation can also be observed behaviorally. Our results suggest that adaptation calibrates face perception not only for the average characteristics of the faces we experience but also for the gamut of faces to which we are exposed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T12:42:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2063a86b05e04ed19d2e6a4cc522e420 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5137 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T12:42:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-2063a86b05e04ed19d2e6a4cc522e4202022-12-21T21:47:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience1662-51372021-10-011510.3389/fnsys.2021.701097701097Contrast Adaptation in Face Perception Revealed Through EEG and BehaviorO. Scott Gwinn0Talia L. Retter1Sean F. O’Neil2Michael A. Webster3Visual Perception Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, United StatesCognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Science & Assessment, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, LuxembourgVisual Perception Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, United StatesVisual Perception Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, United StatesExposure to a face can produce biases in the perception of subsequent faces. Typically, these face aftereffects are studied by adapting to an individual face or category (e.g., faces of a given gender) and can result in renormalization of perceptions such that the adapting face appears more neutral. These shifts are analogous to chromatic adaptation, where a renormalization for the average adapting color occurs. However, in color vision, adaptation can also adjust to the variance or range of colors in the distribution. We examined whether this variance or contrast adaptation also occurs for faces, using an objective EEG measure to assess response changes following adaptation. An average female face was contracted or expanded along the horizontal or vertical axis to form four images. Observers viewed a 20 s sequence of the four images presented in a fixed order at a rate of 6 Hz, while responses to the faces were recorded with EEG. A 6 Hz signal was observed over right occipito-temporal channels, indicating symmetric responses to the four images. This test sequence was repeated after 20 s adaptation to alternations between two of the faces (e.g., horizontal contracted and expanded). This adaptation resulted in an additional signal at 3 Hz, consistent with asymmetric responses to adapted and non-adapted test faces. Adapting pairs have the same mean (undistorted) as the test sequence and thus should not bias responses driven only by the mean. Instead, the results are consistent with selective adaptation to the distortion axis. A 3 Hz signal was also observed after adapting to face pairs selected to induce a mean bias (e.g., expanded vertical and expanded horizontal), and this signal was not significantly different from that observed following adaption to a single image that did not form part of the test sequence (e.g., a single image expanded both vertically and horizontally). In a further experiment, we found that this variance adaptation can also be observed behaviorally. Our results suggest that adaptation calibrates face perception not only for the average characteristics of the faces we experience but also for the gamut of faces to which we are exposed.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2021.701097/fullEEGperiodic stimulationface perceptionadaptationcontrastvariance |
| spellingShingle | O. Scott Gwinn Talia L. Retter Sean F. O’Neil Michael A. Webster Contrast Adaptation in Face Perception Revealed Through EEG and Behavior Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience EEG periodic stimulation face perception adaptation contrast variance |
| title | Contrast Adaptation in Face Perception Revealed Through EEG and Behavior |
| title_full | Contrast Adaptation in Face Perception Revealed Through EEG and Behavior |
| title_fullStr | Contrast Adaptation in Face Perception Revealed Through EEG and Behavior |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contrast Adaptation in Face Perception Revealed Through EEG and Behavior |
| title_short | Contrast Adaptation in Face Perception Revealed Through EEG and Behavior |
| title_sort | contrast adaptation in face perception revealed through eeg and behavior |
| topic | EEG periodic stimulation face perception adaptation contrast variance |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2021.701097/full |
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