Perceptual difficulty modulates the direction of information flow in familiar face recognition
Humans are fast and accurate when they recognize familiar faces. Previous neurophysiological studies have shown enhanced representations for the dichotomy of familiar vs. unfamiliar faces. As familiarity is a spectrum, however, any neural correlate should reflect graded representations for more vs....
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2021-06-01
|
| Series: | NeuroImage |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921001737 |
| _version_ | 1818596048703062016 |
|---|---|
| author | Hamid Karimi-Rouzbahani Farzad Ramezani Alexandra Woolgar Anina Rich Masoud Ghodrati |
| author_facet | Hamid Karimi-Rouzbahani Farzad Ramezani Alexandra Woolgar Anina Rich Masoud Ghodrati |
| author_sort | Hamid Karimi-Rouzbahani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Humans are fast and accurate when they recognize familiar faces. Previous neurophysiological studies have shown enhanced representations for the dichotomy of familiar vs. unfamiliar faces. As familiarity is a spectrum, however, any neural correlate should reflect graded representations for more vs. less familiar faces along the spectrum. By systematically varying familiarity across stimuli, we show a neural familiarity spectrum using electroencephalography. We then evaluated the spatiotemporal dynamics of familiar face recognition across the brain. Specifically, we developed a novel informational connectivity method to test whether peri-frontal brain areas contribute to familiar face recognition. Results showed that feed-forward flow dominates for the most familiar faces and top-down flow was only dominant when sensory evidence was insufficient to support face recognition. These results demonstrate that perceptual difficulty and the level of familiarity influence the neural representation of familiar faces and the degree to which peri-frontal neural networks contribute to familiar face recognition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T11:25:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-411c4222b717465babfe0839459e2419 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1095-9572 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T11:25:43Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage |
| spelling | doaj.art-411c4222b717465babfe0839459e24192022-12-21T22:33:22ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722021-06-01233117896Perceptual difficulty modulates the direction of information flow in familiar face recognitionHamid Karimi-Rouzbahani0Farzad Ramezani1Alexandra Woolgar2Anina Rich3Masoud Ghodrati4Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Perception in Action Research Centre and Department of Cognitive Science Macquarie University, Australia; Corresponding authors.Department of Computer Science, School of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, University of Tehran, IranMedical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Perception in Action Research Centre and Department of Cognitive Science Macquarie University, AustraliaPerception in Action Research Centre and Department of Cognitive Science Macquarie University, AustraliaNeuroscience Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Australia; Corresponding authors.Humans are fast and accurate when they recognize familiar faces. Previous neurophysiological studies have shown enhanced representations for the dichotomy of familiar vs. unfamiliar faces. As familiarity is a spectrum, however, any neural correlate should reflect graded representations for more vs. less familiar faces along the spectrum. By systematically varying familiarity across stimuli, we show a neural familiarity spectrum using electroencephalography. We then evaluated the spatiotemporal dynamics of familiar face recognition across the brain. Specifically, we developed a novel informational connectivity method to test whether peri-frontal brain areas contribute to familiar face recognition. Results showed that feed-forward flow dominates for the most familiar faces and top-down flow was only dominant when sensory evidence was insufficient to support face recognition. These results demonstrate that perceptual difficulty and the level of familiarity influence the neural representation of familiar faces and the degree to which peri-frontal neural networks contribute to familiar face recognition.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921001737Face recognitionFamiliar facesMultivariate pattern analysis (MVPA)Representational similarity analysis (RSA)Informational brain connectivity |
| spellingShingle | Hamid Karimi-Rouzbahani Farzad Ramezani Alexandra Woolgar Anina Rich Masoud Ghodrati Perceptual difficulty modulates the direction of information flow in familiar face recognition NeuroImage Face recognition Familiar faces Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) Representational similarity analysis (RSA) Informational brain connectivity |
| title | Perceptual difficulty modulates the direction of information flow in familiar face recognition |
| title_full | Perceptual difficulty modulates the direction of information flow in familiar face recognition |
| title_fullStr | Perceptual difficulty modulates the direction of information flow in familiar face recognition |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perceptual difficulty modulates the direction of information flow in familiar face recognition |
| title_short | Perceptual difficulty modulates the direction of information flow in familiar face recognition |
| title_sort | perceptual difficulty modulates the direction of information flow in familiar face recognition |
| topic | Face recognition Familiar faces Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) Representational similarity analysis (RSA) Informational brain connectivity |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921001737 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hamidkarimirouzbahani perceptualdifficultymodulatesthedirectionofinformationflowinfamiliarfacerecognition AT farzadramezani perceptualdifficultymodulatesthedirectionofinformationflowinfamiliarfacerecognition AT alexandrawoolgar perceptualdifficultymodulatesthedirectionofinformationflowinfamiliarfacerecognition AT aninarich perceptualdifficultymodulatesthedirectionofinformationflowinfamiliarfacerecognition AT masoudghodrati perceptualdifficultymodulatesthedirectionofinformationflowinfamiliarfacerecognition |