Real-life relevant face perception is not captured by the N170 but reflected in later potentials: A comparison of 2D and virtual reality stimuli
The perception of faces is one of the most specialized visual processes in the human brain and has been investigated by means of the early event-related potential component N170. However, face perception has mostly been studied in the conventional laboratory, i.e., monitor setups, offering rather di...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1050892/full |
| _version_ | 1797858950105792512 |
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| author | Merle Sagehorn Marike Johnsdorf Joanna Kisker Sophia Sylvester Thomas Gruber Benjamin Schöne |
| author_facet | Merle Sagehorn Marike Johnsdorf Joanna Kisker Sophia Sylvester Thomas Gruber Benjamin Schöne |
| author_sort | Merle Sagehorn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The perception of faces is one of the most specialized visual processes in the human brain and has been investigated by means of the early event-related potential component N170. However, face perception has mostly been studied in the conventional laboratory, i.e., monitor setups, offering rather distal presentation of faces as planar 2D-images. Increasing spatial proximity through Virtual Reality (VR) allows to present 3D, real-life-sized persons at personal distance to participants, thus creating a feeling of social involvement and adding a self-relevant value to the presented faces. The present study compared the perception of persons under conventional laboratory conditions (PC) with realistic conditions in VR. Paralleling standard designs, pictures of unknown persons and standard control images were presented in a PC- and a VR-modality. To investigate how the mechanisms of face perception differ under realistic conditions from those under conventional laboratory conditions, the typical face-specific N170 and subsequent components were analyzed in both modalities. Consistent with previous laboratory research, the N170 lost discriminatory power when translated to realistic conditions, as it only discriminated faces and controls under laboratory conditions. Most interestingly, analysis of the later component [230–420 ms] revealed more differentiated face-specific processing in VR, as indicated by distinctive, stimulus-specific topographies. Complemented by source analysis, the results on later latencies show that face-specific neural mechanisms are applied only under realistic conditions (A video abstract is available in the Supplementary material and via YouTube: https://youtu.be/TF8wiPUrpSY). |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:21:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7c81d26435e6414ca3540832d85521c0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:21:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-7c81d26435e6414ca3540832d85521c02023-03-28T05:46:14ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-03-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.10508921050892Real-life relevant face perception is not captured by the N170 but reflected in later potentials: A comparison of 2D and virtual reality stimuliMerle Sagehorn0Marike Johnsdorf1Joanna Kisker2Sophia Sylvester3Thomas Gruber4Benjamin Schöne5Experimental Psychology I, Institute of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyExperimental Psychology I, Institute of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyExperimental Psychology I, Institute of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanySemantic Information Systems Research Group, Institute of Computer Science, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyExperimental Psychology I, Institute of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyExperimental Psychology I, Institute of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, GermanyThe perception of faces is one of the most specialized visual processes in the human brain and has been investigated by means of the early event-related potential component N170. However, face perception has mostly been studied in the conventional laboratory, i.e., monitor setups, offering rather distal presentation of faces as planar 2D-images. Increasing spatial proximity through Virtual Reality (VR) allows to present 3D, real-life-sized persons at personal distance to participants, thus creating a feeling of social involvement and adding a self-relevant value to the presented faces. The present study compared the perception of persons under conventional laboratory conditions (PC) with realistic conditions in VR. Paralleling standard designs, pictures of unknown persons and standard control images were presented in a PC- and a VR-modality. To investigate how the mechanisms of face perception differ under realistic conditions from those under conventional laboratory conditions, the typical face-specific N170 and subsequent components were analyzed in both modalities. Consistent with previous laboratory research, the N170 lost discriminatory power when translated to realistic conditions, as it only discriminated faces and controls under laboratory conditions. Most interestingly, analysis of the later component [230–420 ms] revealed more differentiated face-specific processing in VR, as indicated by distinctive, stimulus-specific topographies. Complemented by source analysis, the results on later latencies show that face-specific neural mechanisms are applied only under realistic conditions (A video abstract is available in the Supplementary material and via YouTube: https://youtu.be/TF8wiPUrpSY).https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1050892/fullface perceptionN170virtual realitylate potentialsrealistic conditionsecological validity |
| spellingShingle | Merle Sagehorn Marike Johnsdorf Joanna Kisker Sophia Sylvester Thomas Gruber Benjamin Schöne Real-life relevant face perception is not captured by the N170 but reflected in later potentials: A comparison of 2D and virtual reality stimuli Frontiers in Psychology face perception N170 virtual reality late potentials realistic conditions ecological validity |
| title | Real-life relevant face perception is not captured by the N170 but reflected in later potentials: A comparison of 2D and virtual reality stimuli |
| title_full | Real-life relevant face perception is not captured by the N170 but reflected in later potentials: A comparison of 2D and virtual reality stimuli |
| title_fullStr | Real-life relevant face perception is not captured by the N170 but reflected in later potentials: A comparison of 2D and virtual reality stimuli |
| title_full_unstemmed | Real-life relevant face perception is not captured by the N170 but reflected in later potentials: A comparison of 2D and virtual reality stimuli |
| title_short | Real-life relevant face perception is not captured by the N170 but reflected in later potentials: A comparison of 2D and virtual reality stimuli |
| title_sort | real life relevant face perception is not captured by the n170 but reflected in later potentials a comparison of 2d and virtual reality stimuli |
| topic | face perception N170 virtual reality late potentials realistic conditions ecological validity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1050892/full |
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