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Quek GL, de Heering A. Visual periodicity reveals distinct attentional signatures for face and non-face categories. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae228. [PMID: 38879816 PMCID: PMC11180377 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Observers can selectively deploy attention to regions of space, moments in time, specific visual features, individual objects, and even specific high-level categories-for example, when keeping an eye out for dogs while jogging. Here, we exploited visual periodicity to examine how category-based attention differentially modulates selective neural processing of face and non-face categories. We combined electroencephalography with a novel frequency-tagging paradigm capable of capturing selective neural responses for multiple visual categories contained within the same rapid image stream (faces/birds in Exp 1; houses/birds in Exp 2). We found that the pattern of attentional enhancement and suppression for face-selective processing is unique compared to other object categories: Where attending to non-face objects strongly enhances their selective neural signals during a later stage of processing (300-500 ms), attentional enhancement of face-selective processing is both earlier and comparatively more modest. Moreover, only the selective neural response for faces appears to be actively suppressed by attending towards an alternate visual category. These results underscore the special status that faces hold within the human visual system, and highlight the utility of visual periodicity as a powerful tool for indexing selective neural processing of multiple visual categories contained within the same image sequence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genevieve L Quek
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Westmead Innovation Quarter, 160 Hawkesbury Rd, Westmead NSW 2145, Australia
| | - Adélaïde de Heering
- Unité de Recherche en Neurosciences Cognitives (UNESCOG), ULB Neuroscience Institue (UNI), Center for Research in Cognition & Neurosciences (CRCN), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 50-CP191, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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2
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Lützow Holm E, Fernández Slezak D, Tagliazucchi E. Contribution of low-level image statistics to EEG decoding of semantic content in multivariate and univariate models with feature optimization. Neuroimage 2024; 293:120626. [PMID: 38677632 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2024] [Revised: 04/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Spatio-temporal patterns of evoked brain activity contain information that can be used to decode and categorize the semantic content of visual stimuli. However, this procedure can be biased by low-level image features independently of the semantic content present in the stimuli, prompting the need to understand the robustness of different models regarding these confounding factors. In this study, we trained machine learning models to distinguish between concepts included in the publicly available THINGS-EEG dataset using electroencephalography (EEG) data acquired during a rapid serial visual presentation paradigm. We investigated the contribution of low-level image features to decoding accuracy in a multivariate model, utilizing broadband data from all EEG channels. Additionally, we explored a univariate model obtained through data-driven feature selection applied to the spatial and frequency domains. While the univariate models exhibited better decoding accuracy, their predictions were less robust to the confounding effect of low-level image statistics. Notably, some of the models maintained their accuracy even after random replacement of the training dataset with semantically unrelated samples that presented similar low-level content. In conclusion, our findings suggest that model optimization impacts sensitivity to confounding factors, regardless of the resulting classification performance. Therefore, the choice of EEG features for semantic decoding should ideally be informed by criteria beyond classifier performance, such as the neurobiological mechanisms under study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Lützow Holm
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, CABA 1425, Argentina; Institute of Applied and Interdisciplinary Physics and Department of Physics, University of Buenos Aires, Pabellón 1, Ciudad Universitaria, CABA 1425, Argentina.
| | - Diego Fernández Slezak
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, CABA 1425, Argentina; Departamento de Computación, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 1, Ciudad Universitaria, CABA 1425, Argentina; Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Computación (ICC), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 1, Ciudad Universitaria, CABA 1425, Argentina
| | - Enzo Tagliazucchi
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, CABA 1425, Argentina; Institute of Applied and Interdisciplinary Physics and Department of Physics, University of Buenos Aires, Pabellón 1, Ciudad Universitaria, CABA 1425, Argentina; Latin American Brain Health (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Av. Diag. Las Torres 2640, Peñalolén 7941169, Santiago Región Metropolitana, Chile.
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3
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Sun M, Gao X. Rapid color categorization revealed by frequency-tagging-based EEG. Vision Res 2024; 217:108365. [PMID: 38368707 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2024.108365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
There has been much debate on whether color categories affect how we perceive color. Recent theories have put emphasis on the role of top-down influence on color perception that the original continuous color space in the visual cortex may be transformed into categorical encoding due to top-down modulation. To test the influence of color categories on color perception, we adopted an RSVP paradigm, where color stimuli were presented at a fast speed of 100 ms per stimulus and were forward and backward masked by the preceding and following stimuli. Moreover, no explicit color naming or categorization was required. In theory, backward masking with such a short interval in a passive viewing task should constrain top-down influence from higher-level brain areas. To measure any potentially subtle differences in brain response elicited by different color categories, we embedded a sensitive frequency-tagging-based EEG paradigm within the RSVP stimuli stream where the oddball color stimuli were encoded with a different frequency from the base color stimuli. We showed that EEG responses to cross-category oddball colors at the frequency where the oddball stimuli were presented was significantly larger than the responses to within-category oddball colors. Our study suggested that the visual cortex can automatically and implicitly encode color categories when color stimuli are presented rapidly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengdan Sun
- Department of Psychology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Xiaoqing Gao
- Center for Psychological Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
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4
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Obasih CO, Luthra S, Dick F, Holt LL. Auditory category learning is robust across training regimes. Cognition 2023; 237:105467. [PMID: 37148640 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Multiple lines of research have developed training approaches that foster category learning, with important translational implications for education. Increasing exemplar variability, blocking or interleaving by category-relevant dimension, and providing explicit instructions about diagnostic dimensions each have been shown to facilitate category learning and/or generalization. However, laboratory research often must distill the character of natural input regularities that define real-world categories. As a result, much of what we know about category learning has come from studies with simplifying assumptions. We challenge the implicit expectation that these studies reflect the process of category learning of real-world input by creating an auditory category learning paradigm that intentionally violates some common simplifying assumptions of category learning tasks. Across five experiments and nearly 300 adult participants, we used training regimes previously shown to facilitate category learning, but here drew from a more complex and multidimensional category space with tens of thousands of unique exemplars. Learning was equivalently robust across training regimes that changed exemplar variability, altered the blocking of category exemplars, or provided explicit instructions of the category-diagnostic dimension. Each drove essentially equivalent accuracy measures of learning generalization following 40 min of training. These findings suggest that auditory category learning across complex input is not as susceptible to training regime manipulation as previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chisom O Obasih
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America; Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America.
| | - Sahil Luthra
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America; Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America
| | - Frederic Dick
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, United Kingdom; Birkbeck/UCL Centre for NeuroImaging, United Kingdom
| | - Lori L Holt
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America; Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America
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5
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Schuurmans JP, Bennett MA, Petras K, Goffaux V. Backward masking reveals coarse-to-fine dynamics in human V1. Neuroimage 2023; 274:120139. [PMID: 37137434 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Natural images exhibit luminance variations aligned across a broad spectrum of spatial frequencies (SFs). It has been proposed that, at early stages of processing, the coarse signals carried by the low SF (LSF) of the visual input are sent rapidly from primary visual cortex (V1) to ventral, dorsal and frontal regions to form a coarse representation of the input, which is later sent back to V1 to guide the processing of fine-grained high SFs (i.e., HSF). We used functional resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the role of human V1 in the coarse-to-fine integration of visual input. We disrupted the processing of the coarse and fine content of full-spectrum human face stimuli via backward masking of selective SF ranges (LSFs: <1.75cpd and HSFs: >1.75cpd) at specific times (50, 83, 100 or 150ms). In line with coarse-to-fine proposals, we found that (1) the selective masking of stimulus LSF disrupted V1 activity in the earliest time window, and progressively decreased in influence, while (2) an opposite trend was observed for the masking of stimulus' HSF. This pattern of activity was found in V1, as well as in ventral (i.e. the Fusiform Face area, FFA), dorsal and orbitofrontal regions. We additionally presented subjects with contrast negated stimuli. While contrast negation significantly reduced response amplitudes in the FFA, as well as coupling between FFA and V1, coarse-to-fine dynamics were not affected by this manipulation. The fact that V1 response dynamics to strictly identical stimulus sets differed depending on the masked scale adds to growing evidence that V1 role goes beyond the early and quasi-passive transmission of visual information to the rest of the brain. It instead indicates that V1 may yield a 'spatially registered common forum' or 'blackboard' that integrates top-down inferences with incoming visual signals through its recurrent interaction with high-level regions located in the inferotemporal, dorsal and frontal regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jolien P Schuurmans
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY), UC Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
| | - Matthew A Bennett
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY), UC Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Institute of Neuroscience (IONS), UC Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Kirsten Petras
- Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Valérie Goffaux
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY), UC Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Institute of Neuroscience (IONS), UC Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
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6
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Laurent MA, Audurier P, De Castro V, Gao X, Durand JB, Jonas J, Rossion B, Cottereau BR. Towards an optimization of functional localizers in non-human primate neuroimaging with (fMRI) frequency-tagging. Neuroimage 2023; 270:119959. [PMID: 36822249 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Non-human primate (NHP) neuroimaging can provide essential insights into the neural basis of human cognitive functions. While functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) localizers can play an essential role in reaching this objective (Russ et al., 2021), they often differ substantially across species in terms of paradigms, measured signals, and data analysis, biasing the comparisons. Here we introduce a functional frequency-tagging face localizer for NHP imaging, successfully developed in humans and outperforming standard face localizers (Gao et al., 2018). FMRI recordings were performed in two awake macaques. Within a rapid 6 Hz stream of natural non-face objects images, human or monkey face stimuli were presented in bursts every 9 s. We also included control conditions with phase-scrambled versions of all images. As in humans, face-selective activity was objectively identified and quantified at the peak of the face-stimulation frequency (0.111 Hz) and its second harmonic (0.222 Hz) in the Fourier domain. Focal activations with a high signal-to-noise ratio were observed in regions previously described as face-selective, mainly in the STS (clusters PL, ML, MF; also, AL, AF), both for human and monkey faces. Robust face-selective activations were also found in the prefrontal cortex of one monkey (PVL and PO clusters). Face-selective neural activity was highly reliable and excluded all contributions from low-level visual cues contained in the amplitude spectrum of the stimuli. These observations indicate that fMRI frequency-tagging provides a highly valuable approach to objectively compare human and monkey visual recognition systems within the same framework.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pauline Audurier
- Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, CNRS, 31052 Toulouse, France
| | - Vanessa De Castro
- Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, CNRS, 31052 Toulouse, France
| | - Xiaoqing Gao
- Center for Psychological Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou City, China
| | - Jean-Baptiste Durand
- Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, CNRS, 31052 Toulouse, France
| | - Jacques Jonas
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000 Nancy, France; Universite de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de neurologie, F-54000, France
| | - Bruno Rossion
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000 Nancy, France
| | - Benoit R Cottereau
- Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, CNRS, 31052 Toulouse, France.
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7
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Intracerebral Electrophysiological Recordings to Understand the Neural Basis of Human Face Recognition. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13020354. [PMID: 36831897 PMCID: PMC9954066 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13020354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding how the human brain recognizes faces is a primary scientific goal in cognitive neuroscience. Given the limitations of the monkey model of human face recognition, a key approach in this endeavor is the recording of electrophysiological activity with electrodes implanted inside the brain of human epileptic patients. However, this approach faces a number of challenges that must be overcome for meaningful scientific knowledge to emerge. Here we synthesize a 10 year research program combining the recording of intracerebral activity (StereoElectroEncephaloGraphy, SEEG) in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC) of large samples of participants and fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS), to objectively define, quantify, and characterize the neural basis of human face recognition. These large-scale studies reconcile the wide distribution of neural face recognition activity with its (right) hemispheric and regional specialization and extend face-selectivity to anterior regions of the VOTC, including the ventral anterior temporal lobe (VATL) typically affected by magnetic susceptibility artifacts in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Clear spatial dissociations in category-selectivity between faces and other meaningful stimuli such as landmarks (houses, medial VOTC regions) or written words (left lateralized VOTC) are found, confirming and extending neuroimaging observations while supporting the validity of the clinical population tested to inform about normal brain function. The recognition of face identity - arguably the ultimate form of recognition for the human brain - beyond mere differences in physical features is essentially supported by selective populations of neurons in the right inferior occipital gyrus and the lateral portion of the middle and anterior fusiform gyrus. In addition, low-frequency and high-frequency broadband iEEG signals of face recognition appear to be largely concordant in the human association cortex. We conclude by outlining the challenges of this research program to understand the neural basis of human face recognition in the next 10 years.
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8
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Sugiyama S, Taniguchi T, Kinukawa T, Takeuchi N, Ohi K, Shioiri T, Nishihara M, Inui K. The 40-Hz auditory steady-state response enhanced by beta-band subharmonics. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1127040. [PMID: 36908794 PMCID: PMC9998542 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1127040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The 40-Hz auditory steady-state response (ASSR) has received special attention as an index of gamma oscillations owing to its association with various neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. When a periodic stimulus is presented, oscillatory responses are often elicited not only at the stimulus frequency, but also at its harmonic frequencies. However, little is known about the effect of 40-Hz subharmonic stimuli on the activity of the 40-Hz ASSR. In the present magnetoencephalography study, we focused on the nature of oscillation harmonics and examined oscillations in a wide frequency range using a time-frequency analysis during the 6.67-, 8-, 10-, 13.3-, 20-, and 40-Hz auditory stimuli in 23 healthy subjects. The results suggested that the 40-Hz ASSR represents activation of a specific circuit tuned to this frequency. Particularly, oscillations elicited by 13.3- and 20-Hz stimuli exhibited significant enhancement at 40 Hz without changing those at the stimulus frequency. In addition, it was found that there was a non-linear response to stimulation in the beta band. We also demonstrated that the inhibition of beta to low-gamma oscillations by the 40-Hz circuit contributed to the violation of the rule that harmonic oscillations gradually decrease at higher frequencies. These findings can advance our understanding of oscillatory abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shunsuke Sugiyama
- Department of Psychiatry, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Tomoya Taniguchi
- Department of Anesthesiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Tomoaki Kinukawa
- Department of Anesthesiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Nobuyuki Takeuchi
- Neuropsychiatric Department, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Japan
| | - Kazutaka Ohi
- Department of Psychiatry, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Toshiki Shioiri
- Department of Psychiatry, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Makoto Nishihara
- Multidisciplinary Pain Center, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Japan
| | - Koji Inui
- Department of Functioning and Disability, Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Developmental Disability Center, Kasugai, Japan.,Section of Brain Function Information, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Japan
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Peykarjou S. Frequency tagging with infants: The visual oddball paradigm. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1015611. [PMID: 36425830 PMCID: PMC9679632 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1015611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 10/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Combining frequency tagging with electroencephalography (EEG) provides excellent opportunities for developmental research and is increasingly employed as a powerful tool in cognitive neuroscience within the last decade. In particular, the visual oddball paradigm has been employed to elucidate face and object categorization and intermodal influences on visual perception. Still, EEG research with infants poses special challenges that require consideration and adaptations of analyses. These challenges include limits to attentional capacity, variation in looking times, and presence of artefacts in the EEG signal. Moreover, potential differences between age-groups must be carefully evaluated. This manuscript evaluates challenges theoretically and empirically by (1) a systematic review of frequency tagging studies employing the oddball paradigm and (2) combining and re-analyzing data from seven-month-old infants (N = 124, 59 females) collected in a categorization task with artifical, unfamiliar stimuli. Specifically, different criteria for sequence retention and selection of harmonics, the influence of bins considered for baseline correction and the relation between fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) responses and looking time are analyzed. Overall, evidence indicates that analysis decisions should be tailored based on age-group to optimally capture the observed signal. Recommendations for infant frequency tagging studies are developed to aid researchers in selecting appropriate stimulation and analysis strategies in future work.
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10
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Natural Contrast Statistics Facilitate Human Face Categorization. eNeuro 2022; 9:ENEURO.0420-21.2022. [PMID: 36096649 PMCID: PMC9536856 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0420-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Revised: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to detect faces in the environment is of utmost ecological importance for human social adaptation. While face categorization is efficient, fast and robust to sensory degradation, it is massively impaired when the facial stimulus does not match the natural contrast statistics of this visual category, i.e., the typically experienced ordered alternation of relatively darker and lighter regions of the face. To clarify this phenomenon, we characterized the contribution of natural contrast statistics to face categorization. Specifically, 31 human adults viewed various natural images of nonface categories at a rate of 12 Hz, with highly variable images of faces occurring every eight stimuli (1.5 Hz). As in previous studies, neural responses at 1.5 Hz as measured with high-density electroencephalography (EEG) provided an objective neural index of face categorization. Here, when face images were shown in their naturally experienced contrast statistics, the 1.5-Hz face categorization response emerged over occipito-temporal electrodes at very low contrast [5.1%, or 0.009 root-mean-square (RMS) contrast], quickly reaching optimal amplitude at 22.6% of contrast (i.e., RMS contrast of 0.041). Despite contrast negation preserving an image's spectral and geometrical properties, negative contrast images required twice as much contrast to trigger a face categorization response, and three times as much to reach optimum. These observations characterize how the internally stored natural contrast statistics of the face category facilitate visual processing for the sake of fast and efficient face categorization.
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11
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Jacques C, Jonas J, Colnat-Coulbois S, Maillard L, Rossion B. Low and high frequency intracranial neural signals match in the human associative cortex. eLife 2022; 11:76544. [PMID: 36074548 PMCID: PMC9457683 DOI: 10.7554/elife.76544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In vivo intracranial recordings of neural activity offer a unique opportunity to understand human brain function. Intracranial electrophysiological (iEEG) activity related to sensory, cognitive or motor events manifests mostly in two types of signals: event-related local field potentials in lower frequency bands (<30 Hz, LF) and broadband activity in the higher end of the frequency spectrum (>30 Hz, High frequency, HF). While most current studies rely exclusively on HF, thought to be more focal and closely related to spiking activity, the relationship between HF and LF signals is unclear, especially in human associative cortex. Here, we provide a large-scale in-depth investigation of the spatial and functional relationship between these 2 signals based on intracranial recordings from 121 individual brains (8000 recording sites). We measure category-selective responses to complex ecologically salient visual stimuli - human faces - across a wide cortical territory in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC), with a frequency-tagging method providing high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the same objective quantification of signal and noise for the two frequency ranges. While LF face-selective activity has higher SNR across the VOTC, leading to a larger number of significant electrode contacts especially in the anterior temporal lobe, LF and HF display highly similar spatial, functional, and timing properties. Specifically, and contrary to a widespread assumption, our results point to nearly identical spatial distribution and local spatial extent of LF and HF activity at equal SNR. These observations go a long way towards clarifying the relationship between the two main iEEG signals and reestablish the informative value of LF iEEG to understand human brain function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corentin Jacques
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, Nancy, France.,Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY), Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Jacques Jonas
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, Nancy, France.,Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, Nancy, France
| | | | - Louis Maillard
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, Nancy, France.,Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, Nancy, France
| | - Bruno Rossion
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, Nancy, France.,Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, Nancy, France
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12
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Rekow D, Baudouin JY, Durand K, Leleu A. Smell what you hardly see: Odors assist visual categorization in the human brain. Neuroimage 2022; 255:119181. [PMID: 35413443 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Visual categorization is the brain ability to rapidly and automatically respond to a certain category of inputs. Whether category-selective neural responses are purely visual or can be influenced by other sensory modalities remains unclear. Here, we test whether odors modulate visual categorization, expecting that odors facilitate the neural categorization of congruent visual objects, especially when the visual category is ambiguous. Scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded while natural images depicting various objects were displayed in rapid 12-Hz streams (i.e., 12 images / second) and variable exemplars of a target category (either human faces, cars, or facelike objects in dedicated sequences) were interleaved every 9th stimulus to tag category-selective responses at 12/9 = 1.33 Hz in the EEG frequency spectrum. During visual stimulation, participants (N = 26) were implicitly exposed to odor contexts (either body, gasoline or baseline odors) and performed an orthogonal cross-detection task. We identify clear category-selective responses to every category over the occipito-temporal cortex, with the largest response for human faces and the lowest for facelike objects. Critically, body odor boosts the response to the ambiguous facelike objects (i.e., either perceived as nonface objects or faces) over the right hemisphere, especially for participants reporting their presence post-stimulation. By contrast, odors do not significantly modulate other category-selective responses, nor the general visual response recorded at 12 Hz, revealing a specific influence on the categorization of congruent ambiguous stimuli. Overall, these findings support the view that the brain actively uses cues from the different senses to readily categorize visual inputs, and that olfaction, which has long been considered as poorly functional in humans, is well placed to disambiguate visual information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diane Rekow
- Development of Olfactory Communication & Cognition Lab, Center for Taste, Smell & Feeding Behavior, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, CNRS, Inrae, Institut Agro Dijon, 21000, Dijon, France.
| | - Jean-Yves Baudouin
- Laboratoire Développement, Individu, Processus, Handicap, Éducation (DIPHE), Département Psychologie du Développement, de l'Éducation et des Vulnérabilités (PsyDÉV), Institut de psychologie, Université de Lyon (Lumière Lyon 2), 5, avenue Pierre-Mendès-France, 69676, Bron, France
| | - Karine Durand
- Development of Olfactory Communication & Cognition Lab, Center for Taste, Smell & Feeding Behavior, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, CNRS, Inrae, Institut Agro Dijon, 21000, Dijon, France
| | - Arnaud Leleu
- Development of Olfactory Communication & Cognition Lab, Center for Taste, Smell & Feeding Behavior, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, CNRS, Inrae, Institut Agro Dijon, 21000, Dijon, France.
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Jin H, Hayward WG, Corballis PM. All-or-none neural mechanisms underlying face categorization: evidence from the N170. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:777-793. [PMID: 35288746 PMCID: PMC9890453 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Categorization of visual stimuli is an intrinsic aspect of human perception. Whether the cortical mechanisms underlying categorization operate in an all-or-none or graded fashion remains unclear. In this study, we addressed this issue in the context of the face-specific N170. Specifically, we investigated whether N170 amplitudes grade with the amount of face information available in an image, or a full response is generated whenever a face is perceived. We employed linear mixed-effects modeling to inspect the dependency of N170 amplitudes on stimulus properties and duration, and their relationships to participants' subjective perception. Consistent with previous studies, we found a stronger N170 evoked by faces presented for longer durations. However, further analysis with equivalence tests revealed that this duration effect was eliminated when only faces perceived with high confidence were considered. Therefore, previous evidence supporting the graded hypothesis is more likely to be an artifact of mixing heterogeneous "all" and "none" trial types in signal averaging. These results support the hypothesis that the N170 is generated in an all-or-none manner and, by extension, suggest that categorization of faces may follow a similar pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haiyang Jin
- Corresponding author: Haiyang Jin, Department of Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
| | - William G Hayward
- Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, Centennial Campus, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China
| | - Paul M Corballis
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, 23 Symonds Street, Auckland Central, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand,Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, 85 Park Road, Grafton, Auckland 1023, New Zealand
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14
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Rekow D, Baudouin JY, Brochard R, Rossion B, Leleu A. Rapid neural categorization of facelike objects predicts the perceptual awareness of a face (face pareidolia). Cognition 2022; 222:105016. [PMID: 35030358 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Revised: 12/31/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The human brain rapidly and automatically categorizes faces vs. other visual objects. However, whether face-selective neural activity predicts the subjective experience of a face - perceptual awareness - is debated. To clarify this issue, here we use face pareidolia, i.e., the illusory perception of a face, as a proxy to relate the neural categorization of a variety of facelike objects to conscious face perception. In Experiment 1, scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) is recorded while pictures of human faces or facelike objects - in different stimulation sequences - are interleaved every second (i.e., at 1 Hz) in a rapid 6-Hz train of natural images of nonface objects. Participants do not perform any explicit face categorization task during stimulation, and report whether they perceived illusory faces post-stimulation. A robust categorization response to facelike objects is identified at 1 Hz and harmonics in the EEG frequency spectrum with a facelike occipito-temporal topography. Across all individuals, the facelike categorization response is of about 20% of the response to human faces, but more strongly right-lateralized. Critically, its amplitude is much larger in participants who report having perceived illusory faces. In Experiment 2, facelike or matched nonface objects from the same categories appear at 1 Hz in sequences of nonface objects presented at variable stimulation rates (60 Hz to 12 Hz) and participants explicitly report after each sequence whether they perceived illusory faces. The facelike categorization response already emerges at the shortest stimulus duration (i.e., 17 ms at 60 Hz) and predicts the behavioral report of conscious perception. Strikingly, neural facelike-selectivity emerges exclusively when participants report illusory faces. Collectively, these experiments characterize a neural signature of face pareidolia in the context of rapid categorization, supporting the view that face-selective brain activity reliably predicts the subjective experience of a face from a single glance at a variety of stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diane Rekow
- Laboratoire Éthologie Développementale et Psychologie Cognitive, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, CNRS, Inrae, AgroSup Dijon, F-21000 Dijon, France.
| | - Jean-Yves Baudouin
- Laboratoire Développement, Individu, Processus, Handicap, Éducation (DIPHE), Département Psychologie du Développement, de l'Éducation et des Vulnérabilités (PsyDÉV), Institut de psychologie, Université de Lyon (Lumière Lyon 2), 69676 Bron, cedex, France
| | - Renaud Brochard
- Laboratoire Éthologie Développementale et Psychologie Cognitive, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, CNRS, Inrae, AgroSup Dijon, F-21000 Dijon, France
| | - Bruno Rossion
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000 Nancy, France; Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, F-54000 Nancy, France
| | - Arnaud Leleu
- Laboratoire Éthologie Développementale et Psychologie Cognitive, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, CNRS, Inrae, AgroSup Dijon, F-21000 Dijon, France.
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15
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Hauk O, Rice GE, Volfart A, Magnabosco F, Ralph MAL, Rossion B. Face-selective responses in combined EEG/MEG recordings with fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS). Neuroimage 2021; 242:118460. [PMID: 34363957 PMCID: PMC8463833 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Revised: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) allows the recording of objective brain responses of human face categorization (i.e., generalizable face-selective responses) with high signal-to-noise ratio. This approach has been successfully employed in a number of scalp electroencephalography (EEG) studies but has not been used with magnetoencephalography (MEG) yet, let alone with combined MEG/EEG recordings and distributed source estimation. Here, we presented various natural images of faces periodically (1.2 Hz) among natural images of objects (base frequency 6 Hz) whilst recording simultaneous EEG and MEG in 15 participants. Both measurement modalities showed face-selective responses at 1.2 Hz and harmonics across participants, with high and comparable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in about 3 min of stimulation. The correlation of face categorization responses between EEG and two MEG sensor types was lower than between the two MEG sensor types, indicating that the two sensor modalities provide independent information about the sources of face-selective responses. Face-selective EEG responses were right-lateralized as reported previously, and were numerically but non-significantly right-lateralized in MEG data. Distributed source estimation based on combined EEG/MEG signals confirmed a more bilateral face-selective response in visual brain regions located anteriorly to the common response to all stimuli at 6 Hz and harmonics. Conventional sensor and source space analyses of evoked responses in the time domain further corroborated this result. Our results demonstrate that FPVS in combination with simultaneously recorded EEG and MEG may serve as an efficient localizer paradigm for human face categorization.
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Affiliation(s)
- O Hauk
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK.
| | - G E Rice
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK
| | - A Volfart
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN UMR 7039, Nancy F-54000, France; Research Institute for Psychological Science, University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - F Magnabosco
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK
| | - M A Lambon Ralph
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK
| | - B Rossion
- Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN UMR 7039, Nancy F-54000, France; Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, Nancy F-54000, France
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16
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Quek GL, Rossion B, Liu-Shuang J. Critical information thresholds underlying generic and familiar face categorisation at the same face encounter. Neuroimage 2021; 243:118481. [PMID: 34416398 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Seeing a face in the real world provokes a host of automatic categorisations related to sex, emotion, identity, and more. Such individual facets of human face recognition have been extensively examined using overt categorisation judgements, yet their relative informational dependencies during the same face encounter are comparatively unknown. Here we used EEG to assess how increasing access to sensory input governs two ecologically relevant brain functions elicited by seeing a face: Distinguishing faces and nonfaces, and recognising people we know. Observers viewed a large set of natural images that progressively increased in either image duration (experiment 1) or spatial frequency content (experiment 2). We show that in the absence of an explicit categorisation task, the human brain requires less sensory input to categorise a stimulus as a face than it does to recognise whether that face is familiar. Moreover, where sensory thresholds for distinguishing faces/nonfaces were remarkably consistent across observers, there was high inter-individual variability in the lower informational bound for familiar face recognition, underscoring the neurofunctional distinction between these categorisation functions. By i) indexing a form of face recognition that goes beyond simple low-level differences between categories, and ii) tapping multiple recognition functions elicited by the same face encounters, the information minima we report bear high relevance to real-world face encounters, where the same stimulus is categorised along multiple dimensions at once. Thus, our finding of lower informational requirements for generic vs. familiar face recognition constitutes some of the strongest evidence to date for the intuitive notion that sensory input demands should be lower for recognising face category than face identity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genevieve L Quek
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
| | - Bruno Rossion
- Institute of Research in Psychology (IPSY), University of Louvain, Louvain, Belgium; Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRAN, F-54000 Nancy, France; Université de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, Service de Neurologie, Lorraine F-54000, France
| | - Joan Liu-Shuang
- Institute of Research in Psychology (IPSY), University of Louvain, Louvain, Belgium
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Fast Periodic Auditory Stimulation Reveals a Robust Categorical Response to Voices in the Human Brain. eNeuro 2021; 8:ENEURO.0471-20.2021. [PMID: 34016602 PMCID: PMC8225406 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0471-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Voices are arguably among the most relevant sounds in humans' everyday life, and several studies have suggested the existence of voice-selective regions in the human brain. Despite two decades of research, defining the human brain regions supporting voice recognition remains challenging. Moreover, whether neural selectivity to voices is merely driven by acoustic properties specific to human voices (e.g., spectrogram, harmonicity), or whether it also reflects a higher-level categorization response is still under debate. Here, we objectively measured rapid automatic categorization responses to human voices with fast periodic auditory stimulation (FPAS) combined with electroencephalography (EEG). Participants were tested with stimulation sequences containing heterogeneous non-vocal sounds from different categories presented at 4 Hz (i.e., four stimuli/s), with vocal sounds appearing every three stimuli (1.333 Hz). A few minutes of stimulation are sufficient to elicit robust 1.333 Hz voice-selective focal brain responses over superior temporal regions of individual participants. This response is virtually absent for sequences using frequency-scrambled sounds, but is clearly observed when voices are presented among sounds from musical instruments matched for pitch and harmonicity-to-noise ratio (HNR). Overall, our FPAS paradigm demonstrates that the human brain seamlessly categorizes human voices when compared with other sounds including musical instruments' sounds matched for low level acoustic features and that voice-selective responses are at least partially independent from low-level acoustic features, making it a powerful and versatile tool to understand human auditory categorization in general.
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18
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Fisher K, Towler J, Rossion B, Eimer M. Neural responses in a fast periodic visual stimulation paradigm reveal domain-general visual discrimination deficits in developmental prosopagnosia. Cortex 2020; 133:76-102. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2020] [Revised: 08/01/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
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Bottari D, Bednaya E, Dormal G, Villwock A, Dzhelyova M, Grin K, Pietrini P, Ricciardi E, Rossion B, Röder B. EEG frequency-tagging demonstrates increased left hemispheric involvement and crossmodal plasticity for face processing in congenitally deaf signers. Neuroimage 2020; 223:117315. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2019] [Revised: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
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20
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Rossion B, Retter TL, Liu‐Shuang J. Understanding human individuation of unfamiliar faces with oddball fast periodic visual stimulation and electroencephalography. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 52:4283-4344. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Revised: 05/19/2020] [Accepted: 05/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Rossion
- CNRS, CRAN UMR7039 Université de Lorraine F‐54000Nancy France
- Service de Neurologie, CHRU‐Nancy Université de Lorraine F‐54000Nancy France
| | - Talia L. Retter
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences Faculty of Language and Literature Humanities, Arts and Education University of Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg
| | - Joan Liu‐Shuang
- Institute of Research in Psychological Science Institute of Neuroscience Université de Louvain Louvain‐la‐Neuve Belgium
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21
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Rekow D, Leleu A, Poncet F, Damon F, Rossion B, Durand K, Schaal B, Baudouin JY. Categorization of objects and faces in the infant brain and its sensitivity to maternal odor: further evidence for the role of intersensory congruency in perceptual development. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2020.100930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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