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DeGutis J, Kirsch L, Evans TC, Fry R, Lee DJ, Mishra M, Campbell A. Perceptual heterogeneity in developmental prosopagnosia is continuous, not categorical. Cortex 2024; 176:37-52. [PMID: 38744075 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.03.011] [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: 09/16/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is associated with considerable perceptual heterogeneity, though the nature of this heterogeneity and whether there are discrete subgroups versus continuous deficits remains unclear. Bennetts et al. (2022) recently found that holistic versus featural processing deficits distinguished discrete DP subgroups, but their sample was relatively small (N = 37), and subgroups were defined using a single task. To characterize perceptual heterogeneity in DPs more comprehensively, we administered a broad face perception battery to a large sample of 109 DPs and 134 controls, including validated measures of face matching (Cambridge Face Perception Test - CFPT, Computerized Benton Facial Recognition Test, Same/Different Face Matching Task), holistic processing (Part-Whole Task), and feature processing (Georges Task and Part-Whole part trials). When examining face matching measures, DPs exhibited a similar distribution of performance as controls, though shifted towards impairment by an average of 1.4 SD. We next applied Bennetts (2022) hierarchical clustering approach and k-means clustering to the CFPT upright, inverted, and inversion index measures, similarly finding one group of DPs with poorer inverted face performance and another with a decreased face inversion effect (holistic processing). However, these subgroup differences failed to generalize to other measures of feature and holistic processing beyond the CFPT. We finally ran hierarchical and k-means cluster analyses on our larger battery of face matching, feature, and holistic processing measures. Results clearly showed subgroups with generally better versus worse performance across all measures, with the distinction between groups being somewhat arbitrary. Together, these findings support a continuous account of DP perceptual heterogeneity, with performance differing primarily across all aspects of face perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph DeGutis
- Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Leah Kirsch
- Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Travis C Evans
- Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Regan Fry
- Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel J Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maruti Mishra
- Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; California State University, Bakersfield, CA, USA
| | - Alison Campbell
- Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
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2
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Linka M, Broda MD, Alsheimer T, de Haas B, Ramon M. Characteristic fixation biases in Super-Recognizers. J Vis 2022; 22:17. [PMID: 35900724 PMCID: PMC9344214 DOI: 10.1167/jov.22.8.17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurotypical observers show large and reliable individual differences in gaze behavior along several semantic object dimensions. Individual gaze behavior toward faces has been linked to face identity processing, including that of neurotypical observers. Here, we investigated potential gaze biases in Super-Recognizers (SRs), individuals with exceptional face identity processing skills. Ten SRs, identified with a novel conservative diagnostic framework, and 43 controls freely viewed 700 complex scenes depicting more than 5000 objects. First, we tested whether SRs and controls differ in fixation biases along four semantic dimensions: faces, text, objects being touched, and bodies. Second, we tested potential group differences in fixation biases toward eyes and mouths. Finally, we tested whether SRs fixate closer to the theoretical optimal fixation point for face identification. SRs showed a stronger gaze bias toward faces and away from text and touched objects, starting from the first fixation onward. Further, SRs spent a significantly smaller proportion of first fixations and dwell time toward faces on mouths but did not differ in dwell time or first fixations devoted to eyes. Face fixation of SRs also fell significantly closer to the theoretical optimal fixation point for identification, just below the eyes. Our findings suggest that reliable superiority for face identity processing is accompanied by early fixation biases toward faces and preferred saccadic landing positions close to the theoretical optimum for face identification. We discuss future directions to investigate the functional basis of individual fixation behavior and face identity processing ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcel Linka
- Experimental Psychology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,
| | | | - Tamara Alsheimer
- Experimental Psychology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,Applied Face Cognition Lab, University of Lausanne, Institute of Psychology, Lausanne, Switzerland.,
| | - Benjamin de Haas
- Experimental Psychology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,
| | - Meike Ramon
- Applied Face Cognition Lab, University of Lausanne, Institute of Psychology, Lausanne, Switzerland.,
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3
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DeGutis J, Li X, Yosef B, Mishra MV. Not so fast! Response times in the computerized Benton Face Recognition Test may not reflect face recognition ability. Cogn Neuropsychol 2022; 39:155-169. [PMID: 36202620 PMCID: PMC9557987 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2022.2114824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Response times (RTs) are commonly used to assess cognitive abilities, though it is unclear whether face processing RTs predict recognition ability beyond accuracy. In the current study, we examined accuracy and RT on a widely used face matching assessment modified to collect meaningful RT data, the computerized Benton Facial Recognition Test (BFRT-c), and measured whether RTs predicted face recognition ability and developmental prosopagnosia (DP) vs. control group membership. 62 controls and 36 DPs performed the BFRT-c as well as validated measures of face recognition ability: the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) and a Famous Faces Memory Test (FFMT). In controls, BFRT-c accuracy robustly predicted CFMT (r = .49, p < .001), FFMT (r = .43, p < .001), and a CFMT-FFMT composite (r = .54, p < .001), whereas BFRT-c RT was not significantly associated with these measures (all r's .21). We also found that BFRT-c accuracy significantly differed between DPs and controls, but RT failed to differentiate the groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph DeGutis
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical school, Boston,
MA, USA.,Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston
Healthcare, Jamaica Plain Division, 150 S Huntington Ave., Boston, MA, USA
| | - Xian Li
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical school, Boston,
MA, USA.,Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston
Healthcare, Jamaica Plain Division, 150 S Huntington Ave., Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Bar Yosef
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical school, Boston,
MA, USA.,Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston
Healthcare, Jamaica Plain Division, 150 S Huntington Ave., Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maruti V. Mishra
- Active Perception Lab, Center for Visual Science,
University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
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4
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Mishra MV, Fry RM, Saad E, Arizpe JM, Ohashi YGB, DeGutis JM. Comparing the sensitivity of face matching assessments to detect face perception impairments. Neuropsychologia 2021; 163:108067. [PMID: 34673046 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Numerous neurological, developmental, and psychiatric conditions demonstrate impaired face recognition, which can be socially debilitating. These impairments can be caused by either deficient face perception or face memory mechanisms. Though there are well-validated, sensitive measures of face memory impairments, it currently remains unclear which assessments best measure face perception impairments. A sensitive, validated face perception measure could help with diagnosing causes of face recognition deficits and be useful in characterizing individual differences in unimpaired populations. Here, we compared the computerized Benton Face Recognition Test (BFRT-c) and Cambridge Face Perception Test (CFPT) in their ability to differentiate developmental prosopagnosics (DPs, N = 30) and age-matched controls (N = 30). Participants completed the BFRT-c, CFPT, and two additional face perception assessments: the University of Southern California Face Perception Test (USCFPT) and a novel same/different face matching test (SDFMT). Participants were also evaluated on objective and subjective face recognition tasks including the Cambridge Face Memory Test, famous faces test, and Prosopagnosia Index-20. We performed a logistic regression with the perception tests predicting DP vs. control group membership and used multiple linear regressions to predict continuous objective and subjective face recognition memory. Our results show that the BFRT-c performed as well as, if not better than, the CFPT, and that both tests clearly outperformed the USCFPT and SDFMT. Further, exploratory analyses revealed that face lighting-change conditions better predicted DP group membership and face recognition abilities than viewpoint-change conditions. Together, these results support the combined use of the BFRT-c and CFPT to best assess face perception impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maruti V Mishra
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare, Jamaica Plain Division, 150 S Huntington Ave., Boston, MA, USA
| | - Regan M Fry
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare, Jamaica Plain Division, 150 S Huntington Ave., Boston, MA, USA
| | - Elyana Saad
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Joseph M Arizpe
- Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Fort Sam Houston, TX, USA
| | - Yuri-Grace B Ohashi
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Harvard Decision Science Laboratory, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Joseph M DeGutis
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare, Jamaica Plain Division, 150 S Huntington Ave., Boston, MA, USA.
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Avidan G, Behrmann M. Spatial Integration in Normal Face Processing and Its Breakdown in Congenital Prosopagnosia. Annu Rev Vis Sci 2021; 7:301-321. [PMID: 34014762 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-vision-113020-012740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Congenital prosopagnosia (CP), a life-long impairment in face processing that occurs in the absence of any apparent brain damage, provides a unique model in which to explore the psychological and neural bases of normal face processing. The goal of this review is to offer a theoretical and conceptual framework that may account for the underlying cognitive and neural deficits in CP. This framework may also provide a novel perspective in which to reconcile some conflicting results that permits the expansion of the research in this field in new directions. The crux of this framework lies in linking the known behavioral and neural underpinnings of face processing and their impairments in CP to a model incorporating grid cell-like activity in the entorhinal cortex. Moreover, it stresses the involvement of active, spatial scanning of the environment with eye movements and implicates their critical role in face encoding and recognition. To begin with, we describe the main behavioral and neural characteristics of CP, and then lay down the building blocks of our proposed model, referring to the existing literature supporting this new framework. We then propose testable predictions and conclude with open questions for future research stemming from this model. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Vision Science, Volume 7 is September 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Galia Avidan
- Department of Psychology and Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel;
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA
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Bylemans T, Vrancken L, Verfaillie K. Developmental Prosopagnosia and Elastic Versus Static Face Recognition in an Incidental Learning Task. Front Psychol 2020; 11:2098. [PMID: 32982859 PMCID: PMC7488957 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02098] [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: 02/28/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research on the beneficial effect of motion has postulated that learning a face in motion provides additional cues to recognition. Surprisingly, however, few studies have examined the beneficial effect of motion in an incidental learning task and developmental prosopagnosia (DP) even though such studies could provide more valuable information about everyday face recognition compared to the perception of static faces. In the current study, 18 young adults (Experiment 1) and five DPs and 10 age-matched controls (Experiment 2) participated in an incidental learning task during which both static and elastically moving unfamiliar faces were sequentially presented and were to be recognized in a delayed visual search task during which the faces could either keep their original presentation or switch (from static to elastically moving or vice versa). In Experiment 1, performance in the elastic-elastic condition reached a significant improvement relative to the elastic-static and static-elastic condition, however, no significant difference could be detected relative to the static-static condition. Except for higher scores in the elastic-elastic compared to the static-elastic condition in the age-matched group, no other significant differences were detected between conditions for both the DPs and the age-matched controls. The current study could not provide compelling evidence for a general beneficial effect of motion. Age-matched controls performed generally worse than DPs, which may potentially be explained by their higher rates of false alarms. Factors that could have influenced the results are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom Bylemans
- Brain and Cognition, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Leia Vrancken
- Brain and Cognition, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Karl Verfaillie
- Brain and Cognition, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Stumps A, Saad E, Rothlein D, Verfaellie M, DeGutis J. Characterizing developmental prosopagnosia beyond face perception: Impaired recollection but intact familiarity recognition. Cortex 2020; 130:64-77. [PMID: 32640375 PMCID: PMC10762680 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Converging lines of research suggests that many developmental prosopagnosics (DPs) have impairments beyond face perception, but currently no framework exists to characterize these impaired mechanisms. One potential extra-perceptual deficit is that DPs encode/retrieve faces in a distinct manner from controls that does not sufficiently support individuation. To test this possibility, 30 DPs and 30 matched controls performed an old/new face recognition task while providing confidence ratings, to which a model-based ROC analysis was applied. DPs had significantly reduced recollection compared to controls, driven by fewer 'high-confidence target' responses, but intact familiarity. Recollection and face perception ability uniquely predicted objective and subjective prosopagnosia symptoms, together explaining 51% and 56% of the variance, respectively. These results suggest that a specific deficit in face recollection in DP may represent a core aspect of the difficulty in confidently identifying an individual by their face.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Stumps
- Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Elyana Saad
- Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David Rothlein
- Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mieke Verfaellie
- Memory Disorders Research Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; Boston University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, USA
| | - Joseph DeGutis
- Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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8
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Wilcockson TD, Burns EJ, Xia B, Tree J, Crawford TJ. Atypically heterogeneous vertical first fixations to faces in a case series of people with developmental prosopagnosia. VISUAL COGNITION 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2020.1797968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas D.W. Wilcockson
- School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
- Psychology Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | | | - Baiqiang Xia
- Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Jeremy Tree
- Psychology Department, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
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Marsh JE, Biotti F, Cook R, Gray KLH. The discrimination of facial sex in developmental prosopagnosia. Sci Rep 2019; 9:19079. [PMID: 31836836 PMCID: PMC6910918 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-55569-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by difficulties recognising and discriminating faces. It is currently unclear whether the perceptual impairments seen in DP are restricted to identity information, or also affect the perception of other facial characteristics. To address this question, we compared the performance of 17 DPs and matched controls on two sensitive sex categorisation tasks. First, in a morph categorisation task, participants made binary decisions about faces drawn from a morph continuum that blended incrementally an average male face and an average female face. We found that judgement precision was significantly lower in the DPs than in the typical controls. Second, we used a sex discrimination task, where female or male facial identities were blended with an androgynous average face. We manipulated the relative weighting of each facial identity and the androgynous average to create four levels of signal strength. We found that DPs were significantly less sensitive than controls at each level of difficulty. Together, these results suggest that the visual processing difficulties in DP extend beyond the extraction of facial identity and affects the extraction of other facial characteristics. Deficits of facial sex categorisation accord with an apperceptive characterisation of DP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jade E Marsh
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
| | - Federica Biotti
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
| | - Richard Cook
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Katie L H Gray
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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