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Kimchi R, Behrmann M, Avidan G, Amishav R. Perceptual separability of featural and configural information in congenital prosopagnosia. Cogn Neuropsychol 2013; 29:447-63. [DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2012.752723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Kimchi
- a Department of Psychology , University of Haifa , Haifa , Israel
- d Institute of Information Processing and Decision Making , University of Haifa , Haifa , Israel
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- b Department of Psychology , Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh , PA , USA
| | - Galia Avidan
- c Department of Psychology , Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel
| | - Rama Amishav
- d Institute of Information Processing and Decision Making , University of Haifa , Haifa , Israel
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Vesker M, Wilson HR. Face context advantage explained by vernier and separation discrimination acuity. Front Psychol 2013; 3:617. [PMID: 23346066 PMCID: PMC3549620 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2012] [Accepted: 12/23/2012] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Seeing facial features in the context of a full face is known to provide an advantage for perception. Using an interocular separation perception task we confirmed that seeing eyes within the context of a face improves discrimination in synthetic faces. We also show that this improvement of the face context can be explained using the presence of individual components of the face such as the nose mouth, or head-outline. We demonstrate that improvements due to the presence of the nose, and head-outline can be explained in terms of two-point separation measurements, obeying Weber’s law as established in the literature. We also demonstrate that performance improvements due to the presence of the mouth can be explained in terms of Vernier acuity judgments between eye positions and the corners of the mouth. Overall, our study shows that the improvements in perception of facial features due to the face context effect can be traced to well understood basic visual measurements that may play a very general role in perceptual measurements of distance. Deficiencies in these measurements may also play a role in prosopagnosia. Additionally, we show interference of the eyebrows with the face-inversion effect for interocular discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Vesker
- Department of Biology, Centre for Vision Research, York University Toronto, ON, Canada
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de Heering A, Maurer D. Face memory deficits in patients deprived of early visual input by bilateral congenital cataracts. Dev Psychobiol 2012. [PMID: 23192566 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Adélaïde de Heering
- Visual Development Lab, Department of Psychology; Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University; 1280 Main Street West Hamilton Ontario, Canada L8S4L8
| | - Daphne Maurer
- Visual Development Lab, Department of Psychology; Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University; 1280 Main Street West Hamilton Ontario, Canada L8S4L8
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Stollhoff R, Kennerknecht I, Elze T, Jost J. A computational model of dysfunctional facial encoding in congenital prosopagnosia. Neural Netw 2011; 24:652-64. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2011.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2010] [Revised: 02/14/2011] [Accepted: 03/06/2011] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Lim TS, Lee HY, Barton JJS, Moon SY. Deficits in face perception in the amnestic form of mild cognitive impairment. J Neurol Sci 2011; 309:123-7. [PMID: 21783204 DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2011.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2011] [Revised: 06/28/2011] [Accepted: 07/01/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The fusiform gyrus is involved pathologically at an early stage of the amnestic form of mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and is also known to be involved in the perceptual stage of face processing. We assessed face perception in patients with aMCI to determine if this cognitive skill was impaired. We compared 12 individuals (4 men) with aMCI and 12 age- and education-matched healthy controls on the ability to discriminate changes in the spatial configuration or color of the eyes or the mouth in faces. Patients with aMCI performed less quickly and accurately for all changes on trials with limited viewing duration. With unlimited duration, they could achieve normal perceptual accuracy for configural changes to the mouth, but remained impaired for changes to eye color or configuration. Patients with aMCI show deficits in face perception that are more pronounced for the highly salient ocular region, a pattern similar to that seen in acquired prosopagnosia. This form of perceptual impairment may be an early marker of additional cognitive deficits beyond memory in aMCI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tae Sung Lim
- Department of Neurology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea
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Avidan G, Tanzer M, Behrmann M. Impaired holistic processing in congenital prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia 2011; 49:2541-52. [PMID: 21601583 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 164] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2010] [Revised: 05/01/2011] [Accepted: 05/05/2011] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
It has long been argued that face processing requires disproportionate reliance on holistic or configural processing, relative to that required for non-face object recognition, and that a disruption of such holistic processing may be causally implicated in prosopagnosia. Previously, we demonstrated that individuals with congenital prosopagnosia (CP) did not show the normal face inversion effect (better performance for upright compared to inverted faces) and evinced a local (rather than the normal global) bias in a compound letter global/local (GL) task, supporting the claim of disrupted holistic processing in prosopagnosia. Here, we investigate further the nature of holistic processing impairments in CP, first by confirming, in a large sample of CP individuals, the absence of the normal face inversion effect and the presence of the local bias on the GL task, and, second, by employing the composite face paradigm, often regarded as the gold standard for measuring holistic face processing. In this last task, we show that, in contrast with controls, the CP group perform equivalently with aligned and misaligned faces and was impervious to (the normal) interference from the task-irrelevant bottom part of faces. Interestingly, the extent of the local bias evident in the composite task is correlated with the abnormality of performance on diagnostic face processing tasks. Furthermore, there is a significant correlation between the magnitude of the local bias in the GL and performance on the composite task. These results provide further evidence for impaired holistic processing in CP and, moreover, corroborate the critical role of this type of processing for intact face recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Galia Avidan
- Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
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Busigny T, Rossion B. Holistic processing impairment can be restricted to faces in acquired prosopagnosia: Evidence from the global/local Navon effect. J Neuropsychol 2011; 5:1-14. [DOI: 10.1348/174866410x500116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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8
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Stollhoff R, Jost J, Elze T, Kennerknecht I. Deficits in long-term recognition memory reveal dissociated subtypes in congenital prosopagnosia. PLoS One 2011; 6:e15702. [PMID: 21283572 PMCID: PMC3026793 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2010] [Accepted: 11/22/2010] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The study investigates long-term recognition memory in congenital prosopagnosia (CP), a lifelong impairment in face identification that is present from birth. Previous investigations of processing deficits in CP have mostly relied on short-term recognition tests to estimate the scope and severity of individual deficits. We firstly report on a controlled test of long-term (one year) recognition memory for faces and objects conducted with a large group of participants with CP. Long-term recognition memory is significantly impaired in eight CP participants (CPs). In all but one case, this deficit was selective to faces and didn't extend to intra-class recognition of object stimuli. In a test of famous face recognition, long-term recognition deficits were less pronounced, even after accounting for differences in media consumption between controls and CPs. Secondly, we combined test results on long-term and short-term recognition of faces and objects, and found a large heterogeneity in severity and scope of individual deficits. Analysis of the observed heterogeneity revealed a dissociation of CP into subtypes with a homogeneous phenotypical profile. Thirdly, we found that among CPs self-assessment of real-life difficulties, based on a standardized questionnaire, and experimentally assessed face recognition deficits are strongly correlated. Our results demonstrate that controlled tests of long-term recognition memory are needed to fully assess face recognition deficits in CP. Based on controlled and comprehensive experimental testing, CP can be dissociated into subtypes with a homogeneous phenotypical profile. The CP subtypes identified align with those found in prosopagnosia caused by cortical lesions; they can be interpreted with respect to a hierarchical neural system for face perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rainer Stollhoff
- Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
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Holistic perception of the individual face is specific and necessary: evidence from an extensive case study of acquired prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia 2010; 48:4057-92. [PMID: 20875437 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2010] [Revised: 08/05/2010] [Accepted: 09/16/2010] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
We present an extensive investigation (24 experiments) of a new case of prosopagnosia following right unilateral damage, GG, with the aim of addressing two classical issues: (1) Can a visual recognition impairment truly be specific to faces? (2) What is the nature of acquired prosopagnosia? We show that GG recognizes nonface objects perfectly and quickly, even when it requires fine-grained analysis to individualize these objects. He is also capable of perceiving objects and faces as integrated wholes, as indicated by normal Navon effect, 3D-figures perception and perception of Mooney and Arcimboldo face stimuli. However, the patient could not perceive individual faces holistically, showing no inversion, composite, or whole-part advantage effects for faces. We conclude that an occipito-temporal right hemisphere lesion may lead to a specific impairment of holistic perception of individual items, a function that appears critical for normal face recognition but not for object recognition.
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Impaired processing of relative distances between features and of the eye region in acquired prosopagnosia—Two sides of the same holistic coin? Cortex 2010; 46:374-89. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2009.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2008] [Revised: 03/16/2009] [Accepted: 06/02/2009] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Liu GT, Volpe NJ, Galetta SL. Disorders of higher cortical visual function. Neuroophthalmology 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-1-4160-2311-1.00009-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022] Open
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Barton JJS. What is Meant by Impaired Configural Processing in Acquired Prosopagnosia? Perception 2009; 38:242-60. [DOI: 10.1068/p6099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Apperceptive prosopagnosia is supposedly characterised by impaired configural processing, which could refer to either perception of spatial structure or holistic mechanisms. Ten prosopagnosic patients were tested with (i) dot patterns, to determine if manipulations of complexity, size, orientation, or the regularity of global structure generated effects consistent with the holistic hypothesis; and (ii) hierarchical letters, to probe for a global ‘whole-object’ processing deficit. With dot patterns (experiment 1) patients were impaired even for simple two-dot stimuli, but did better with more complex patterns, when size or orientation varied, or with a regular global structure. In experiment 2, they demonstrated normal latency effects of global-level processing. Apperceptive prosopagnosia, including that from lesions encompassing the right fusiform gyrus, is thus associated with a ‘configural deficit’ that impairs perception of spatial structure, not just for faces but also for non-facial patterns. While it cannot be concluded that holistic processing is entirely normal in these subjects, their performance shows significant modulation by whole-object structure, indicating that some whole-object processing is occurring in these patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason J S Barton
- Departments of Neurology and Ophthalmology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA; also Division of Neurology, Departments of Psychology, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 3N7, Canada
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Dien J. A tale of two recognition systems: implications of the fusiform face area and the visual word form area for lateralized object recognition models. Neuropsychologia 2008; 47:1-16. [PMID: 18805434 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2007] [Revised: 08/07/2008] [Accepted: 08/28/2008] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Two areas of current intense interest in the neuroimaging literature are that of the visual word form area (VWFA) and of the fusiform face area (FFA) and their roles in word and face perception, respectively. These two areas are of particular relevance to laterality research because visual word identification and face identification have long been shown to be especially lateralized to the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere, respectively. This review therefore seeks to evaluate their significance for the broader understanding of lateralization of object recognition. A multi-level model of lateralized object recognition is proposed based on a combination of behavioral and neuroimaging findings. Rather than seek to characterize hemispheric asymmetries according to a single principle (e.g., serial-parallel), it is suggested that current observations can be understood in terms of three asymmetric levels of processing, using the framework of the Janus model of hemispheric function. It is suggested that the left hemisphere represents features using an abstract-category code whereas the RH utilizes a specific-exemplar code. The relationships between these features are also coded asymmetrically, with the LH relying on associative co-occurrence values and the RH relying on spatial metrics. Finally, the LH controlled selection system focuses on isolating features and the RH focuses on conjoining features. It is suggested that each hemisphere utilizes efficient (apparently parallel) processing when stimuli are congruent with its preferred processing style and inefficient (apparently serial) processing when they are not, resulting in the typical left-lateralization for orthographic analysis and right-lateralization for face analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Dien
- Center for Birth Defects, 501 South Preston Street, Suite 301, University of Louisville, Health Sciences Campus, Louisville, KY 40292, United States.
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Iaria G, Fox CJ, Waite CT, Aharon I, Barton JJS. The contribution of the fusiform gyrus and superior temporal sulcus in processing facial attractiveness: neuropsychological and neuroimaging evidence. Neuroscience 2008; 155:409-22. [PMID: 18590800 PMCID: PMC2605709 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2008.05.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2008] [Revised: 05/27/2008] [Accepted: 05/29/2008] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Current cognitive models suggest that the processing of dynamic facial attributes, including social signals such as gaze direction and facial expression, involves the superior temporal sulcus, whereas the processing of invariant facial structure such as the individuals' identity involves the fusiform face area. Where facial attractiveness, a social signal that may emerge from invariant facial structure, is processed within this dual-route model of face perception is uncertain. Here, we present two studies. First, we investigated the explicit judgments of facial attractiveness and attractiveness-motivated behavior in patients with acquired prosopagnosia, a deficit in familiar face recognition usually associated with damage to medial occipitotemporal cortex. We found that both abilities were impaired in these patients, with some weak residual ability for attractiveness judgments found only in those patients with unilateral right occipitotemporal or bilateral anterior temporal lesions. Importantly, deficits in attractiveness perception correlated with the severity of the face recognition deficit. Second, we performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in healthy subjects that included an implicit and explicit processing of facial attractiveness. We found increased neural activity when explicitly judging facial attractiveness within a number of cortical regions including the fusiform face area, but not the superior temporal sulcus, indicating a potential contribution of the fusiform face area to this judgment. Thus, converging neuropsychological and neuroimaging evidence points to a critical role of the inferior occipitotemporal cortex in the processing of facial attractiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Iaria
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Division of Neurology and Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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Spatial Processing in Bálint Syndrome and Prosopagnosia: A Study of Three Patients. J Neuroophthalmol 2007; 27:268-74. [DOI: 10.1097/wno.0b013e31815b9b85] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Sorger B, Goebel R, Schiltz C, Rossion B. Understanding the functional neuroanatomy of acquired prosopagnosia. Neuroimage 2007; 35:836-52. [PMID: 17303440 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.09.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2006] [Revised: 09/26/2006] [Accepted: 09/27/2006] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the most remarkable disorders following brain damage is prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize faces. While a number of cases of prosopagnosia have been described at the behavioral level, the functional neuroanatomy of this face recognition impairment, and thus the brain regions critically involved in normal face recognition, has never been specified in great detail. Here, we used anatomical and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to present the detailed functional neuroanatomy of a single case of acquired prosopagnosia (PS; Rossion, B., Caldara, R., Seghier, M., Schuller, A.-M., Lazeyras, F., Mayer, E., 2003a. A network of occipito-temporal face-sensitive areas besides the right middle fusiform gyrus is necessary for normal face processing. Brain 126, 2381-95; Rossion, B., Joyce, C.A., Cottrell, G.W., Tarr, M.J., 2003b. Early lateralization and orientation tuning for face, word, and object processing in the visual cortex. Neuroimage 20, 1609-24) with normal object recognition. First, we clarify the exact anatomical location and extent of PS' lesions in relation to (a) retinotopic cortex, (b) face-preferring regions, and (c) other classical visual regions. PS' main lesion - most likely causing her prosopagnosia - is localized in the posterior part of the right ventral occipitotemporal cortex. This lesion causes a left superior paracentral scotoma, as frequently observed in cases of prosopagnosia. While the borders of the early visual areas in the left hemisphere could be delineated well, the extensive posterior right-sided lesion hampered a full specification of the cortical representation of the left visual field. Using multiple scanning runs, face-preferring activation was detected within the right middle fusiform gyrus (MFG) in the so-called 'fusiform face area' ('FFA'), but also in the left inferior occipital gyrus (left 'OFA'), and in the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS). The dorsal part of the lateral occipital complex (LOC) and the human middle temporal cortex (hMT+/V5) were localized bilaterally. The color-preferring region V4/V8 was localized only in the left hemisphere. In the right hemisphere, the posterior lesion spared the ventral part of LOC, a region that may be critical for the preserved object recognition abilities of the patient, and the restriction of her deficit to the category of faces. The presumptive functions of both structurally damaged and preserved regions are discussed and new hypotheses regarding the impaired and preserved abilities of the patient during face and non-face object processing are derived. Fine-grained neurofunctional analyses of brain-damaged single cases with isolated recognition deficits may considerably improve our knowledge of the brain regions critically involved in specific visual functions, such as face recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bettina Sorger
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
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