Skip to main content
PMC home page
Neuroscience Bulletin logoLink to Neuroscience Bulletin
. 2012 Nov 6;28(6):765–788. doi: 10.1007/s12264-012-1280-0

The early development of face processing — What makes faces special?

Stefanie Hoehl 1,✉, Stefanie Peykarjou 1
PMCID: PMC5561817  PMID: 23132679

Abstract

In the present article we review behavioral and neurophysiological studies on face processing in adults and in early development. From the existing empirical and theoretical literature we derive three aspects that distinguish face processing from the processing of other visual object categories. Each of these aspects is discussed from a developmental perspective. First, faces are recognized and represented at the individual level rather than at the basic level. Second, humans typically acquire extensive expertise in individuating faces from early on in development. And third, more than other objects, faces are processed holistically. There is a quantitative difference in the amount of visual experience for faces and other object categories in that the amount of expertise typically acquired for faces is greater than that for other object categories. In addition, we discuss possible qualitative differences in experience for faces and objects. For instance, there is evidence for a sensitive period in infancy for building up a holistic face representation and for perceptual narrowing for faces of one’s own species and race. We conclude our literature review with questions for future research, for instance, regarding the exact relationship between behavioral and neuronal markers of face processing across development.

Keywords: face processing, development, infants, visual expertise, holistic processing, event-related potential

References

  • [1].Johnson M.H., Dziurawiec S., Ellis H., Morton J. Newborns’ preferential tracking of face-like stimuli and its subsequent decline. Cognition. 1991;40:1–19. doi: 10.1016/0010-0277(91)90045-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [2].Sai F.Z. The role of the mother’s voice in developing mother’s face preference: Evidence for intermodal perception at birth. Infant Child Dev. 2005;14:29–50. doi: 10.1002/icd.376. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [3].Bushnell I.W.R., Sai F., Mullin J.T. Neonatal recognition of the mother’s face. Br J Dev Psychol. 1989;7:3–15. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-835X.1989.tb00784.x. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [4].Kanwisher N., McDermott J., Chun M.M. The fusiform face area: a module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face perception. J Neurosci. 1997;17:4302–4311. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-11-04302.1997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [5].McKone E., Kanwisher N., Duchaine B.C. Can generic expertise explain special processing for faces? Trends Cogn Sci. 2007;11:8–15. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2006.11.002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [6].Gauthier I., Tarr M.J., Anderson A.W., Skudlarski P., Gore J.C. Activation of the middle fusiform ‚face area ‘increases with expertise in recognizing novel objects. Nat Neurosci. 1999;2:568–573. doi: 10.1038/9224. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [7].Gauthier I., Nelson C.A. The development of face expertise. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2001;11:219–224. doi: 10.1016/S0959-4388(00)00200-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [8].Tanaka J.W. The entry point of face recognition: evidence for face expertise. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2001;130:534–543. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.130.3.534. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [9].Anaki D., Bentin S. Familiarity effects on categorization levels of faces and objects. Cognition. 2009;111:144–149. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2009.01.002. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [10].Rosch E., Mervis C.B., Gray W.D., Johnson D.M., Boyes-Braem P. Basic objects in natural categories. Cogn Psychol. 1976;8:382–439. doi: 10.1016/0010-0285(76)90013-X. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [11].Pascalis O., de Vivies X.D., Anzures G., Quinn P.C., Slater A.M., Tanaka J.W., et al. Development of Face Processing. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2011;2:666–675. doi: 10.1002/wcs.146. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [12].Maurer D., Grand R.L., Mondloch C.J. The many faces of configural processing. Trends Cogn Sci. 2002;6:255–260. doi: 10.1016/S1364-6613(02)01903-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [13].Farah M.J., Wilson K.D., Drain M., Tanaka J.N. What is “special” about face perception? Psychol Rev. 1998;105:482–498. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.3.482. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [14].Wong A.C., Palmeri T.J., Gauthier I. Conditions for facelike expertise with objects: becoming a Ziggerin expert—but which type? Psychol Sci. 2009;20:1108–1117. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02430.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [15].Bruce V., Young A.W. Understanding face recognition. Br J Psychol. 1986;77:305–327. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1986.tb02199.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [16].Sinha P., Balas B., Ostrovsky Y.M., Russell R. Face recognition by humans: Nineteen results all computer vision researchers should know about. Proc IEEE. 2006;94:1948–1962. doi: 10.1109/JPROC.2006.884093. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [17].Johnson K.E., Mervis C.B. Effects of varying levels of expertise on the basic level of categorization. J Exp Psychol Gen. 1997;126:248–277. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.126.3.248. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [18].Scott L.S., Monesson A. The origin of biases in face perception. Psychol Sci. 2009;20:676–680. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02348.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [19].Yin R.K. Looking at upside-down faces. J Exp Psychol. 1969;81:141–145. doi: 10.1037/h0027474. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [20].Freire A., Lee K., Symons L.A. The face-inversion effect as a deficit in the encoding of configural information: direct evidence. Perception. 2000;29:159–170. doi: 10.1068/p3012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [21].Robbins R., McKone E. No face-like processing for objects-of-expertise in three behavioural tasks. Cognition. 2007;103:34–79. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2006.02.008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [22].Leder H., Candrian G., Huber O., Bruce V. Configural features in the context of upright and inverted faces. Perception. 2001;30:73–83. doi: 10.1068/p2911. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [23].Thompson P. Margaret Thatcher: a new illusion. Perception. 1980;9:483–484. doi: 10.1068/p090483. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [24].McKone E., Yovel G. Why does picture-plane inversion sometimes dissociate perception of features and spacing in faces, and sometimes not? Toward a new theory of holistic processing. Psychon Bull Rev. 2009;16:778–797. doi: 10.3758/PBR.16.5.778. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [25].Rossion B. Distinguishing the cause and consequence of face inversion: The perceptual field hypothesis. Acta Psychol. 2008;132:300–312. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2009.08.002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [26].Schwaninger A., Wallraven C., Bülthoff H.H. Computational modeling of face recognition based on psychophysical experiments. Swiss J Psychol. 2004;63:207–215. doi: 10.1024/1421-0185.63.3.207. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [27].Diamond R., Carey S. Why faces are and are not special: an effect of expertise. J Exp Psychol Gen. 1986;115:107–117. doi: 10.1037/0096-3445.115.2.107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [28].Rossion B., Gauthier I., Goffaux V., Tarr M.J., Crommelinck M. Expertise training with novel objects leads to left-lateralized facelike electrophysiological responses. Psychol Sci. 2002;13:250–257. doi: 10.1111/1467-9280.00446. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [29].Tanaka J.W., Farah M.J. Parts and wholes in face recognition. Q J Exp Psychol A. 1993;46:225–245. doi: 10.1080/14640749308401045. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [30].Young A.W., Hellawell D., Hay D.C. Configurational information in face perception. Perception. 1987;16:747–759. doi: 10.1068/p160747. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [31].Rossion B., Boremanse A. Nonlinear relationship between holistic processing of individual faces and picture-plane rotation: evidence from the face composite illusion. J Vis. 2008;8:3 1–13. doi: 10.1167/8.4.3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [32].Riesenhuber M., Wolff B.S. Task effects, performance levels, features, configurations, and holistic face processing: A reply to Rossion. Acta Psychol. 2009;132:286–292. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2009.07.004. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [33].Richler J.J., Cheung O.S., Gauthier I. Holistic processing predicts face recognition. Psychol Sci. 2011;22:464–471. doi: 10.1177/0956797611401753. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [34].Gauthier I., Bukach C. Should we reject the expertise hypothesis? Cognition. 2007;103:322–330. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2006.05.003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [35].McKone E., Robbins R. The evidence rejects the expertise hypothesis: reply to Gauthier & Bukach. Cognition. 2007;103:331–336. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2006.05.014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [36].Farroni T., Johnson M.H., Menon E., Zulian L., Faraguna D., Csibra G. Newborns’ preference for face-relevant stimuli: effects of contrast polarity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005;102:17245–17250. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0502205102. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [37].Johnson M.H. Subcortical face processing. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2005;6:766–774. doi: 10.1038/nrn1766. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [38].Di Giorgio E., Leo I., Pascalis O., Simion F. Is the face-perception system human-specific at birth? Dev Psychol. 2012;48(4):1083–1090. doi: 10.1037/a0026521. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [39].Crookes K., McKone E. Early maturity of face recognition: no childhood development of holistic processing, novel face encoding, or face-space. Cognition. 2009;111:219–247. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2009.02.004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [40].McKone E., Crookes K., Kanwisher N. The cognitive and neural development of face recognition in humans. In: Gazzaniga M.S., editor. The Cognitive Neurosciences. IV edition. Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books; 2009. pp. 467–482. [Google Scholar]
  • [41].Pascalis O., de Haan M., Nelson C.A. Is face processing species-specific during the first year of life? Science. 2002;296:1321–1323. doi: 10.1126/science.1070223. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [42].Kuhl P.K., Tsao F.M., Liu H.M. Foreign-language experience in infancy: effects of short-term exposure and social interaction on phonetic learning. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003;100:9096–9101. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1532872100. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [43].Kelly D.J., Quinn P.C., Slater A.M., Lee K., Ge L., Pascalis O. The other-race effect develops during infancy: evidence of perceptual narrowing. Psychol Sci. 2007;18:1084–1089. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.02029.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [44].Anzures G., Quinn P.C., Pascalis O., Slater A.M., Lee K. Categorization, categorical perception, and asymmetry in infants’ representation of face race. Dev Sci. 2010;13:553–564. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00900.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [45].Meissner C.A., Brigham J.C. Thirty years of investigating the own-race bias memory for faces: A meta-analytic review. Psychol Public Policy Law. 2001;7:3–35. doi: 10.1037/1076-8971.7.1.3. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [46].Lebrecht S., Pierce L.J., Tarr M.J., Tanaka J.W. Perceptual other-race training reduces implicit racial bias. PLoS One. 2009;4:e4215. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004215. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [47].McGugin R.W., Tanaka J.W., Lebrecht S., Tarr M.J., Gauthier I. Racespecific perceptual discrimination improvement following short individuation training with faces. Cogn Sci. 2011;35:330–347. doi: 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2010.01148.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [48].Heron-Delaney M., Anzures G., Herbert J.S., Quinn P.C., Slater A.M., Tanaka J.W., et al. Perceptual training prevents the emergence of the other race effect during infancy. PLoS One. 2011;6:e19858. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019858. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [49].de Haan M., Johnson M.H., Maurer D., Perrett D. Recognition of individual faces and average face prototypes by 1- and 3-month-old infants. Cogn Dev. 2001;16:659–678. doi: 10.1016/S0885-2014(01)00051-X. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [50].Farroni T., Valenza E., Simion F., Umilta C. Configural processing at birth: evidence for perceptual organisation. Perception. 2000;29:355–372. doi: 10.1068/p2903rvw. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [51].Macchi Cassia V., Turati C., Simion F. Can a nonspecific bias toward top-heavy patterns explain newborns’ face preference? Psychol Sci. 2004;15:379–383. doi: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00688.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [52].Turati C., Simion F., Milani I., Umilta C. Newborns’ preference for faces: what is crucial? Dev Psychol. 2002;38:875–882. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.38.6.875. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [53].Leo I., Simion F. Face processing at birth: a Thatcher illusion study. Dev Sci. 2009;12:492–498. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00791.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [54].Schwarzer G., Zauner N., Jovanovic B. Evidence of a shift from featural to configural face processing in infancy. Dev Sci. 2007;10:452–463. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00599.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [55].de Schonen S., Mathivet E. Hemispheric asymmetry in a face discrimination task in infants. Child. 1990;61:1192–1205. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02853.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [56].Deruelle C., de Schonen S. Hemispheric asymmetries in visual pattern processing in infancy. Brain Cogn. 1991;16:151–179. doi: 10.1016/0278-2626(91)90004-R. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [57].Salomao S.R., Ventura D.F. Large sample population age norms for visual acuities obtained with Vistech-Teller Acuity Cards. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1995;36:657–670. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [58].Banks M.S., Dannemiller J.L. Infant visual psychophysics. In: Salapatek P., Cohen L.B., editors. Handbook of Infant Perception. New York: Academic Press; 1987. pp. 115–184. [Google Scholar]
  • [59].Hickey T.L., Peduzzi J.D. Structure and development of the visual system. In: Salapatek P., Cohen L.B., editors. Handbook of Infant Perception. New York: Academic Press; 1987. pp. 1–42. [Google Scholar]
  • [60].Atkinson J. Early visual development: differential functioning of parvocellular and magnocellular pathways. Eye (Lond) 1992;6(Pt2):129–135. doi: 10.1038/eye.1992.28. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [61].Hickey T.L. Postnatal development of the human lateral geniculate nucleus: relationship to a critical period for the visual system. Science. 1977;198:836–838. doi: 10.1126/science.918665. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [62].Salapatek P. Pattern perception in early infancy. In: Cohen L.B., Salapatek P., editors. Infant Perception: From Sensation to Cognition. New York: Academic Press; 1975. pp. 133–248. [Google Scholar]
  • [63].Bronson G.W. Changes in infants’ visual scanning across the 2- to 14-week age period. J Exp Child Psychol. 1990;49:101–125. doi: 10.1016/0022-0965(90)90051-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [64].Ferguson K.T., Kulkofsky S., Cashon C.H., Casasola M. The development of specialized processing of own-race faces in infancy. Infancy. 2009;14:263–284. doi: 10.1080/15250000902839369. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [65].Mondloch C.J., Elms N., Maurer D., Rhodes G., Hayward W.G., Tanaka J.W., et al. Processes underlying the cross-race effect: an investigation of holistic, featural, and relational processing of own-race versus other-race faces. Perception. 2010;39:1065–1085. doi: 10.1068/p6608. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [66].Bukach C.M., Cottle J., Ubiwa J., Miller J. Individuation experience predicts other-race effects in holistic processing for both Caucasian and Black participants. Cognition. 2012;123:319–324. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2012.02.007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [67].Tanaka J.W., Kiefer M., Bukach C.M. A holistic account of the own-race effect in face recognition: evidence from a cross-cultural study. Cognition. 2004;93:B1–9. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2003.09.011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [68].Michel C., Rossion B., Han J., Chung C.S., Caldara R. Holistic processing is finely tuned for faces of one’s own race. Psychol Sci. 2006;17:608–615. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01752.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [69].McKone E., Brewer J.L., MacPherson S., Rhodes G., Hayward W.G. Familiar other-race faces show normal holistic processing and are robust to perceptual stress. Perception. 2007;36:224–248. doi: 10.1068/p5499. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [70].Le Grand R., Mondloch C.J., Maurer D., Brent H.P. Impairment in holistic face processing following early visual deprivation. Psychol Sci. 2004;15:762–768. doi: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00753.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [71].Rossion B., Jacques C. Does physical interstimulus variance account for early electrophysiological face sensitive responses in the human brain? Ten lessons on the N170. Neuroimage. 2008;39:1959–1979. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.10.011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [72].George N., Jemel B., Fiori N., Chaby L., Renault B. Electrophysiological correlates of facial decision: insights from upright and upside-down Mooney-face perception. Cogn Brain Res. 2005;24:663–673. doi: 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.03.017. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [73].Vuilleumier P., Sagiv N., Hazeltine E., Poldrack R.A., Swick D., Rafal R.D., et al. Neural fate of seen and unseen faces in visuospatial neglect: a combined event-related functional MRI and event-related potential study. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001;98:3495–3500. doi: 10.1073/pnas.051436898. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [74].Itier R.J., Taylor M.J. Inversion and contrast polarity reversal affect both encoding and recognition processes of unfamiliar faces: a repetition study using ERPs. Neuroimage. 2002;15:353–372. doi: 10.1006/nimg.2001.0982. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [75].Itier R.J., Taylor M.J. Source analysis of the N170 to faces and objects. Neuroreport. 2004;15:1261–1265. doi: 10.1097/01.wnr.0000127827.73576.d8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [76].Hoffman E.A., Haxby J.V. Distinct representations of eye gaze and identity in the distributed human neural system for face perception. Nat Neurosci. 2000;3:80–84. doi: 10.1038/71152. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [77].Kovacs G., Zimmer M., Banko E., Harza I., Antal A., Vidnyanszky Z. Electrophysiological correlates of visual adaptation to faces and body parts in humans. Cereb Cortex. 2006;16:742–753. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhj020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [78].Harris A., Nakayama K. Rapid adaptation of the m170 response: importance of face parts. Cereb Cortex. 2008;18:467–476. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhm078. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [79].Harris A., Nakayama K. Rapid face-selective adaptation of an early extrastriate component in MEG. Cereb Cortex. 2007;17:63–70. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhj124. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [80].Eimer M., Kiss M., Nicholas S. Response profile of the face-sensitive N170 component: a rapid adaptation study. Cereb Cortex. 2010;20:2442–2452. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhp312. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [81].Eimer M., Gosling A., Nicholas S., Kiss M. The N170 component and its links to configural face processing: A rapid neural adaptation study. Brain Res. 2011;1376:76–87. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.12.046. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [82].Gliga T., Dehaene-Lambertz G. Development of a view-invariant representation of the human head. Cognition. 2007;102:261–288. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2006.01.004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [83].Guillaume C., Guillery-Girard B., Chaby L., Lebreton K., Hugueville L., Eustache F., et al. The time course of repetition effects for familiar faces and objects: an ERP study. Brain Res. 2009;1248:149–161. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2008.10.069. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [84].Maurer U., Rossion B., McCandliss B.D. Category specificity in early perception: face and word n170 responses differ in both lateralization and habituation properties. Front Hum Neurosci. 2008;2:18. doi: 10.3389/neuro.09.018.2008. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [85].Mercure E., Cohen Kadosh K., Johnson M.H. The n170 shows differential repetition effects for faces, objects, and orthographic stimuli. Front Hum Neurosci. 2011;5:6. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2011.00006. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [86].Eimer M. Does the face-specific N170 component reflect the activity of a specialized eye processor? Neuroreport. 1998;9:2945–2948. doi: 10.1097/00001756-199809140-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [87].Bentin S., Allison T., Puce A., Perez E., McCarthy G. Electrophysiological studies of face perception in humans. J Cogn Neurosci. 1996;8:551–565. doi: 10.1162/jocn.1996.8.6.551. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [88].Schweinberger S.R., Pickering E.C., Jentzsch I., Burton A.M., Kaufmann J.M. Event-related brain potential evidence for a response of inferior temporal cortex to familiar face repetitions. Cogn Brain Res. 2002;14:398–409. doi: 10.1016/S0926-6410(02)00142-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [89].Schweinberger S.R., Pfütze E.M., Sommer W. Repetition priming and associative priming of face recognition: Evidence from event-related potentials. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 1995;21:722–736. doi: 10.1037/0278-7393.21.3.722. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [90].Pierce L.J., Scott L.S., Boddington S., Droucker D., Curran T., Tanaka J.W. The n250 brain potential to personally familiar and newly learned faces and objects. Front Hum Neurosci. 2011;5:111. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2011.00111. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [91].Scott L.S., Tanaka J.W., Sheinberg D.L., Curran T. A reevaluation of the electrophysiological correlates of expert object processing. J Cogn Neurosci. 2006;18:1453–1465. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2006.18.9.1453. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [92].Begleiter H., Porjesz B., Wang W. Event-related brain potentials differentiate priming and recognition to familiar and unfamiliar faces. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1995;94:41–49. doi: 10.1016/0013-4694(94)00240-L. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [93].Pfütze E.M., Sommer W., Schweinberger S.R. Age-related slowing in face and name recognition: evidence from event-related brain potentials. Psychol Aging. 2002;17:140–160. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.17.1.140. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [94].Caharel S., d’Arripe O., Ramon M., Jacques C., Rossion B. Early adaptation to repeated unfamiliar faces across viewpoint changes in the right hemisphere: evidence from the N170 ERP component. Neuropsychologia. 2009;47:639–643. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.11.016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [95].Itier R.J., Taylor M.J. Effects of repetition learning on upright, inverted and contrast-reversed face processing using ERPs. Neuroimage. 2004;21:1518–1532. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.12.016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [96].Kaufmann J.M., Schweinberger S.R. The faces you remember: caricaturing shape facilitates brain processes reflecting the acquisition of new face representations. Biol Psychol. 2012;89:21–33. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.08.011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [97].Bindemann M., Burton A.M., Leuthold H., Schweinberger S.R. Brain potential correlates of face recognition: geometric distortions and the N250r brain response to stimulus repetitions. Psychophysiology. 2008;45:535–544. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00663.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [98].Schweinberger S.R., Huddy V., Burton A.M. N250r: a face-selective brain response to stimulus repetitions. Neuroreport. 2004;15:1501–1505. doi: 10.1097/01.wnr.0000131675.00319.42. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [99].Itier R.J., Latinus M., Taylor M.J. Face, eye and object early processing: what is the face specificity? Neuroimage. 2006;29:667–676. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.07.041. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [100].Rossion B., Gauthier I., Tarr M.J., Despland P., Bruyer R., Linotte S., et al. The N170 occipito-temporal component is delayed and enhanced to inverted faces but not to inverted objects: an electrophysiological account of face-specific processes in the human brain. Neuroreport. 2000;11:69–74. doi: 10.1097/00001756-200001170-00014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [101].Rossion B., Delvenne J.F., Debatisse D., Goffaux V., Bruyer R., Crommelinck M., et al. Spatio-temporal localization of the face inversion effect: an event-related potentials study. Biol Psychol. 1999;50:173–189. doi: 10.1016/S0301-0511(99)00013-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [102].Scott L.S., Monesson A. Experience-dependent neural specialization during infancy. Neuropsychologia. 2010;48:1857–1861. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.02.008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [103].Itier R.J., Alain C., Sedore K., McIntosh A.R. Early face processing specificity: it’s in the eyes! J Cogn Neurosci. 2007;19:1815–1826. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2007.19.11.1815. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [104].Tanaka J.W., Curran T. A neural basis for expert object recognition. Psychol Sci. 2001;12:43–47. doi: 10.1111/1467-9280.00308. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [105].Thierry G., Martin C.D., Downing P., Pegna A.J. Controlling for interstimulus perceptual variance abolishes N170 face selectivity. Nat Neurosci. 2007;10:505–511. doi: 10.1038/nn0707-802. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [106].Aguirre G.K., Singh R., D’Esposito M. Stimulus inversion and the responses of face and object-sensitive cortical areas. Neuroreport. 1999;10:189–194. doi: 10.1097/00001756-199901180-00036. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [107].Haxby J.V., Ungerleider L.G., Clark V.P., Schouten J.L., Hoffman E.A., Martin A. The effect of face inversion on activity in human neural systems for face and object perception. Neuron. 1999;22:189–199. doi: 10.1016/S0896-6273(00)80690-X. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [108].Itier R.J., Batty M. Neural bases of eye and gaze processing: the core of social cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2009;33:843–863. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.02.004. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [109].Bentin S., Golland Y., Flevaris A., Robertson L.C., Moscovitch M. Processing the trees and the forest during initial stages of face perception: Electrophysiological evidence. J Cogn Neurosci. 2006;18:1406–1421. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2006.18.8.1406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [110].Letourneau S.M., Mitchell T.V. Behavioral and ERP measures of holistic face processing in a composite task. Brain Cogn. 2008;67:234–245. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2008.01.007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [111].Jacques C., Rossion B. The initial representation of individual faces in the right occipito-temporal cortex is holistic: electrophysiological evidence from the composite face illusion. J Vis. 2009;9:8. doi: 10.1167/9.6.8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [112].Jacques C., Rossion B. Misaligning face halves increases and delays the N170 specifically for upright faces: Implications for the nature of early face representations. Brain Res. 2009;1318:96–109. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.12.070. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [113].Ishizu T., Ayabe T., Kojima S. Configurational factors in the perception of faces and non-facial objects: an ERP study. Int J Neurosci. 2008;118:955–966. doi: 10.1080/00207450701769398. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [114].Boutsen L., Humphreys G.W., Praamstra P., Warbrick T. Comparing neural correlates of configural processing in faces and objects: an ERP study of the Thatcher illusion. Neuroimage. 2006;32:352–367. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.03.023. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [115].Milivojevic B., Clapp W.C., Johnson B.W., Corballis M.C. Turn that frown upside down: ERP effects of thatcherization of misorientated faces. Psychophysiology. 2003;40:967–978. doi: 10.1111/1469-8986.00115. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [116].Carbon C.C., Schweinberger S.R., Kaufmann J.M., Leder H. The Thatcher illusion seen by the brain: an event-related brain potentials study. Cogn Brain Res. 2005;24:544–555. doi: 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.03.008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [117].Scott L.S., Nelson C.A. Featural and configural face processing in adults and infants: a behavioral and electrophysiological investigation. Perception. 2006;35:1107–1128. doi: 10.1068/p5493. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [118].de Haan M., Johnson M.H., Halit H. Development of face-sensitive event-related potentials during infancy: a review. Int J Psychophysiol. 2003;51:45–58. doi: 10.1016/S0167-8760(03)00152-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [119].Johnson M.H., Griffin R., Csibra G., Halit H., Farroni T., de Haan M., et al. The emergence of the social brain network: evidence from typical and atypical development. Dev Psychopathol. 2005;17:599–619. doi: 10.1017/S0954579405050297. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [120].Halit H., Csibra G., Volein A., Johnson M.H. Face-sensitive cortical processing in early infancy. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2004;45:1228–1234. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00321.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [121].de Haan M., Pascalis O., Johnson M.H. Specialization of neural mechanisms underlying face recognition in human infants. J Cogn Neurosci. 2002;14:199–209. doi: 10.1162/089892902317236849. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [122].Halit H., de Haan M., Johnson M.H. Cortical specialisation for face processing: face-sensitive event-related potential components in 3- and 12-month-old infants. Neuroimage. 2003;19:1180–1193. doi: 10.1016/S1053-8119(03)00076-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [123].Macchi Cassia V., Kuefner D., Westerlund A., Nelson C.A. A behavioural and ERP investigation of 3-month-olds’ face preferences. Neuropsychologia. 2006;44:2113–2125. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.11.014. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [124].Parise E., Handl A., Striano T. Processing faces in dyadic and triadic contexts. Neuropsychologia. 2010;48:518–528. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.10.012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [125].Gliga T., Dehaene-Lambertz G. Structural encoding of body and face in human infants and adults. J Cogn Neurosci. 2005;17:1328–1340. doi: 10.1162/0898929055002481. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [126].Maurer D., Barrera M. Infants’ perception of natural and distorted arrangements of a schematic face. Child Dev. 1981;52:196–202. doi: 10.2307/1129230. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [127].de Haan M., Nelson C.A. Brain activity differentiates face and object processing in 6-month-old infants. Dev Psychol. 1999;35:1113–1121. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.35.4.1113. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [128].Hoehl S., Reid V.M., Parise E., Handl A., Palumbo L., Striano T. Looking at eye gaze processing and its neural correlates in infancy — implications for social development and autism spectrum disorder. Child Dev. 2009;80:968–985. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01311.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [129].Taylor M.J., Edmonds G.E., McCarthy G., Allison T. Eyes first! Eye processing develops before face processing in children. Neuroreport. 2001;12:1671–1676. doi: 10.1097/00001756-200106130-00031. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [130].Macchi Cassia V., Kuefner D., Westerlund A., Nelson C.A. Modulation of face-sensitive event-related potentials by canonical and distorted human faces: the role of vertical symmetry and up-down featural arrangement. J Cogn Neurosci. 2006;18:1343–1358. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2006.18.8.1343. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [131].Kuefner D., de Heering A., Jacques C., Palmero-Soler E., Rossion B. Early visually evoked electrophysiological responses over the hu man brain (P1, N170) show stable patterns of face-sensitivity from 4 years to adulthood. Front Hum Neurosci. 2010;3:67. doi: 10.3389/neuro.09.067.2009. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [132].Taylor M.J., Batty M., Itier R.J. The faces of development: a review of early face processing over childhood. J Cogn Neurosci. 2004;16:1426–1442. doi: 10.1162/0898929042304732. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [133].Hsiao J.H., Cottrell G.W. Not all visual expertise is holistic, but it may be leftist: the case of Chinese character recognition. Psychol Sci. 2009;20:455–463. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02315.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [134].Wong A.C., Gauthier I. An analysis of letter expertise in a levels-of-categorization framework. Vis Cogn. 2006;15:854–879. doi: 10.1080/13506280600948350. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • [135].Richler J.J., Wong Y.K., Gauthier I. Perceptual expertise as a shift from strategic interference to automatic holistic processing. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2011;20:129–134. doi: 10.1177/0963721411402472. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [136].Wong A.C., Bukach C.M., Yuen C., Yang L., Leung S., Greenspon E. Holistic processing of words modulated by reading experience. PLoS One. 2011;6:e20753. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020753. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [137].Bukach C.M., Gauthier I., Tarr M.J. Beyond faces and modularity: the power of an expertise framework. Trends Cogn Sci. 2006;10:159–166. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2006.02.004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [138].Scott L.S. Mechanisms underlying the emergence of object representations during infancy. J Cogn Neurosci. 2011;23:2935–2944. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [139].Sugita Y. Face perception in monkeys reared with no exposure to faces. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008;105:394–398. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0706079105. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [140].Jiang X., Rosen E., Zeffiro T., Vanmeter J., Blanz V., Riesenhuber M. Evaluation of a shape-based model of human face discrimination using fMRI and behavioral techniques. Neuron. 2006;50:159–172. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2006.03.012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [141].McCleery J.P., Zhang L., Ge L., Wang Z., Christiansen E.M., Lee K., et al. The roles of visual expertise and visual input in the face inversion effect: behavioral and neurocomputational evidence. Vis Res. 2008;48:703–715. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2007.11.025. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [142].Stollhoff R., Kennerknecht I., Elze T., Jost J. A computational model of dysfunctional facial encoding in congenital prosopagnosia. Neural Netw. 2011;24:652–664. doi: 10.1016/j.neunet.2011.03.006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [143].Hole G.J., George P.A., Dunsmore V. Evidence for holistic processing of faces viewed as photographic negatives. Perception. 1999;28:341–359. doi: 10.1068/p2622. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [144].Kemp R., McManus C., Pigott T. Sensitivity to the displacement of facial features in negative and inverted images. Perception. 1990;19:531–543. doi: 10.1068/p190531. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • [145].Tottenham N., Tanaka J.W., Leon A.C., McCarry T., Nurse M., Hare T.A., et al. The NimStim set of facial expressions: judgments from untrained research participants. Psychiatry Res. 2009;168:242–249. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2008.05.006. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Neuroscience Bulletin are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES