Naming may be key to brain's ability to recognize faces
June 25, 2009 By Melanie Moran
At first glance, this composite images looks like the actor Brad Pitt. That is because our brain processes faces holistically. But look just at the the eyes in the figure. They are actually the eyes of the actor Matt Damon. (Gauthier Lab)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Our tendency to see people and faces as individuals may explain why we are such experts at recognizing them, new research indicates. This approach can be learned and applied to other objects as well.
"This new research adds to the evidence that the brain processes faces differently because of our expertise with them. It also tells us what it is about our experience with faces that leads us to treat them holistically,” Isabel Gauthier, associate professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University and one of the study's co-authors, says. "This knowledge may be useful in the development of training protocols for individuals with difficulties in face perception, such as individuals with autism spectrum disorders.”
The research is currently in press at Psychological Science. Gauthier's co-authors are Alan Wong, who completed the study as his doctoral thesis in psychology at Vanderbilt, and Thomas Palmeri, associate professor of psychology. Wong is now an assistant professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong.
"Our findings suggest that facial expertise does not just develop with any type of experience," Wong says. "Learning to recognize a set of objects as individuals may work, but categorizing them at a more general level, or learning to manipulate them, would not. We develop different types of expertise in recognizing different objects not just due to their unique appearance, but also because of the types of experience we have had with them."
For decades, scientists have debated whether we are better able to recognize faces because we have evolved a brain system dedicated to this task or because we have extensive practice recognizing faces. Researchers agree that we recognize faces holistically, which is not how we generally recognize other objects. For example, we find it almost impossible to attend to only one part of a face and ignore the rest, while we might recognize a car by its grill, taillights or branding.
Prior research has shown that people can develop face-like expertise with novel objects, such as cars, and that once that expertise has been developed those objects are also processed holistically. But up until now it was unclear what it was about expertise that produced this holistic effect.
In the new study, Wong, Gauthier and Palmeri investigated this question by comparing two different types of training regimens with the same novel objects, called Ziggerins. The Ziggerins were created just for the experiment and have no real-world function.
One group learned to individuate these objects with unique names, much like we do with people and faces. Another group learned to very quickly categorize the objects based on shared structure. Each group became better than the other at the task on which it was trained, illustrating that different kinds of perceptual expertise can develop for the same objects. But, only the group that learned to individuate Ziggerins later processed novel Ziggerins holistically, like faces.
"This research indicates that not only is individuation key to our expertise with faces, but that this technique can be quickly applied to other objects,” the authors said. "Hallmarks of face-like expertise do not require 10 years, or even 10 hours, of experience to emerge.”
-
Putting a name to a face may be key to brain's facial expertise
Jun 16, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Why people 'never forget a face'
Dec 08, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Study suggests left-side bias in visual expertise
Apr 28, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Study shows faces are processed like words
Mar 07, 2005 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Face facts: People don't stand out in crowds
Jan 18, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (29) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
4 / 5 (22) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
7 hours ago
-
Exercise and weight loss
13 hours ago
-
Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
17 hours ago
-
"The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Feb 04, 2012
-
Oncolytic adenovirus
Feb 04, 2012
-
Nutrition label stuffs and diets
Feb 02, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Phelps using hyperbaric chamber to aid recovery
(AP) -- Michael Phelps is the latest athlete to use a hyperbaric chamber to aid his recovery from training.
41 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
No anorexia emergency, La Scala ballerinas claim
The ballet company at Milan's famous La Scala opera house fought back Wednesday, after one of their leading dancers was fired for giving interviews in which she said the industry has an anorexia problem.
37 minutes ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
'Explorers,' who embrace the uncertainty of choices, use specific part of cortex
Life shrouds most choices in mystery. Some people inch toward a comfortable enough spot and stick close to that rewarding status quo. Out to dinner, they order the usual. Others consider their options systematically ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
4 hours ago |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
0
|
Scientists delve into the brain roots of hunger and eating
Synaptic plasticity the ability of the synaptic connections between the brain's neurons to change and modify over time -- has been shown to be a key to memory formation and the acquisition of new learning behaviors. ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
4 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
|
Short fasting cycles work as well as chemotherapy in mice
Man may not live by bread alone, but cancer in animals appears less resilient, judging by a study that found chemotherapy drugs work better when combined with cycles of short, severe fasting.
2 hours ago |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
1
|
Amasia: As next supercontinent forms, Arctic Ocean, Caribbean will vanish first
(PhysOrg.com) -- Geologists at Yale University have proposed a new theory to describe the formation of supercontinents, the epic process by which Earths major continental blocks combine into a single ...
New images capture 'stealth merger' of dwarf galaxies
New images of a nearby dwarf galaxy have revealed a dense stream of stars in its outer regions, the remains of an even smaller companion galaxy in the process of merging with its host. The host galaxy, known ...
Chandra finds Milky Way's black hole grazing on asteroids
(PhysOrg.com) -- The giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way may be vaporizing and devouring asteroids, which could explain the frequent flares observed, according to astronomers using data from NASA's ...
Windows 8 preview set for February 29
Microsoft on Wednesday revealed plans to unveil a test version of its latest Windows computer operating software later this month.
In scientific coup, Russians reach Antarctic lake
After more than two decades of drilling in Antarctica, Russian scientists have reached a gigantic freshwater lake hidden under miles of ice for some 20 million years - a pristine body of water that may hold ...
European Internet campaigners battle ACTA
A controversial international accord billed as a way to beat online piracy has sparked a fightback led by Internet users in ex-communist countries who say the region's past underlines the need to defend freedom.
Jun 25, 2009
Rank: not rated yet
Jun 26, 2009
Rank: not rated yet