Abstract
Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have shown that facial recognition and emotional expressions are dissociable. However, it is unknown if a single system supports the processing of emotional and non-emotional facial expressions. We aimed to understand if individuals with impairment in face recognition from birth (congenital prosopagnosia, CP) can use non-emotional facial expressions to recognize a face as an already seen one, and thus, process this facial dimension independently from features (which are impaired in CP), and basic emotional expressions. To this end, we carried out a behavioral study in which we compared the performance of 6 CP individuals to that of typical development individuals, using upright and inverted faces. Four avatar faces with a neutral expression were presented in the initial phase. The target faces presented in the recognition phase, in which a recognition task was requested (2AFC paradigm), could be identical (neutral) to those of the initial phase or present biologically plausible changes to features, non-emotional expressions, or emotional expressions. After this task, a second task was performed, in which the participants had to detect whether or not the recognized face exactly matched the study face or showed any difference. The results confirmed the CPs' impairment in the configural processing of the invariant aspects of the face, but also showed a spared configural processing of non-emotional facial expression (task 1). Interestingly and unlike the non-emotional expressions, the configural processing of emotional expressions was compromised in CPs and did not improve their change detection ability (task 2). These new results have theoretical implications for face perception models since they suggest that, at least in CPs, non-emotional expressions are processed configurally, can be dissociated from other facial dimensions, and may serve as a compensatory strategy to achieve face recognition.
Highlights
Prosopagnosia refers to a category-specific perceptual deficit in face recognition
We aimed to understand if individuals with impairment in face recognition from birth can use non-emotional facial expressions to recognize a face as an already seen one, and process this facial dimension independently from features, and basic emotional expressions
We wondered whether in Congenital prosopagnosia (CP) individuals these expressions could be used as a cue to face recognition given that they should not be, or be less impaired in processing the changeable aspects of a face (Steede et al, 2007)
Summary
Prosopagnosia refers to a category-specific perceptual deficit in face recognition. It can be acquired (i.e., resulting from brain damage, mainly after lesions of occipito-temporal regions; Bodamer, 1947) or congenital (McConachie, 1976). Congenital prosopagnosia (CP) is not caused by brain lesions, but is present from birth, and it occurs along with intact sensory visual abilities and normal intelligence (Behrmann and Avidan, 2005). It has been described as a quite common cognitive disorder, which occurs in 2.47% of the population and almost always runs in families (Kennerknecht et al, 2006). Are among the most important visual stimuli we perceive as they simultaneously convey several pieces of important social information They inform us about a person’s identity, gender, or age, and about their mood, emotion, and direction of gaze. It has been reported that prosopagnosic patients with lesions in associative visual cortices, despite their deficit in face recognition can still recognize emotional facial expressions, whereas deficits in expression recognition can occur in patients without prosopagnosia
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