Abstract
Within a fraction of a second of viewing a face, we have already determined its gender, age and identity. A full understanding of this remarkable feat will require a characterization of the computational steps it entails, along with the representations extracted at each. Here, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure the time course of neural responses to faces, thereby addressing two fundamental questions about how face processing unfolds over time. First, using representational similarity analysis, we found that facial gender and age information emerged before identity information, suggesting a coarse-to-fine processing of face dimensions. Second, identity and gender representations of familiar faces were enhanced very early on, suggesting that the behavioral benefit for familiar faces results from tuning of early feed-forward processing mechanisms. These findings start to reveal the time course of face processing in humans, and provide powerful new constraints on computational theories of face perception.
Highlights
Within a fraction of a second of viewing a face, we have already determined its gender, age and identity
While extensive prior evidence indicates that humans detect and recognize faces very rapidly[1,2,3], much less is known about the precise temporal dynamics of extraction of information about different dimensions of face information
We show two novel results: 1) the brain encodes gender and age information before identity information, and 2) information about both identity and gender is enhanced for familiar faces early on in processing
Summary
Within a fraction of a second of viewing a face, we have already determined its gender, age and identity. Identity and gender representations of familiar faces were enhanced very early on, suggesting that the behavioral benefit for familiar faces results from tuning of early feed-forward processing mechanisms These findings start to reveal the time course of face processing in humans, and provide powerful new constraints on computational theories of face perception. Determining which (or both) of these accounts is correct will provide an important step towards understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the behavioral familiarity enhancement effect, and will further inform more general and long-standing questions of how specific prior experience affects the processing of objects[12,13,14]. These findings constrain computational models of face perception and support a bottomup account of the strong familiarity effects previously reported in behavior
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
