Department of Psychology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
J Neurosci. 2010 Mar 3;30(9):3544-52. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4863-09.2010.
The perception and recognition of familiar faces depends critically on an analysis of the internal features of the face (eyes, nose, mouth). We therefore contrasted how information about the internal and external (hair, chin, face outline) features of familiar and unfamiliar faces is represented in face-selective regions. There was a significant response to both the internal and external features of the face when presented in isolation. However, the response to the internal features was greater than the response to the external features. There was significant adaptation to repeated images of either the internal or external features of the face in the fusiform face area (FFA). However, the magnitude of this adaptation was greater for the internal features of familiar faces. Next, we asked whether the internal features of the face are represented independently from the external features. There was a release from adaptation in the FFA to composite images in which the internal features were varied but the external features were unchanged, or when the internal features were unchanged but the external features varied, demonstrating a holistic response. Finally, we asked whether the holistic response to faces could be influenced by the context in which the face was presented. We found that adaptation was still evident to composite images in which the face was unchanged but body features were varied. Together, these findings show that although internal features are important in the neural representation of familiar faces, the face's internal and external features are represented holistically in face-selective regions of the human brain.
熟悉面孔的感知和识别取决于对面部内部特征（眼睛、鼻子、嘴巴）的分析。因此，我们对比了在选择性面孔区域中，熟悉和不熟悉面孔的内部和外部（头发、下巴、面部轮廓）特征信息是如何表示的。当单独呈现时，面孔的内部和外部特征都会引起显著的反应。然而，内部特征的反应大于外部特征的反应。在梭状回面孔区（FFA）中，对面孔的内部或外部特征的重复图像会产生显著的适应。然而，对于熟悉面孔的内部特征，这种适应的幅度更大。接下来，我们询问面孔的内部特征是否独立于外部特征来表示。在 FFA 中，当内部特征发生变化而外部特征不变，或者内部特征不变而外部特征发生变化时，对复合图像的适应会得到释放，这表明了整体反应。最后，我们询问面孔的整体反应是否会受到呈现面孔的上下文的影响。我们发现，即使在面孔不变但身体特征发生变化的复合图像中，适应仍然明显。这些发现表明，尽管内部特征对面孔的熟悉表示很重要，但面孔的内部和外部特征在人类大脑的选择性面孔区域中是整体表示的。
