Xu Buyun, Liu-Shuang Joan, Rossion Bruno, Tanaka James
University of Victoria.
University of Louvain.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2017 Aug;29(8):1368-1377. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_01126. Epub 2017 Mar 30.
A growing body of literature suggests that human individuals differ in their ability to process face identity. These findings mainly stem from explicit behavioral tasks, such as the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT). However, it remains an open question whether such individual differences can be found in the absence of an explicit face identity task and when faces have to be individualized at a single glance. In the current study, we tested 49 participants with a recently developed fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) paradigm [Liu-Shuang, J., Norcia, A. M., & Rossion, B. An objective index of individual face discrimination in the right occipitotemporal cortex by means of fast periodic oddball stimulation. Neuropsychologia, 52, 57-72, 2014] in EEG to rapidly, objectively, and implicitly quantify face identity processing. In the FPVS paradigm, one face identity (A) was presented at the frequency of 6 Hz, allowing only one gaze fixation, with different face identities (B, C, D) presented every fifth face (1.2 Hz; i.e., AAAABAAAACAAAAD…). Results showed a face individuation response at 1.2 Hz and its harmonics, peaking over occipitotemporal locations. The magnitude of this response showed high reliability across different recording sequences and was significant in all but two participants, with the magnitude and lateralization differing widely across participants. There was a modest but significant correlation between the individuation response amplitude and the performance of the behavioral CFMT task, despite the fact that CFMT and FPVS measured different aspects of face identity processing. Taken together, the current study highlights the FPVS approach as a promising means for studying individual differences in face identity processing.
越来越多的文献表明，人类个体在处理面部识别的能力上存在差异。这些发现主要源于明确的行为任务，比如剑桥面部记忆测试（CFMT）。然而，在没有明确的面部识别任务以及需要一眼识别出不同面部的情况下，是否能发现这种个体差异仍是一个悬而未决的问题。在当前的研究中，我们使用最近开发的快速周期性视觉刺激（FPVS）范式[刘双、J.、诺西亚、A.M.和罗西昂、B.通过快速周期性奇偶数刺激对右枕颞叶皮层中个体面部识别的客观指标。《神经心理学》，52卷，57 - 72页，2014年]对脑电图中的49名参与者进行测试，以快速、客观和隐含地量化面部识别处理。在FPVS范式中，一种面部识别（A）以6赫兹的频率呈现，只允许一次注视，每隔五张脸（1.2赫兹；即AAAABAAAACAAAAD…）呈现不同的面部识别（B、C、D）。结果显示在1.2赫兹及其谐波处出现面部个体化反应，在枕颞叶位置达到峰值。这种反应的幅度在不同的记录序列中显示出高可靠性，除两名参与者外，在所有参与者中都很显著，不同参与者之间的幅度和定位差异很大。尽管CFMT和FPVS测量的是面部识别处理的不同方面，但个体化反应幅度与行为CFMT任务的表现之间存在适度但显著的相关性。综上所述，当前的研究突出了FPVS方法作为研究面部识别处理中个体差异的一种有前景的手段。
