Menzel Claudia, Hayn-Leichsenring Gregor U, Redies Christoph, Németh Kornél, Kovács Gyula
Experimental Aesthetics Group, Institute of Anatomy I, Jena University Hospital, Teichgraben 7, D-07743 Jena, Germany; Person Perception Research Unit, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Leutragraben 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany.
Experimental Aesthetics Group, Institute of Anatomy I, Jena University Hospital, Teichgraben 7, D-07743 Jena, Germany; Person Perception Research Unit, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Leutragraben 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany.
Brain Cogn. 2017 Oct;117:73-83. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2017.06.006. Epub 2017 Jun 21.
The presence of noise usually impairs the processing of a stimulus. Here, we studied the effects of noise on face processing and show, for the first time, that adaptation to noise patterns has beneficial effects on face perception. We used noiseless faces that were either surrounded by random noise or presented on a uniform background as stimuli. In addition, the faces were either preceded by noise adaptors or not. Moreover, we varied the statistics of the noise so that its spectral slope either matched that of the faces or it was steeper or shallower. Results of parallel ERP recordings showed that the background noise reduces the amplitude of the face-evoked N170, indicating less intensive face processing. Adaptation to a noise pattern, however, led to reduced P1 and enhanced N170 amplitudes as well as to a better behavioral performance in two of the three noise conditions. This effect was also augmented by the presence of background noise around the target stimuli. Additionally, the spectral slope of the noise pattern affected the size of the P1, N170 and P2 amplitudes. We reason that the observed effects are due to the selective adaptation of noise-sensitive neurons present in the face-processing cortical areas, which may enhance the signal-to-noise-ratio.
噪声的存在通常会损害对刺激的处理。在此，我们研究了噪声对面部处理的影响，并首次表明，对噪声模式的适应对面部感知具有有益影响。我们使用无噪声的面部作为刺激，这些面部要么被随机噪声包围，要么呈现在均匀背景上。此外，面部之前要么有噪声适应器，要么没有。而且，我们改变了噪声的统计特性，使其频谱斜率要么与面部的匹配，要么更陡或更平缓。并行ERP记录结果表明，背景噪声会降低面部诱发的N170的幅度，表明对面部的处理强度降低。然而，在三种噪声条件中的两种情况下，对噪声模式的适应导致P1降低、N170幅度增强以及行为表现更好。目标刺激周围存在背景噪声也增强了这种效应。此外，噪声模式的频谱斜率影响了P1、N170和P2幅度的大小。我们推断，观察到的效应是由于面部处理皮层区域中存在的对噪声敏感的神经元的选择性适应，这可能会提高信噪比。
