Dataset Information

Contrast versus identity encoding in the face image follow distinct orientation selectivity profiles.

ABSTRACT: Orientation selectivity is a fundamental property of primary visual encoding. High-level processing stages also show some form of orientation dependence, with face identification preferentially relying on horizontally-oriented information. How high-level orientation tuning emerges from primary orientation biases is unclear. In the same group of participants, we derived the orientation selectivity profile at primary and high-level visual processing stages using a contrast detection and an identity matching task. To capture the orientation selectivity profile, we calculated the difference in performance between all tested orientations (0, 45, 90, and 135°) for each task and for upright and inverted faces, separately. Primary orientation selectivity was characterized by higher sensitivity to oblique as compared to cardinal orientations. The orientation profile of face identification showed superior horizontal sensitivity to face identity. In each task, performance with upright and inverted faces projected onto qualitatively similar a priori models of orientation selectivity. Yet the fact that the orientation selectivity profiles of contrast detection in upright and inverted faces correlated significantly while such correlation was absent for identification indicates a progressive dissociation of orientation selectivity profiles from primary to high-level stages of orientation encoding. Bayesian analyses further indicate a lack of correlation between the orientation selectivity profiles in the contrast detection and face identification tasks, for upright and inverted faces. From these findings, we conclude that orientation selectivity shows distinct profiles at primary and high-level stages of face processing and that a transformation must occur from general cardinal attenuation when processing basic properties of the face image to horizontal tuning when encoding more complex properties such as identity.

SUBMITTER: Jacobs C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7080280 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Contrast versus identity encoding in the face image follow distinct orientation selectivity profiles.

Jacobs Christianne C Petras Kirsten K Moors Pieter P Goffaux Valerie V

PloS one 20200318 3

Orientation selectivity is a fundamental property of primary visual encoding. High-level processing stages also show some form of orientation dependence, with face identification preferentially relying on horizontally-oriented information. How high-level orientation tuning emerges from primary orientation biases is unclear. In the same group of participants, we derived the orientation selectivity profile at primary and high-level visual processing stages using a contrast detection and an identit ...[more]

PMID: 32187178

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Project description:Faces of different people elicit distinct fMRI patterns in several face-selective regions of the human brain. Here we used representational similarity analysis to investigate what type of identity-distinguishing information is encoded in three face-selective regions: fusiform face area (FFA), occipital face area (OFA), and posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). In a sample of 30 human participants (22 females, 8 males), we used fMRI to measure brain activity patterns elicited by naturalistic videos of famous face identities, and compared their representational distances in each region with models of the differences between identities. We built diverse candidate models, ranging from low-level image-computable properties (pixel-wise, GIST, and Gabor-Jet dissimilarities), through higher-level image-computable descriptions (OpenFace deep neural network, trained to cluster faces by identity), to complex human-rated properties (perceived similarity, social traits, and gender). We found marked differences in the information represented by the FFA and OFA. Dissimilarities between face identities in FFA were accounted for by differences in perceived similarity, Social Traits, Gender, and by the OpenFace network. In contrast, representational distances in OFA were mainly driven by differences in low-level image-based properties (pixel-wise and Gabor-Jet dissimilarities). Our results suggest that, although FFA and OFA can both discriminate between identities, the FFA representation is further removed from the image, encoding higher-level perceptual and social face information.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Recent studies using fMRI have shown that several face-responsive brain regions can distinguish between different face identities. It is however unclear whether these different face-responsive regions distinguish between identities in similar or different ways. We used representational similarity analysis to investigate the computations within three brain regions in response to naturalistically varying videos of face identities. Our results revealed that two regions, the fusiform face area and the occipital face area, encode distinct identity information about faces. Although identity can be decoded from both regions, identity representations in fusiform face area primarily contained information about social traits, gender, and high-level visual features, whereas occipital face area primarily represented lower-level image features.

Dataset Information

Contrast versus identity encoding in the face image follow distinct orientation selectivity profiles.

Publications

Contrast versus identity encoding in the face image follow distinct orientation selectivity profiles.

Similar Datasets

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