Dissociation between overt and unconscious face processing in fusiform face area.
The precise role of the fusiform face area (FFA) in face processing remains controversial. In this study, we investigated to what degree FFA activation reflects additional functions beyond face perception. Seven volunteers underwent rapid event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging while they performed a face-encoding and a face-recognition task. During face encoding, activity in the FFA for individual faces predicted whether the individual face was subsequently remembered or forgotten. However, during face recognition, no difference in FFA activity between consciously remembered and forgotten faces was observed, but the activity of FFA differentiated if a face had been seen previously or not. This demonstrated a dissociation between overt recognition and unconscious discrimination of stimuli, suggesting that physiological processes of face recognition can take place, even if not all of its operations are made available to consciousness.
Lehmann
Christoph
C
University Hospital of Clinical Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, Waldau, 3000 60, Bern, Switzerland.
Mueller
Thomas
T
Federspiel
Andrea
A
Hubl
Daniela
D
Schroth
Gerhard
G
Huber
Oswald
O
Strik
Werner
W
Dierks
Thomas
T
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology