From upright to upside-down presentation: a spatio-temporal ERP study of the parametric effect of rotation on face and house processing.
BACKGROUND
While there is a general agreement that picture-plane inversion is more detrimental to face processing than to other seemingly complex visual objects, the origin of this effect is still largely debatable. Here, we address the question of whether face inversion reflects a quantitative or a qualitative change in processing mode by investigating the pattern of event-related potential (ERP) response changes with picture plane rotation of face and house pictures. Thorough analyses of topographical (Scalp Current Density maps, SCD) and dipole source modeling were also conducted.


RESULTS
We find that whilst stimulus orientation affected in a similar fashion participants' response latencies to make face and house decisions, only the ERPs in the N170 latency range were modulated by picture plane rotation of faces. The pattern of N170 amplitude and latency enhancement to misrotated faces displayed a curvilinear shape with an almost linear increase for rotations from 0 degrees to 90 degrees and a dip at 112.5 degrees up to 180 degrees rotations. A similar discontinuity function was also described for SCD occipito-temporal and temporal current foci with no topographic distribution changes, suggesting that upright and misrotated faces activated similar brain sources. This was confirmed by dipole source analyses showing the involvement of bilateral sources in the fusiform and middle occipital gyri, the activity of which was differentially affected by face rotation.


CONCLUSIONS
Our N170 findings provide support for both the quantitative and qualitative accounts for face rotation effects. Although the qualitative explanation predicted the curvilinear shape of N170 modulations by face misrotations, topographical and source modeling findings suggest that the same brain regions, and thus the same mechanisms, are probably at work when processing upright and rotated faces. Taken collectively, our results indicate that the same processing mechanisms may be involved across the whole range of face orientations, but would operate in a non-linear fashion. Finally, the response tuning of the N170 to rotated faces extends previous reports and further demonstrates that face inversion affects perceptual analyses of faces, which is reflected within the time range of the N170 component.
Jemel
Boutheina
B
Research Laboratory in Neuroscience and Cognitive Electrophysiology, Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies, 7070 Blv Perras, Montreal, Canada. boutheina.jemel@umontreal.ca
Coutya
Julie
J
Langer
Caroline
C
Roy
Sylvain
S
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012399:Rotation; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*
Neuroimage. 2007 Jul 1;36(3):863-76
17500010
Neurosci Lett. 2003 May 22;342(3):143-6
12757885
Cogn Neuropsychol. 2000 Feb 1;17(1):13-34
20945169
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2003 Jan;112(1):17-41
12423898
Perception. 2007;36(3):446-60
17455758
Neuron. 1999 Jan;22(1):189-99
10027301
Mem Cognit. 1985 Jul;13(4):289-303
4079746
Psychol Sci. 2000 Nov;11(6):492-6
11202495
Neuroreport. 2003 Nov 14;14(16):2035-9
14600493
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2002 Mar;109(3):227-38
11881901
Hum Brain Mapp. 1999;7(1):29-37
9882088
Curr Biol. 2004 Mar 9;14(5):391-6
15028214
J Cogn Neurosci. 1996 Nov;8(6):551-565
20740065
Cereb Cortex. 2007 Jun;17(6):1423-32
16923779
Curr Biol. 2005 Dec 20;15(24):2256-62
16360687
J Cogn Neurosci. 2008 May;20(5):863-78
18201134
Cognition. 1998 Aug;68(1):B1-11
9775518
Percept Psychophys. 1997 Jul;59(5):752-61
9259642
Neurosci Lett. 1998 Sep 11;253(3):147-50
9792232
Perception. 2001;30(6):769-74
11464565
Trends Cogn Sci. 2003 Jan;7(1):23-30
12517355
Exp Brain Res. 1989;77(2):349-60
2792281
Trends Cogn Sci. 2000 Jun;4(6):223-233
10827445
Psychol Sci. 2002 May;13(3):250-7
12009046
J Cogn Neurosci. 2000 May;12(3):495-504
10931774
Neuroimage. 2007 Feb 15;34(4):1708-22
17188904
Percept Psychophys. 2000 Oct;62(7):1356-66
11143448
Mem Cognit. 1997 Sep;25(5):583-92
9337578
Cereb Cortex. 2004 Feb;14(2):132-42
14704210
Neuroreport. 1998 Sep 14;9(13):2945-8
9804295
Neuroimage. 2008 Feb 15;39(4):1959-79
18055223
Cognition. 1993 Apr;47(1):25-57
8482070
Q J Exp Psychol A. 2000 May;53(2):513-36
10881616
J Cogn Neurosci. 2000 Sep;12(5):793-802
11054921
Neuroreport. 2000 Jul 14;11(10):2319-24
10923693
Perception. 2001;30(6):743-53
11464562
Proc Biol Sci. 2004 Dec 7;271 Suppl 6:S448-50
15801600
Neuroreport. 2000 Jan 17;11(1):69-74
10683832
Vision Res. 1998 Aug;38(15-16):2401-28
9798007
Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1985 Jan;62(1):32-44
2578376
Mem Cognit. 1998 Jul;26(4):791-803
9701970
Perception. 2000;29(2):159-70
10820599
Exp Brain Res. 1993;96(1):163-72
8243578
J Neurosci. 1997 Jun 1;17(11):4302-11
9151747
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2003 May;16(3):416-24
12706221
J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1995 Jun;21(3):628-34
7790837
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2003 Oct;17(3):771-80
14561462
J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1996 Aug;22(4):904-15
8756958
Biol Psychol. 1999 Jul;50(3):173-89
10461804
Cogn Neuropsychol. 2000 Feb 1;17(1):257-80
20945183
Neuropsychologia. 2006;44(7):1145-58
16303149
J Cogn Neurosci. 1997 Fall;9(5):555-604
23965118
Neuroimage. 2003 Nov;20(3):1609-24
14642472
J Vis. 2005 Nov 07;5(10):755-63
16441183
Psychol Rev. 1998 Jul;105(3):482-98
9697428
Neuron. 2004 Dec 2;44(5):889-98
15572118
J Clin Neurophysiol. 1991 Apr;8(2):200-2
2050819
Mem Cognit. 1988 Nov;16(6):556-66
3193887
J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 Nov;19(11):1815-26
17958484
Cereb Cortex. 2005 May;15(5):526-34
15319307
J Vis. 2008 Apr 10;8(4):3.1-13
18484842
Perception. 2000;29(8):937-42
11145085
Cogn Psychol. 1993 Jul;25(3):281-316
8354050
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 1996 Sep;4(2):65-76
8883920
Neuroimage. 2002 Feb;15(2):353-72
11798271
Clin Neurophysiol. 2000 Apr;111(4):694-705
10727921
J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2004 Jan;30(1):181-97
14736306
J Vis. 2008 Dec 17;8(10):11.1-14
19146353
Cognition. 1998 Jul;67(1-2):111-45
9735538
Science. 1977 Jan 21;195(4275):312-4
831281
Neuroreport. 1999 Jan 18;10(1):189-94
10094160
Q J Exp Psychol A. 1993 May;46(2):225-45
8316637
Perception. 2002;31(3):287-96
11954691
J Cogn Neurosci. 2001 Oct 1;13(7):937-51
11595097
Br J Psychol. 1988 Nov;79 ( Pt 4):471-91
3061544
Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1988 Apr;69(4):385-9
2450736
Br J Psychol. 1993 Nov;84 ( Pt 4):433-41
8298857
J Exp Psychol Gen. 1986 Jun;115(2):107-17
2940312