title: Self-face enhances processing of immediately preceding invisible faces.
abstract: The self-face is thought to be an especially salient stimulus. Behavioral evidence suggests that self-face processing advantage is associated with enhanced processing of temporally adjacent subliminal stimuli. However, the neural basis of this self-related processing modulation has not been investigated. We studied self-face induced signal amplification through masked priming and repetition suppression (fMRI adaptation). Subjects performed a gender-categorization task on self- and non-self target faces preceded by subliminal (17 ms) prime faces. The relationship between prime and target was varied between task-incongruent (when prime and target belonged to a different gender) and task-congruent (when prime and target belonged to the same gender) pairs. We found that, in the presence of the visible self-face (but not of other non-self faces), a bilateral fronto-parietal network exhibited repetition suppression to subliminal prime faces belonging to the same gender (task-congruent) as the target, consistent with the notion that, in the presence of the self-face, subliminal stimuli access high-level processing systems. These results are in agreement with the notion of self-specific top-down amplification of subliminal task-relevant information, and suggest that the self-face, through its high salience, is particularly efficacious in focusing attention.
authors.affiliation: Functional MRI Research Center, Columbia University, Neurological Institute B41, 710 W. 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA. ap2215@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pannese
authors.forename: Joy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hirsch
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D002138:Calibration; D003463:Cues; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen