title: Discriminating grotesque from typical faces: evidence from the Thatcher illusion.
abstract: The discrimination of thatcherized faces from typical faces was explored in two simultaneous alternative forced choice tasks. Reaction times (RTs) and errors were measured in a behavioural task. Brain activation was measured in an equivalent fMRI task. In both tasks, participants were tested with upright and inverted faces. Participants were also tested on churches in the behavioural task. The behavioural task confirmed the face specificity of the illusion (by comparing inversion effects for faces against churches) but also demonstrated that the discrimination was primarily, although not exclusively, driven by attending to eyes. The fMRI task showed that, relative to inverted faces, upright grotesque faces are discriminated via activation of a network of emotion/social evaluation processing areas. On the other hand, discrimination of inverted thatcherized faces was associated with increased activation of brain areas that are typically involved in perceptual processing of faces.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom. n.donnelly@soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: Nicole R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Zürcher
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cornes
authors.forename: Josh
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.forename: Paulami
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hadwin
authors.forename: Nouchine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hadjikhani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology