title: Visual coding of human bodies: perceptual aftereffects reveal norm-based, opponent coding of body identity.
abstract: Despite the discovery of body-selective neural areas in occipitotemporal cortex, little is known about how bodies are visually coded. We used perceptual adaptation to determine how body identity is coded. Brief exposure to a body (e.g., anti-Rose) biased perception toward an identity with opposite properties (Rose). Moreover, the size of this aftereffect increased with adaptor extremity, as predicted by norm-based, opponent coding of body identity. A size change between adapt and test bodies minimized the effects of low-level, retinotopic adaptation. These results demonstrate that body identity, like face identity, is opponent coded in higher-level vision. More generally, they show that a norm-based multidimensional framework, which is well established for face perception, may provide a powerful framework for understanding body perception.
authors: School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia. gillian.rhodes@uwa.edu.au
authors: Gillian
authors: G
authors: Rhodes
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: Jeffery
authors: Alexandra
authors: A
authors: Boeing
authors: Andrew J
authors: AJ
authors: Calder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D049628:Body Size; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D005366:Figural Aftereffect; D018594:Human Body; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012858:Size Perception; D014794:Visual Fields; D055815:Young Adult