title: Holistic processing of the mouth but not the eyes in developmental prosopagnosia.
abstract: Because holistic processing is a hallmark of normal face recognition, we ask whether such processing is reduced in developmental prosopagnosia (DP), and, if so, what the sources are of this deficit. Existing literature provides a mixed picture, with face inversion effects showing consistent holistic processing deficits but unable to locate their source and with some composite face studies showing reduced holistic processing and some not. We addressed this issue more thoroughly with a very large sample of DPs (N = 38) performing the part-whole task, a well-accepted measure of holistic processing that allows for the separate evaluation of individual face parts. Contrary to an expected overall reduction in holistic processing, we found an intact holistic advantage for the mouth and a complete absence of a holistic advantage for the eye region. Less severely impaired prosopagnosics showed significantly more holistic processing of the mouth, suggesting that holistic processing can aid them in recognizing faces.
authors: Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Boston Division VA Healthcare System, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, USA. degutis@wjh.harvard.edu
authors: Joseph
authors: J
authors: DeGutis
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Cohan
authors: Rogelio J
authors: RJ
authors: Mercado
authors: Jeremy
authors: J
authors: Wilmer
authors: Ken
authors: K
authors: Nakayama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005123:Eye; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D020238:Prosopagnosia / Q000151:congenital* / Q000503:physiopathology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult