title: The early visual encoding of a face (N170) is viewpoint-dependent: a parametric ERP-adaptation study.
abstract: Visual representations of faces are extracted shortly after 100 ms in the human brain, leading to an occipito-temporal cortex N170 event-related potential (ERP). To understand the nature of this early visual representation, a full-front adapting face preceded a different or identical target face identity. The target face varied parametrically in head orientation from the adapting face (0-90°, 15° steps). The N170 elicited by the target face increased progressively from 0° up to 30° head orientation, with no further increase until 90°. The N170 decreased for repeated face identities, this effect being stable between 0° and 30° changes of viewpoint, and no effect beyond that angle. These observations suggest that a face is encoded in a view-dependent manner, being matched to either a full-front or a profile face view. Yet, individual face representations activated as early as the peak of the N170 generalize partially across views.
authors.affiliation: Université de Lorraine, Laboratoire de Psychologie de l'interaction et des relations intersubjectives (InterPsy-EA4432), Nancy Cedex, France. Electronic address: Stephanie.Caharel@univ-lorraine.fr.
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caharel
authors.affiliation: Psychological Sciences Research Institute and Institute of Neuroscience, University of Louvain, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Collet
authors.affiliation: Psychological Sciences Research Institute and Institute of Neuroscience, University of Louvain, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rossion
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D009949:Orientation; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adaptation; Event-related potential; Face perception; Head orientation; Identity; N170; Viewpoint dependence