Separable Mechanisms in Face Processing: Evidence from Hemispheric Specialization

1991 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn A. Hillger ◽  
Olivier Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Facial Feature ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right

This article addresses three issues in face processing: First, is face processing primarily accomplished by the right hemisphere, or do both left- and right-hemisphere mechanisms play important roles? Second, are the mechanisms the same as those involved in general visual processing, or are they dedicated to face processing? Third, how can the mechanisms be characterized more precisely in terms of processes such as visual parsing? We explored these issues using the divided visual field methodology in four experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 provided evidence that both left- and right-hemisphere mechanisms are involved in face processing. In Experiment 1, a right-hemisphere advantage was found for both Same and Different trials when Same faces were identical and Different faces differed on all three internal facial features. Experiment 2 replicated the right-hemisphere advantage for Same trials but showed a left-hemisphere advantage for Different trials when one of three facial features differed between the target and the probe faces. Experiment 3 showed that the right-hemisphere advantage obtained with upright faces in Experiment 2 disappeared when the faces were inverted. This result suggests that there are right-hemisphere mechanisms specialized for processing upright faces, although it could not be determined whether these mechanisms are completely face-specific. Experiment 3 also provided evidence that the left-hemisphere mechanisms utilized in face processing tasks are general-purpose visual mechanisms not restricted to particular classes of visual stimuli. In Experiment 4, a left-hemisphere advantage was obtained when the task was to find one facial feature that was the same between the target and the probe faces. We suggest that left-hemisphere advantages shown in face processing are due to the parsing and analysis of the local elements of a face.

Variable Left-hemisphere Language and Orthographic Lateralization Reduces Right-hemisphere Face Lateralization

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 913-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva M. Dundas ◽  
David C. Plaut ◽  
Marlene Behrmann
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Discrimination Accuracy ◽  
Left Handed ◽  
Representational Space ◽  
The Right ◽  
Interactive Account

It is commonly believed that, in right-handed individuals, words and faces are processed by distinct neural systems: one in the left hemisphere (LH) for words and the other in the right hemisphere (RH) for faces. Emerging evidence suggests, however, that hemispheric selectivity for words and for faces may not be independent of each other. One recent account suggests that words become lateralized to the LH to interact more effectively with language regions, and subsequently, as a result of competition with words for representational space, faces become lateralized to the RH. On this interactive account, left-handed individuals, who as a group show greater variability with respect to hemispheric language dominance, might be expected to show greater variability in their degree of RH lateralization of faces as well. The current study uses behavioral measures and ERPs to compare the hemispheric specialization for both words and faces in right- and left-handed adult individuals. Although both right- and left-handed groups demonstrated LH over RH superiority in discrimination accuracy for words, only the right-handed group demonstrated RH over LH advantage in discrimination accuracy for faces. Consistent with this, increased right-handedness was related to an increase in RH superiority for face processing, as measured by the strength of the N170 ERP component. Interestingly, the degree of RH behavioral superiority for face processing and the amplitude of the RH N170 for faces could be predicted by the magnitude of the N170 ERP response to words in the LH. These results are discussed in terms of a theoretical account in which the typical RH face lateralization fails to emerge in individuals with atypical language lateralization because of weakened competition from the LH representation of words.

Right hemisphere speech perception revealed by amobarbital injection and electrical interference

Neurology ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 458-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Boatman ◽  
J. Hart ◽  
R. P. Lesser ◽  
N. Honeycutt ◽  
N. B. Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Temporal Lobe ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Left Posterior ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
Sodium Amobarbital ◽  
The Right ◽  
Electrical Interference

Objective: To investigate the right hemispheric speech perception capabilities of an adult right-handed patient with seizures.Methods: Consecutive, unilateral, intracarotid sodium amobarbital injections and left hemispheric electrical interference mapping were used to determine lateralization and localization of speech perception, measured as syllable discrimination.Results: Syllable discrimination remained intact after left and right intracarotid sodium amobarbital injections. Language otherwise strongly lateralized to the left hemisphere. Despite evidence of bilateral speech perception capabilities, electrical interference testing in the left posterior temporal lobe impaired syllable discrimination.Conclusions: The results suggest a functionally symmetric, parallel system in the adult brain with preferential use of left hemispheric pathways for speech perception.

Hemispheric Specialization and Cognitive Development: Implications for Mathematics Education

1978 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-32
Author(s):  
Grayson H. Wheatley ◽  
Robert Mitchell ◽  
Robert L. Frankland ◽  
Rosemarie Kraft
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Asymmetry ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Mathematics Curriculum ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Brain Hemispheres ◽  
Spatial Tasks ◽  
Concrete Operational ◽  
The Right ◽  
Hemisphere Specialization

Evidence is presented for hemisphere specialization of the two brain hemispheres: the left hemisphere specialized for logico-analytic tasks and the right hemisphere, visuo-spatial tasks. A hypothesis is put forth for the emergence of the specialization that suggests a shift from predominant right hemisphere processing in infancy to predominant left hemisphere processing in adulthood. Results of the studies reviewed suggest the emergence of concrete-operational thought as the left hemisphere becomes capable of processing logical tasks. Electroencephalography seems particularly useful in determining specialization and mapping changes in hemispheric asymmetry. Implications for school mathematics curriculum are presented.

Right-Hemisphere Memory Superiority: Studies of a Split-Brain Patient

1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Metcalfe ◽  
Margaret Funnell ◽  
Michael S. Gazzaniga
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Callosum ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Split Brain ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
Source Of Information

Six experiments explored hemispheric memory differences in a patient who had undergone complete corpus callosum resection The right hemisphere was better able than the left to reject new events similar to originally presented materials of several types, including abstract visual forms, faces, and categorized lists of words Although the left hemisphere is capable of mental manipulation, imagination, semantic priming, and complex language production, these functions are apparently linked to memory confusions—confusions less apparent in the more literal right hemisphere Differences between the left and right hemispheres in memory for new schematically consistent or categorically related events may provide a source of information allowing people to distinguish between what they actually witnessed and what they only inferred

scholarly journals Handedness Does Not Impact Inhibitory Control, but Movement Execution and Reactive Inhibition Are More under a Left-Hemisphere Control

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1602
Author(s):  
Christian Mancini ◽  
Giovanni Mirabella
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Arm Movement ◽  
Proactive Inhibition ◽  
Stop Signal Task ◽  
The Right

The relationship between handedness, laterality, and inhibitory control is a valuable benchmark for testing the hypothesis of the right-hemispheric specialization of inhibition. According to this theory, and given that to stop a limb movement, it is sufficient to alter the activity of the contralateral hemisphere, then suppressing a left arm movement should be faster than suppressing a right-arm movement. This is because, in the latter case, inhibitory commands produced in the right hemisphere should be sent to the other hemisphere. Further, as lateralization of cognitive functions in left-handers is less pronounced than in right-handers, in the former, the inhibitory control should rely on both hemispheres. We tested these predictions on a medium-large sample of left- and right-handers (n = 52). Each participant completed two sessions of the reaching versions of the stop-signal task, one using the right arm and one using the left arm. We found that reactive and proactive inhibition do not differ according to handedness. However, we found a significant advantage of the right versus the left arm in canceling movements outright. By contrast, there were no differences in proactive inhibition. As we also found that participants performed movements faster with the right than with the left arm, we interpret our results in light of the dominant role of the left hemisphere in some aspects of motor control.

scholarly journals Upright or inverted, entire or exploded: right-hemispheric superiority in face recognition withstands multiple spatial manipulations

PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e1456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Prete ◽  
Daniele Marzoli ◽  
Luca Tommasi
Keyword(s):  
Face Recognition ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Social Stimuli ◽  
Identity Recognition ◽  
The Right

Background.The ability to identify faces has been interpreted as a cerebral specialization based on the evolutionary importance of these social stimuli, and a number of studies have shown that this function is mainly lateralized in the right hemisphere. The aim of this study was to assess the right-hemispheric specialization in face recognition in unfamiliar circumstances.Methods.Using a divided visual field paradigm, we investigated hemispheric asymmetries in the matching of two subsequent faces, using two types of transformation hindering identity recognition, namely upside-down rotation and spatial “explosion” (female and male faces were fractured into parts so that their mutual spatial relations were left intact), as well as their combination.Results.We confirmed the right-hemispheric superiority in face processing. Moreover, we found a decrease of the identity recognition for more extreme “levels of explosion” and for faces presented upside-down (either as sample or target stimuli) than for faces presented upright, as well as an advantage in the matching of female compared to male faces.Discussion.We conclude that the right-hemispheric superiority for face processing is not an epiphenomenon of our expertise, because we are not often exposed to inverted and “exploded” faces, but rather a robust hemispheric lateralization. We speculate that these results could be attributable to the prevalence of right-handedness in humans and/or to early biases in social interactions.

Psychological and Electroencephalographic Relationships in Cryothalamectomy for Parkinsonism

1970 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 799-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Riklan ◽  
Eric Levita
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Activation ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Psychological Tests ◽  
Psychological Change ◽  
Left Brain ◽  
Eeg Activation ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
Scalp Electroencephalogram ◽  
The Right

Psychological tests and a scalp electroencephalogram were administered to parkinsonians undergoing left, right, or second side thalamic surgery for alleviation of contralateral tremor and rigidity. The psychological tests were designed to assess a range of behavioral activation. EEGs were subjected to frequency analysis from which an activation index was derived. No significant preoperative correlations obtained between EEG activation ratios and the scores of any of the psychological tests under consideration. Nor was any significant relationship found between pre- to postoperative psychological change scores and alterations in EEG patterns of activation. However, a significant decrease in EEG activation ratios for left-brain operates was found in the absence of any such changes for the right-brain operates. This finding was consistent for EEG ratios of both left- and right-hemisphere leads and for parietal and central leads. Some primarily cortical hemispheric specialization was suggested with regard to the processes underlying EEG activation, and a possible mechanism was proposed.

Lateral Differences for Person Perception: Effects of Task on Visual Processing of Handwriting

1983 ◽  
Vol 57 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1023-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Bruyer ◽  
K. Secq
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Person Perception ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Push Button ◽  
The Right ◽  
Normal Adults

Sergent and Bindra suggested that identification of faces using few different stimuli engages mainly the left hemisphere and, conversely, that discrimination of faces using more stimuli engages mainly the right hemisphere. The present study examined whether this suggestion holds for the perception of handwriting which, like faces, authorizes the perception of “persons”. Normal adults were presented stimuli consisting of a word written in various hands, laterally displayed for 180 msec. Exp. 1 (identification) was conducted with 8 subjects, who were asked to identify (push-button) four different stimuli by means of an associated first name. Exp. 2 (discrimination) was conducted with 16 subjects who were asked to make same/different judgments between a central stimulus and a lateral one under three experimental conditions, normal, mirror-reversed, and inverted presentations of both members of the pair. The results suggest that the direction of asymmetry depends more on the amount of stimuli than on the task and that familiarity with the stimuli is an important variable.

Selective Attention to Faces in a Rapid Visual Stream: Hemispheric Differences in Enhancement and Suppression of Category-selective Neural Activity

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve Quek ◽  
Dan Nemrodov ◽  
Bruno Rossion ◽  
Joan Liu-Shuang
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
Face Categorization ◽  
The Face ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selective Activity

In daily life, efficient perceptual categorization of faces occurs in dynamic and highly complex visual environments. Yet the role of selective attention in guiding face categorization has predominantly been studied under sparse and static viewing conditions, with little focus on disentangling the impact of attentional enhancement and suppression. Here we show that attentional enhancement and suppression exert a differential impact on face categorization supported by the left and right hemispheres. We recorded 128-channel EEG while participants viewed a 6-Hz stream of object images (buildings, animals, objects, etc.) with a face image embedded as every fifth image (i.e., OOOOFOOOOFOOOOF…). We isolated face-selective activity by measuring the response at the face presentation frequency (i.e., 6 Hz/5 = 1.2 Hz) under three conditions: Attend Faces, in which participants monitored the sequence for instances of female faces; Attend Objects, in which they responded to instances of guitars; and Baseline, in which they performed an orthogonal task on the central fixation cross. During the orthogonal task, face-specific activity was predominantly centered over the right occipitotemporal region. Actively attending to faces enhanced face-selective activity much more evidently in the left hemisphere than in the right, whereas attending to objects suppressed the face-selective response in both hemispheres to a comparable extent. In addition, the time courses of attentional enhancement and suppression did not overlap. These results suggest the left and right hemispheres support face-selective processing in distinct ways—where the right hemisphere is mandatorily engaged by faces and the left hemisphere is more flexibly recruited to serve current tasks demands.

scholarly journals Representations of Facial Identity in the Left Hemisphere Require Right Hemisphere Processing

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 1006-1017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara C. Verosky ◽  
Nicholas B. Turk-Browne
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Right Visual Field ◽  
Fusiform Face Area ◽  
Identity Information ◽  
Facial Identity ◽  
Face Area ◽  
The Right ◽  
Fmri Adaptation

A quintessential example of hemispheric specialization in the human brain is that the right hemisphere is specialized for face perception. However, because the visual system is organized contralaterally, what happens when faces appear in the right visual field and are projected to the nonspecialized left hemisphere? We used divided field presentation and fMRI adaptation to test the hypothesis that the left hemisphere can recognize faces, but only with support from the right hemisphere. Consistent with this hypothesis, facial identity adaptation was observed in the left fusiform face area when a face had previously been processed by the right hemisphere, but not when it had only been processed by the left hemisphere. These results imply that facial identity information is transferred from the right hemisphere to the left hemisphere, and that the left hemisphere can represent facial identity but is less efficient at extracting this information by itself.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document