Holistic face recognition is an emergent phenomenon of spatial integration in face-selective regions

Abstract

Spatial processing by receptive fields is a core property of the visual system. However, it is unknown how spatial coding in high-level regions contributes to recognition behavior. As face inversion is thought to disrupt typical 'holistic' processing of information in faces, we mapped population receptive fields (pRFs) with upright and inverted faces in the human visual system. In face-selective regions, but not primary visual cortex, pRFs and overall visual field coverage were smaller and shifted downward in response to face inversion. From these measurements, we successfully predicted the relative behavioral detriment of face inversion at different positions in the visual field. This correspondence between neural measurements and behavior demonstrates how spatial integration in face-selective regions enables holistic processing. These results not only show that spatial processing in high-level visual regions is dynamically used towards recognition, but also suggest a powerful approach for bridging neural computations by receptive fields to behavior.

Spatial Integration in Normal Face Processing and Its Breakdown in Congenital Prosopagnosia

“…Furthermore, there is a reported correlation between performance and pRF size (only in these regions and not in early retinotopic regions) in both individuals with CP and controls, showing that those with larger pRFs perform better than those with smaller pRFs and suggesting that the pRF size and spatial integration play a role in normal face recognition (Grill-Spector et al 2017, Witthoft et al 2016). These results are further corroborated by findings in normal participants showing that pRF size and the resultant visual field coverage in face-selective regions (and not in the primary visual cortex) are smaller and shifted downward for inverted compared to upright faces (Poltoratski et al 2020). This result is reminiscent of findings showing gradual developmental changes in size and spatial coverage of pRFs in high-level visual areas selective for faces (Gomez et al 2018).…”