Human face and gaze perception is highly context specific and involves bottom-up and top-down neural processing

Hadders‐Algra, Mijna

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.042

Cited by 32 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 303 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The white sclera in human eyes facilitates the perception of gaze direction ( Kobayashi and Kohshima, 1997 , 2001 ; Ando, 2004 ), which supports social interaction by indicating shared attention and enabling inferences of others’ mental state (e.g., Stephenson et al, 2021 ). Although the specific impact of eye gaze direction on the N170 is inconsistent and may be task and context dependent ( Hadders-Algra, 2022 ), evidence supports the general conclusion that information about gaze direction is extracted early in face processing. Burra et al (2017) and others (see Hadders-Algra, 2022 for a recent review) reported an increase in N170 amplitude in response to briefly presented faces depicting direct compared to averted gaze suggesting that face processing is sensitive to gaze direction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Although the specific impact of eye gaze direction on the N170 is inconsistent and may be task and context dependent ( Hadders-Algra, 2022 ), evidence supports the general conclusion that information about gaze direction is extracted early in face processing. Burra et al (2017) and others (see Hadders-Algra, 2022 for a recent review) reported an increase in N170 amplitude in response to briefly presented faces depicting direct compared to averted gaze suggesting that face processing is sensitive to gaze direction. Rossi et al (2015) further showed a larger N170 in response to dynamic shifts of gaze away from compared to toward the viewer, for real but not line-drawn faces, suggesting that the N170 is sensitive to the low-level light-dark contrast.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Contrast reversal of the iris and sclera increases the face sensitive N170

Jantzen

McNamara

Harris

et al. 2022

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous research has demonstrated that reversing the contrast of the eye region, which includes the eyebrows, affects the N170 ERP. To selectively assess the impact of just the eyes, the present study evaluated the N170 in response to reversing contrast polarity of just the iris and sclera in upright and inverted face stimuli. Contrast reversal of the eyes increased the amplitude of the N170 for upright faces, but not for inverted faces, suggesting that the contrast of eyes is an important contributor to the N170 ERP.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Contrast reversal of the iris and sclera increases the face sensitive N170

Jantzen

McNamara

Harris

et al. 2022

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“… 3 , 8 , 9 The social brain includes the medial prefrontal cortex, the association areas in the parietal and temporal cortices, the cerebellum, amygdala, and brainstem. 26 The alterations in individuals with ASD include overconnectivity, underconnectivity, and a more diffuse connectivity between networks. This results in reduced network specialization and a loss of hubs (nodes on which global long‐range connectivity converges) in the prefrontal, temporal, and parietal cortices.…”

Section: Pathophysiology Of the Early Signs Of Asdmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neuropathological and neuroimaging studies in adolescents and adults reported that ASD is associated with widespread alterations in the social brain 3,8,9 . The social brain includes the medial prefrontal cortex, the association areas in the parietal and temporal cortices, the cerebellum, amygdala, and brainstem 26 . The alterations in individuals with ASD include overconnectivity, underconnectivity, and a more diffuse connectivity between networks.…”

Section: Pathophysiology Of the Early Signs Of Asdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging signs of autism spectrum disorder in infancy: Putative neural substrate

Hadders‐Algra

2022

Develop Med Child Neuro

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by altered development of the social brain with prominent atypical features in the fronto‐temporo‐parietal cortex and cerebellum. Early signs of ASD emerge between 6 and 12 months: reduced social communication, slightly less advanced motor development, and repetitive behaviour. The fronto‐temporo‐parietal cortex and cerebellum play a prominent role in the development of social communication, whereas fronto‐parietal‐cerebellar networks are involved in the planning of movements, that is, movement selection. Atypical sensory responsivity, a core feature of ASD, may result in impaired development of social communication and motor skills and/or selection of atypical repetitive behaviour. In the first postnatal year, the brain areas involved are characterized by gradual dissolution of temporary structures: the fronto‐temporo‐parietal cortical subplate and cerebellar external granular layer. It is hypothesized that altered dissolution of the transient structures opens the window for the expression of early signs of ASD arising in the impaired developing permanent networks. What this paper adds The early social and motor signs of autism spectrum disorder emerge between the ages of 6 and 12 months. Altered dissolution of transient brain structures in the fronto‐temporo‐parietal cortex and cerebellum may underlie the emergence of these early signs.

show abstract

“…Gaze-cueing is considered an involuntary and reflexive effect (see [12,13] for a review), and it is assumed to occur rapidly due to the pivotal role of gaze as a social and biological trigger [14]. However, gaze-cueing is not an encapsulated effect, as it seems to be permeable to contextual influences carried by the face [15], such as facial expression [16][17][18][19] and social (e.g., familiarity) or perceptual (e.g., dominance) characteristics [10,20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Neurobiological Correlates of Gaze Perception in Healthy Individuals and Neurologic Patients

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ability to adaptively follow conspecific eye movements is crucial for establishing shared attention and survival. Indeed, in humans, interacting with the gaze direction of others causes the reflexive orienting of attention and the faster object detection of the signaled spatial location. The behavioral evidence of this phenomenon is called gaze-cueing. Although this effect can be conceived as automatic and reflexive, gaze-cueing is often susceptible to context. In fact, gaze-cueing was shown to interact with other factors that characterize facial stimulus, such as the kind of cue that induces attention orienting (i.e., gaze or non-symbolic cues) or the emotional expression conveyed by the gaze cues. Here, we address neuroimaging evidence, investigating the neural bases of gaze-cueing and the perception of gaze direction and how contextual factors interact with the gaze shift of attention. Evidence from neuroimaging, as well as the fields of non-invasive brain stimulation and neurologic patients, highlights the involvement of the amygdala and the superior temporal lobe (especially the superior temporal sulcus (STS)) in gaze perception. However, in this review, we also emphasized the discrepancies of the attempts to characterize the distinct functional roles of the regions in the processing of gaze. Finally, we conclude by presenting the notion of invariant representation and underline its value as a conceptual framework for the future characterization of the perceptual processing of gaze within the STS.

show abstract

Human face and gaze perception is highly context specific and involves bottom-up and top-down neural processing

Cited by 32 publications

References 303 publications

Contrast reversal of the iris and sclera increases the face sensitive N170

Contrast reversal of the iris and sclera increases the face sensitive N170

Emerging signs of autism spectrum disorder in infancy: Putative neural substrate

The Neurobiological Correlates of Gaze Perception in Healthy Individuals and Neurologic Patients

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About