Summary:
Recent studies using ERPs in face recognition revealed that face processing starts around 100 ms after stimulus onset, 70 ms earlier than suggested before. While the neural sources of the N170 component have repeatedly been found to be localized in the gyrus fusiformis and the inferior occipital cortex, sources have not yet been investigated for the P100 component during face processing. Therefore, we measured the ERPs elicited by faces and control stimuli in 72 subjects in order to localize the neural sources of both the P100 and the N170 component. We observed significantly higher P100 and N170 amplitudes to faces compared to control stimuli. LORETA source localization revealed significantly higher brain activity in the left and right gyrus fusiformis for the N170 component, with additional regions of increased brain activation in a parieto-temporal-occipital network. For the P100, faces activated the left and right gyrus fusiformis significantly stronger than control stimuli. This study reveals that the first step of face processing (about 100 ms after stimulus presentation) is localized in the gyrus fusiformis. The second step of face processing around 170 ms involves the gyrus fusiformis, with additional activation in a more distributed network, including the occipital cortex.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allison, T., Puce, A., Spencer, D.D. and McCarthy, G. Electrophysiological studies of human face perception. I: Potentials generated in occipitotemporal cortex by face and non-face stimuli. Cereb. Cortex, 1999, 9(5): 415–430.
Bentin, S., Allison, T., Puce, A., Perez, E. and McCarthy, G. Electrophysiological studies of face perception in humans. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 1996, 8(6): 551–565.
Bötzel, K., Schulze, S. and Stodieck, S.R. Scalp topography and analysis of intracranial sources of face-evoked potentials. Exp. Brain Res., 1995, 104(1): 135–143.
Braeutigam, S., Bailey, A.J. and Swithenby, S.J. Task-dependent early latency (30–60 ms) visual processing of human faces and other objects. Neuroreport, 2001, 12(7): 1531–1536.
Bullier, J. Integrated model of visual processing. Brain Res. Brain Res. Rev., 2001, 36(2–3): 96–107
Caldara, R., Thut, G., Servoir, P., Michel, C.M., Bovet, P. and Renault, B. Face versus non-face object perception and the “other race” effect: a spatio-temporal event-related potential study. Clin. Neurophysiol., 2003, 114(3): 515–528.
Cauquil, A.S., Edmonds, G.E. and Taylor, M.J. Is the face-sensitive N170 the only ERP not affected by selective attention? Neuroreport, 2001, 11(1): 2167–2171.
Chao, L.L., Haxby, J.V. and Martin, A. Attribute-based neural substrates in temporal cortex for perceiving and knowing about objects. Nat. Neurosci., 1999, 2(10): 913–919.
Clark, V.P., Keil, K., Maisog, J.M., Courtney, S., Ungerleider, L.G. and Haxby, J.V. Functional magnetic resonance imaging of human visual cortex during face matching: a comparison with positron emission tomography. NeuroImage, 1996, 4(1): 1–15.
Debruille, J.B., Guillem, F. and Renault, B. ERPs and chronometry of face recognition: following-up Seeck et al. and George et al. Neuroreport, 1998, 9(15): 3349–3353.
DiRusso, F., Martinez, A., Sereno, M.I., Pitzalis, S. and Hillyard, S.A. Cortical sources of the early components of the visual evoked potential. Hum. Brain Mapp., 2002, 15(2): 95–111.
Downing, P.E., Jiang, Y., Shuman, M. and Kanwisher, N. A cortical area selective for visual processing of the human body. Science, 2001, 293(5539): 2470–2473.
Druzgal, T.J. and D'Esposito, M. A neural network reflecting decisions about human faces. Neuron, 2001, 32(5): 947–955.
Eimer, M. and McCarthy, R.A. Prosopagnosia and structural encoding of faces: evidence from event-related potentials. Neuroreport, 1999, 10(2): 255–259.
Ekman, P. and Friesen, W.V. Pictures of facial affect consulting psychologists press. Palo Alto, 1976.
Esslen, M., Pascual-Marqui, R.D., Hell, D., Knochi, K. and Lehmann, D. Brain areas and time course of emotional processing. NeuroImage, 2004, 21(4): 1189–1203.
Fallgatter, A.J., Bartsch, A.J. and Herrmann, M.J. Electrophysiological measurements of anterior cingulate function. J. Neural Trans., 2002, 109(5–6): 977–988.
Gauthier, I., Skudlarski, P., Gore, J.C. and Anderson, A.W. Expertise for cars and birds recruits brain areas involved in face recognition. Nat. Neurosci., 2000, 3(2): 191–197.
Gauthier, I., Tarr, M.J., Anderson, A.W., Skudlarski, P. and Gore, J.C. Activation of the middle fusiform “face area” increases with expertise in recognizing novel objects. Nat. Neurosci., 1999, 2(6): 568–573.
Gazzaniga, M.S., Ivry, R.B. and Mangun, G.R. Cognitive Neuroscience. The Biology of the Mind (2nd Edition). Norton and Company, New York, 2002.
George, N., Jemel, B., Fiori, N. and Renault, B. Face and shape repetition effects in humans: a spatio-temperal ERP study. Neuroreport, 1997, 8(6): 1417–1423.
Goffaux, V., Gauthier, I. and Rossion, B. Spatial scale contribution to early visual differences between face and object processing. Cog. Brain Res., 2003, 16: 416–424.
Haalman, I. and Vaadia, E. Dynamics of neuronal interactions: relation to behavior, firing rates, and distance between neurons. Hum. Brain Mapping, 1997, 5: 249–253.
Halgren, E., Dale, A.M., Sereno, M.I. Tootell, R.B., Marinkovic, K. and Rosen, B.R. Location of human face-selective cortex with respect to retinotopic areas. Hum. Brain Mapp., 1999, 7(1): 29–37.
Halgren, E., Raij, T., Marinkovic, K., Jousmaki, V. and Hari, R. Cognitive response profile of the human fusiform face area as determined by MEG. Cereb. Cortex, 2000, 10(1): 69–81.
Halit, H., de Haan, M. and Johnson, M.H. Modulation of event-related potentials by prototypical and atypical faces. Neuroreport, 2000, 11(9): 1871–1875.
Haxby, J.V., Hoffman, E.A. and Gobbini, M.I. Human neural systems for face recognition and social communication. Biol. Psychiatry, 2002, 51(1): 59–67.
Haxby, J.V., Gobbini, M.I., Furey, M.L., Ishai, A., Schouten, J.L. and Pietrini, P. Distributed and overlapping representations of faces and objects in ventral temporal cortex. Science, 2001, 293(5539): 2425–2430.
Haxby, J.V., Ungerleider, LG., Horwitz, B., Maisog, J.M., Rapoport, S.I. and Grady, C.L. Face encoding and recognition in the human brain. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1996, 93(2): 922–927.
Herrmann, M.J. and Fallgatter, A.J. Stability of source Localization with LORETA of visual target processing. J. Psychophysiol., 2004,18(1): 1–12.
Herrmann, M.J., Ellgring, H. and Fallgatter, A.J. Early-stage face processing dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia. Am. J. Psychiatry, 2004, 161(5): 915–917.
Herrmann, M.J., Ehlis, A.-C. Ellgring, H. and Fallgatter, A.J. Early stages (P100) of face perception in humans as measured with ERPs. J. Neural Transm., 2005, 112(8): 1073–1081.
Herrmann, M.J., Römmler, J., Ehlis, A.-C., Heidrich, A. and Fallgatter, A.J. Source Localization (LORETA) of the Error-Related Negativity (ERN/Ne) and Positivity (Pe). Cog. Brain Res., 2004, 20(2): 294–299.
Hillyard, S.A. and Anllo Vento, L. Event-related brain potentials in the study of visual selective attention. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1998, 95(3): 781–787.
Hoffmann, E.A. and Haxby, J.V. Distinct representations of eye gaze and identity in the distributed human neural system for face perception. Nat. Neurosci., 2000, 3(1): 80–84.
Hubl, D., Bolte, S., Feineis Matthews, S., Lanfermann, H., Federspiel, A., Strik, W., Poustka, F. and Dierks, T. Functional imbalance of visual pathways indicates alternative face processing strategies in autism. Neurology, 2003, 61(9): 1232–1237.
Ishai, A., Ungerleider, L.G., Martin, A., Schouten, J.L. and Haxby, J.V. Distributed representation of objects in the human ventral visual pathway. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1999, 96(16): 9379–9384.
Itier, R.J. and Taylor, M.J. Inversion and contrast polarity reversal affect both encoding and recognition processes of unfamiliar faces: a repetition study using ERPs. Neuroimage, 2002, 15(2): 353–372.
Itier, R.J. and Taylor, M.J. Effects of repetition learning on upright, inverted and contrast-reversed face processing using ERPs. Neuroimage, 2004, 21(4): 1518–1532.
Itier, R.J. and Taylor, M.J. N170 or N1? Spatiotemporal differences between object and face processing using ERPs. Cereb. Cortex, 2004, 14(2): 132–142.
Junghofer, M., Schupp, H.T., Stark, R. and Vaitl, D. Neuroimaging of emotion: empirical effects of proportional global signal scaling in fMRI data analysis. Neuroimage, 2005, 25(2): 520–526.
Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J. and Chun, M.M. The fusiform face area: a module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face perception. J. Neurosci., 1997, 17(11): 4302–4311.
Kanwisher, N. and Wojciulik, E. Visual attention: insights from brain imaging. Nat. Rev. Neurosci., 2000, 1(2): 91–100.
Kanwisher, N. Domain specificity in face perception. Nat. Neurosci., 2000, 3(8): 759–763.
Killgore, W.D. and Yurgelun Todd, D.A. Activation of the amygdala and anterior cingulate during nonconscious processing of sad versus happy faces. Neuroimage, 2004, 21(4): 1215–1223.
Lehmann, C., Mueller, T., Federspiel, A., Hubl, D., Schroth, G., Huber, O., Strik, W. and Dierks, T. Dissociation between overt and unconscious face processing in fusiform face area. Neuroimage, 2004, 21(1): 75–83.
Levy, I., Hasson, U., Avidan, G., Hendler, T. and Malach, R. Center-periphery organization of human object areas. Nat. Neurosci., 2001, 4(5): 533–539.
Linkenkaer-Hansen, K., Palva, J.M., Sams, M., Hietanen, J.K., Aronen, H.J. and Ilmoniemi, R.J. Face-selective processing in human extrastriate cortex around 120 ms after stimulus onset revealed by magneto- and electroencephalography. Neurosci. Lett., 1998, 253(3): 147–150.
Liu, J., Harris, A. and Kanwisher, N. Stages of processing in face perception: an MEG study. Nat. Neurosci., 2002, 5(9): 910–916.
McCarthy, G., Puce, A., Belger, A. and Allison, T. Electrophysiological studies of human face perception. II: Response properties of face-specific potentials generated in occipitotemporal cortex. Cereb. Cortex, 1999, 9(5): 431–444.
Mouchetant Rostaing, Y., Giard, M.H., Bentin, S., Aguera, P.E. and Pernier, J. Neurophysiological correlates of face gender processing in humans. Eur. J. Neurosci., 2000, 12(1): 303–310.
Nichols, T.E. and Holmes, A.P. Nonparametric permutation tests for functional neuroimaging: a primer with examples. Hum. Brain Mapp., 2002, 15(1): 1–25.
Pascual-Marqui, R.D., Esslen, M., Kochi, K. and Lehmann, D. Functional imaging with low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA): review, new comparisons, and new validation. Jpn. J. Clin. Nenrophysiol., 2002, 30: 81–94.
Pascual-Marqui, R.D., Michel, C.M. and Lehmann, D. Low resolution electromagnetic tomography: a new method for localizing electrical activity in the brain. Int. J. Psychophysiol., 1994, 18(1): 49–65.
Pizzagalli, D.A., Lehmann, D., Hendrick, A.M., Regard, M., Pascual-Marqui, R.D. and Davidson, R.J. Affective judgments of faces modulate early activity (approximately 160 ms) within the fusiform gyri. NeuroImage, 2002, 16(3): 663–677.
Pizzagalli, D., Regard, M. and Lehmann, D. Rapid emotional face processing in the human right and left brain hemispheres: an ERP study. Neuroreport, 1999, 10(13): 2691–2698.
Puce, A., Allison, T. and McCarthy, G. Electrophysiological studies of human face perception. III: Effects of top-down processing on face-specific potentials. Cereb. Cortex, 1999, 9(5): 445–458.
Rossion, B., Dricot, L., Devolder, A., Bodart, J.M., Crommelinck, M., De Gelder, B. and Zoontjes, R. Hemispheric asymmetries for whole-based and part-based face processing in the human fusiform gyrus. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 2000, 12(5): 793–802.
Rossion, B., Campanella, S., Gomez, C.M., Delinte, A., Debatisse, D., Liard, L., Dubois, S., Bruyer, R., Crommelinck, M. and Guerit, J.M. Task modulation of brain activity related to familiar and unfamiliar faces processing: and ERP study. Clin. Neurophysiol., 1999, 110(3): 449–462.
Rossion, B. and Gauthier, I. How does the brain process upright and inverted faces? Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 2002, 1(1): 63–75.
Rossion, B., Gauthier, I., Tarr, M.J., Despland, P., Bruyer, R., Linotte, S. and Crommelinck, M. The N170 occipito-temporal component is delayed and enhanced to inverted faces but not to inverted objects: an electrophysiological account of face-specific processes in the human brain. Neuroreport, 2000, 11(1): 69–74.
Rossion, B., Delvenne, J.F., Debatisse, D., Goffaux, V., Bruyer, R., Crommelinck, M. and Guerit, J.M. Spatio-temporal localization of the face inversion effect: an event-related potentials study. Biol. Psychol., 1999, 50(3): 173–189.
Sagiv, N. and Bentin, S. Structural encoding of human and schematic faces: holistic and part-based processes. J. Cogn. Neurosci., 2001, 13(7): 937–951.
Seeck, M., Michel, C.M., Mainwaring, N., Cosgrove, R., Blume, H., Ives, J., Landis, T. and Schomer, D.L. Evidence for rapid face recognition from human scalp and intracranial electrodes. Neuroreport, 1997, 8(12): 2749–2754.
Shibata, T., Nishijo, H., Tamura, R., Miyamoto, K., Eifuku, S., Endo, S. and Ono, T. Generators of visual evoked potentials for faces and eyes in the human brain as determined by dipole localization. Brain Topogr., 2002, 15(1): 51–63.
Strik, W.K., Fallgatter, A.J., Brandeis, D. and Pascual-Marqui, R.D. Three-dimensional tomography of event-related potentials during response inhibition: evidence for phasic frontal lobe. Evoked Potentials-Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1998, 108: 406–413.
Sugase, Y., Yamane, S. Ueno, S. and Kawano, K. Global and fine information coded by single neurons in the temporal visual cortex. Nature, 1999, 400(6747): 869–873.
Tarkiainen, A., Cornelissen, P.L. and Salmelin, R. Dynamics of visual feature analysis and object-level processing in face versus letter-string perception. Brain, 2002, 125(Pt5): 1135–1136.
Taylor, M.J., Edmonds, G.E., McCarthy, G. and Allison, T. Eyes first! Eye processing develops before face processing in children. Neuroreport, 2001, 12(8): 1671–1676.
Taylor, M.J. and Khan, S.C. Top-down modulation of early selective attention processes in children. Int. J. Psychophysiol., 2000, 37(2): 135–147.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Herrmann, M., Ehlis, AC., Muehlberger, A. et al. Source Localization of Early Stages of Face Processing. Brain Topogr 18, 77–85 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-005-0277-7
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-005-0277-7