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Prototype-referenced shape encoding revealed by high-level aftereffects

Nature Neuroscience volume 4, pages 89–94 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

We used high-level configural aftereffects induced by adaptation to realistic faces to investigate visual representations underlying complex pattern perception. We found that exposure to an individual face for a few seconds generated a significant and precise bias in the subsequent perception of face identity. In the context of a computationally derived 'face space,' adaptation specifically shifted perception along a trajectory passing through the adapting and average faces, selectively facilitating recognition of a test face lying on this trajectory and impairing recognition of other faces. The results suggest that the encoding of faces and other complex patterns draws upon contrastive neural mechanisms that reference the central tendency of the stimulus category.

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Figure 1: Examples of stimuli and the multidimensional face space.
Figure 2: Testing protocol.
Figure 3: Sensitivity to face identity with and without previous adaptation to an anti-face.
Figure 4: Face identification performance with non-matching adapting and test faces.
Figure 5: Effect of face inversion.
Figure 6: Translation invariance of face adaptation effects.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank N. Logothetis, S. Edelman, M. Wenger and H. Abdi for comments on the manuscript and S. Treue for discussion regarding the project. We also thank U. Helmich and M. Sauer for help conducting the experiments, and N. Bartolozzi and C. Moya for technical assistance. Finally, we acknowledge the support of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in the development of stimuli. This work was supported by the Max Planck Society. In addition, A.J.O. was supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

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Author notes

  1. Thomas Vetter & Volker Blanz

    Present address: Institut für Informatik, Am Flughafen 17, 79110, Freiburg, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institut für biologische Kybernetik, Spemannstraβe 38, Tübingen, 72076, Germany

    David A. Leopold, Thomas Vetter & Volker Blanz

  2. School of Human Development, GR4.1, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, 75083-0688, Texas, USA

    Alice J. O'Toole

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  1. David A. Leopold
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Correspondence to David A. Leopold.

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Leopold, D., O'Toole, A., Vetter, T. et al. Prototype-referenced shape encoding revealed by high-level aftereffects. Nat Neurosci 4, 89–94 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/82947

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