Article
Neurosciences
Maria Tsantani, Nikolaus Kriegeskorte, Katherine Storrs, Adrian Lloyd Williams, Carolyn McGettigan, Lucia Garrido
Summary: The study revealed marked differences in the information represented by the FFA and OFA, with FFA encoding higher-level perceptual and social face information, while OFA mainly driven by differences in low-level image-based properties. The results suggest that although both FFA and OFA can discriminate between identities, their representations differ in terms of encoding identity-distinguishing information.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Edward H. Silson, Iris I. A. Groen, Chris I. Baker
Summary: Recent studies have shown that category-selective regions in the visual cortex exhibit systematic retinotopic biases, with stronger activation for stimuli presented in the contralateral visual field compared to the ipsilateral visual field. It remains unclear whether these responses are driven more by retinotopic location or category preference, and if there are differences in the relative strengths of these biases between different category-selective regions. The findings suggest distinct functional roles for the lateral and ventral visual cortex in processing visual information based on the spatial location of stimuli.
BRAIN STRUCTURE & FUNCTION
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Beatrice de Gelder, Elizabeth Huis In 't Veldt, Minye Zhan, Jan Van den Stock
Summary: This study investigates a new case of acquired prosopagnosia and finds that the structurally intact FFA retains face selective response despite lesions in the face perception network. At the behavioral level, impaired configural processing for facial identity was observed, but not for other stimulus categories and facial expression recognition. These findings are important for understanding the behavioral and brain basis of face perception.
Article
Neurosciences
Elahe Yargholi, Gholam-Ali Hossein-Zadeh, Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam
Summary: Humans have the ability to recognize others' actions in the social environment, which is not hindered by movement. This study aimed to identify brain regions that can generalize action representations across different positions and explore their representational content. The results showed that certain brain regions, such as the lateral occipitotemporal cortex, intraparietal sulcus, and postcentral gyrus, contain position-tolerant action representation, with the lateral occipitotemporal regions being more related to subjective judgments and the parietal regions being more related to objective measures.
Article
Neurosciences
Celia Foster, Isabelle Buelthoff, Andreas Bartels, Mintao Zhao
Summary: It has been found that human faces are processed holistically and this processing is linked to brain activity in face-responsive brain regions. Neuroimaging results suggest that neural activity in brain regions both within and outside of the face-responsive network contributes to holistic versus part-based face processing, indicating a complex network involved in facial recognition.
Article
Neurosciences
Yaoda Xu, Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam
Summary: This study examined the coding strength of object identity and four types of nonidentity features along the human ventral visual processing pathway and compared brain responses with those of 14 convolutional neural networks (CNNs) pretrained to perform object categorization. Overall, identity representation increased and nonidentity feature representation decreased along the ventral visual pathway, with some notable differences among the different nonidentity features. CNNs differed from the brain in a number of aspects in their representations of identity and nonidentity features over the course of visual processing. Our approach provides a new tool for characterizing feature coding in the human brain and the correspondence between the brain and CNNs.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Martijn van Ackooij, Jacob M. Paul, Wietske van der Zwaag, Nathan van der Stoep, Ben M. Harvey
Summary: This study found neural populations tuned for auditory event timing in the human brain, which are similar to visual timing but do not overlap. The similarity of auditory and visual timing-tuned responses suggests that modality-specific responses to event timing are computed similarly but from different sensory inputs and are transformed differently to suit the needs of each modality.
Review
Anatomy & Morphology
Bruno Rossion, Aliette Lochy
Summary: The current research does not support the hypothesis that neural competition in the left ventral occipito-temporal cortex with selective representations of letter strings causes right hemispheric lateralization of face recognition. The relationship between literacy and right hemispheric lateralization of face recognition remains unclear, and further exploration is needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms.
BRAIN STRUCTURE & FUNCTION
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Guanmin Liu, Na Zhang, Jia Yuan Teoh, Christine Egan, Thomas A. Zeffiro, Richard J. Davidson, Karina Quevedo
Summary: This study found an inverse relationship between self-compassion and neural activity during sad self-face recognition, with self-compassion correlating negatively with activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in the total sample. In depressed adolescents, higher self-compassion was associated with lower activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during sad self-face recognition, suggesting less cognitive effort might be needed to regulate negative affect induced by sad self-faces.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zetian Yang, Winrich A. Freiwald
Summary: Faces in motion provide rich information through visual dynamics. The middle dorsal face area (MD) in the macaque monkey superior temporal sulcus (STS) shows selectivity for naturalistic face motion. Single-unit recordings from MD reveal its sensitivity to facial motion and shape, and its ability to encode complex facial motion trajectories.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Biology
Ignacio Polti, Matthias Nau, Raphael Kaplan, Virginie van Wassenhove, Christian F. Doeller
Summary: By combining fMRI with a TTC estimation task, this study found that the hippocampus plays a central role in encoding the statistical regularities of the environment and supports behavior improvements in sensorimotor timing and cognitive mapping.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Nestor Zaragoza-Jimenez, Hauke Niehaus, Ina Thome, Christoph Vogelbacher, Gabriele Ende, Inge Kamp-Becker, Dominik Endres, Andreas Jansen
Summary: This study used computational modeling and fMRI to investigate the neural mechanisms of face identity learning and familiar face recognition, and found that specific face-sensitive brain regions are associated with these processes. The results further support the central principles of predictive coding theory, but there are diverging findings regarding the specific computational model parameters reflected in brain activity.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Vadim Axelrod, Camille Rozier, Tal Seidel Malkinson, Katia Lehongre, Claude Adam, Virginie Lambrecq, Vincent Navarro, Lionel Naccache
Summary: This study reports a rare case in which multi-unit activity was recorded near the fusiform face area (FFA), and explores the interactions between facial expression processing and other stages of facial processing. The results suggest that face-selective units and modulation by facial expression stimuli likely reflect feed-forward processing.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zetian Yang, Winrich A. Freiwald
Summary: Research in macaque monkeys has shown the existence of a network in the temporal lobe supporting face processing, including the middle dorsal (MD) face area. This area encodes facial identity, head orientation, expression, and gaze, forming a multidimensional code. MD not only encodes structural properties but also changeable ones, making it capable of providing information about another animal's direction of attention.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Arianna M. Gard, Andrea M. Maxwell, Daniel S. Shaw, Colter Mitchell, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Sara S. McLanahan, Erika E. Forbes, Christopher S. Monk, Luke W. Hyde
Summary: Studies suggest that early childhood neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage has specific and independent effects on amygdala reactivity. These effects remain even when accounting for family-level adversities, highlighting the importance of neighborhood economic resources in brain development.
DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology
Celina I. von Eiff, Verena G. Skuk, Romi Zaske, Christine Nussbaum, Sascha Fruhholz, Ute Feuer, Orlando Guntinas-Lichius, Stefan R. Schweinberger
Summary: This study compared the differences in vocal emotion perception between cochlear implant (CI) users and normal-hearing (NH) individuals. The results showed that CI users, as a group, had lower performance in vocal emotion perception. There was also a huge individual variability among CI users. In contrast to NH individuals, CI users were more efficient in using timbre information but less efficient in using fundamental frequency (F0) information for this task. Furthermore, the study found a correlation between better vocal emotion perception and higher quality of life ratings.
Review
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Linda Ficco, Veronika Mueller, Juergen M. Kaufmann, Stefan R. Schweinberger
Summary: Two competing theories explain the other-'race' effect (ORE) either by greater perceptual expertise to same-'race' (SR) faces or by social categorization of other-'race' (OR) faces at the expense of individuation. To assess expertise and categorization contributions to the ORE, a promising-yet overlooked-approach is comparing activations for different other-'races'. Overall, our results support hybrid models-both expertise and social categorization contribute to the ORE, but they provide little evidence for reduced motivation to process OR faces. Additionally, we identify areas preferentially responding to specific OR faces, reflecting effects of visual appearance.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Marleen Stelter, Stefan R. Schweinberger
Summary: Although different human races do not exist from a biological and genetic perspective, the ascribed 'race' has an influence on psychological processing such as memory and face perception. The other-'race' effect, which refers to the difficulty in recognizing other-'race' faces compared to own-'race' faces, is attributed to less efficient visual representations or reduced motivation. The integration of experimental perception science and social psychology is essential to further understand this phenomenon.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Yana Bender, Juliane Brauer, Stefan R. Schweinberger
Summary: This systematic review investigates the determinants of a functioning and satisfying dog-owner relationship, how they differ from owners' acquisition motivation, and how relevant knowledge can improve future ownership. The review suggests that individual personality and attachment aspects can impact ownership positively or negatively. Compatibility between owners and dogs based on traits like warmth, sharing possessions, and enjoyment of outdoor activities can lead to a satisfying relationship. Future owners should focus more on personality and attachment aspects rather than cuteness and appearance during the acquisition process.
APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Anton L. Beer, Markus Becker, Sebastian M. Frank, Mark W. Greenlee
Summary: Self-motion perception involves an interaction between vestibular and visual brain regions. In addition to the previously known areas, the study reveals the involvement of two additional brain regions in the medial cortex in processing vestibular and visual cues related to self-motion.
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Romi Zaeske, Juergen M. Kaufmann, Stefan R. Schweinberger
Summary: The study found that facial information plays a crucial role in voice learning. Distinctive faces increased the brain's response to voices during the learning process, and voices learned with distinctive faces were recognized more quickly and effectively than those learned with non-distinctive faces. This suggests an early interaction between voice and face processing areas in both learning and recognition.
Article
Neurosciences
Katharina Hense, Daniel Deuter, Mark W. Greenlee, Christina Wendl, Nils Ole Schmidt, Christian Stroszczynski, Christian Doenitz, Christian Ott, Katharina Rosengarth
Summary: The aim of this study was to investigate if different radiologically defined glioblastoma (GB) tumor growth patterns may influence the fMRI signal, activation pattern, and functional connectivity differently. The results showed that the tumor growth pattern did not have a significant effect on the fMRI signal. Moreover, signal reductions were found in areas that were not affected by the tumor, indicating that GB is a systemic disease affecting the entire brain.
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Christine Nussbaum, Manuel Poehlmann, Helene Kreysa, Stefan R. Schweinberger
Summary: Research on voice perception benefits from manipulation software that allows experimental control over social signals expressed through vocal emotions. Parameter-specific voice morphing reduces naturalness but can still be used for research on vocal emotion perception, especially when using emotional averages as reference stimuli. The perceived naturalness of F0 and timbre morphs is comparable to average emotions, making this approach suitable for future research.
COGNITION & EMOTION
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Yana Bender, Tim Matschkowski, Stefan R. Schweinberger, Juliane Braeuer
Summary: Guide dogs are beneficial for visually impaired individuals as they increase confidence and independence. A good match between the dog and the owner depends on factors such as shared hobbies, activity levels, expressions of calmness, happiness, greediness, and friendliness. Owners who perceive themselves to be similar to their dogs in terms of personality often have a strong bond, feeling secure with their dog and less influenced by previous relationships. However, a strong bond may also have negative effects.
Article
Neurosciences
Christine Nussbaum, Annett Schirmer, Stefan R. Schweinberger
Summary: Musicians outperform non-musicians in vocal emotion recognition, and this difference may be reflected in the later controlled aspects of emotion evaluation, rather than in early auditory specialization.
Article
Psychology, Mathematical
Celina I. von Eiff, Julian Kauk, Stefan R. Schweinberger
Summary: JAVMEPS is an audiovisual database that provides emotional voice and dynamic face stimuli. It includes a variety of voices with different emotional intensity, as well as caricatures, original voices, and anti-caricatures portraying different emotions. JAVMEPS also offers congruent and incongruent audiovisual stimuli, with graded levels of audiovisual congruence.
BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Mathematical
Denise Humble, Stefan R. Schweinberger, Axel Mayer, Tim L. Jesgarzewsky, Christian Dobel, Romi Zaeske
Summary: This study developed the Jena Voice Learning and Memory Test (JVLMT) to measure an individual's ability of learning and recognizing newly learned voices. The test has been validated and is effective in detecting impairments in voice recognition and super-recognition abilities.
BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Marco Schlosser, Natalie G. Pfaff, Stefan R. Schweinberger, Natalie L. Marchant, Olga M. Klimecki
Summary: An increasing body of scientific research on compassion has been conducted, but there is still no consensus on its conceptualization and the existing measurement tools are often lacking in quality. Recent publications of longer compassion measures have made progress in addressing these issues, but there is still a need for short scales that are psychometrically sound for time-constrained research settings. This study validated the Compassionate Love Scale (CLS) and developed a new short scale called Compassion for Others Scale (COS-7) using items from the CLS. The COS-7 demonstrated adequate psychometric properties and can be used as a reliable short scale for measuring compassion for others.
CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology
Anna Schroeger, Juergen M. Kaufmann, Romi Zaeske, Gyula Kovacs, Thomas Klos, Stefan R. Schweinberger
Summary: Most findings on prosopagnosia suggest preserved voice recognition in prosopagnosia, except in cases with bilateral lesions. This study conducted a follow-up examination on an individual with acquired prosopagnosia resulting from a large unilateral right-hemispheric lesion. The results showed substantial impairments in famous face recognition and memory for learned faces, but preserved face matching and object recognition skills, along with significantly impaired voice recognition.
COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Helene Kreysa, Dana Schneider, Andrea Erika Kowallik, Samaneh Sadat Dastgheib, Cem Dogdu, Gabriele Kuehn, Jenny Marianne Ruttloff, Stefan R. Schweinberger
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives of individuals, families, and children with and without autism. While both autistic and neurotypical children experienced decreases in well-being and increases in anxiety, adaptability was significantly more affected in autistic children and adolescents. The findings highlight the challenges faced by individuals with autism during the pandemic and suggest the need for increased support and intervention.
Article
Neurosciences
Jose Sanchez-Bornot, Roberto C. Sotero, J. A. Scott Kelso, Ozguer Simsek, Damien Coyle
Summary: This study proposes a multi-penalized state-space model for analyzing unobserved dynamics, using a data-driven regularization method. Novel algorithms are developed to solve the model, and a cross-validation method is introduced to evaluate regularization parameters. The effectiveness of this method is validated through simulations and real data analysis, enabling a more accurate exploration of cognitive brain functions.