Early visual experience and face processing

Richard Le Grand, Catherine J. Mondloch, Daphne Maurer () and Henry P. Brent
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Richard Le Grand: McMaster University
Catherine J. Mondloch: McMaster University
Daphne Maurer: McMaster University
Henry P. Brent: The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue

Nature, 2001, vol. 410, issue 6831, 890-890

Abstract: Abstract Adult-like expertise in processing face information takes years to develop1 and is mediated in part by specialized cortical mechanisms2 sensitive to the spacing of facial features (configural processing)3. Here we show that deprivation of patterned visual input from birth until 2–6 months of age results in permanent deficits in configural face processing. Even after more than nine years' recovery, patients treated for bilateral congenital cataracts were severely impaired at differentiating faces that differed only in the spacing of their features, but were normal in distinguishing those varying only in the shape of individual features. These findings indicate that early visual input is necessary for normal development of the neural architecture that will later specialize for configural processing of faces.

Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1038/35073749

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