Norm-based face encoding by single neurons in the monkey inferotemporal cortex

David A. Leopold (), Igor V. Bondar and Martin A. Giese
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David A. Leopold: Max Planck Institut für biologische Kybernetik
Igor V. Bondar: Max Planck Institut für biologische Kybernetik
Martin A. Giese: University Clinic Tübingen

Nature, 2006, vol. 442, issue 7102, 572-575

Abstract: An eye for a face More than 30 years ago, the discovery of face-selective neurons was reported in the inferotemporal cortex of monkeys. Despite dozens of subsequent reports of such 'face cells', and a general assumption that such neurons were likely to be involved in face recognition, little has been done since to compare spiking responses with the vast human psychophysical literature on face perception. But now a new set of experiments links face-selective neurons in the monkey inferotemporal cortex with a well-established psychological dimension of face perception. The study, in macaque monkeys trained to recognize computer-generated human faces, showed that the monkeys recognized a face by comparison to an average or 'norm' stored in their brains, not by memorizing what every individual looks like. A similar mechanism operating in humans might explain how we can recognize a face in a fraction of a second.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04951

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