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Abstract:
Abstract: Considerable research has focused on the neural
processes distinguishing face recognition from other types of
object recognition. However, less attention has been directed
toward understanding the processes underlying the identification of
specific faces within the face recognition system. The goal of this
research was to examine the neurophysiological correlates
associated with the visual processing of one's own face versus the
processing of other faces, both familiar and unfamiliar.
Event-related scalp potentials were recorded while college
participants passively viewed digitized facial photographs of
themselves, fellow classmates, and unfamiliar age-matched controls.
The main result was that during the time window of 220 to 500 ms
post-stimulus onset, own-face photographs elicited a larger
positive deflection across frontal, central and parietal channels
than did photographs of either familiar or unfamiliar faces. Thus,
the neural response to one's own face was distinct from the
response to other faces. This finding suggests that, within the
face processing system, the representation of one's own face may
hold a special status among the representations of other faces in
memory.
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