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- Title
Wild lab - Characterizing face-selective ERPs under more natural conditions.
- Authors
Gert, Anna Lisa; Ehinger, Benedikt V.; Timm, Silja; König, Peter; Kietzmann, Tim C.
- Abstract
Over more than two decades, neural mechanisms of face processing have been studied in the lab using highly constrained experimental conditions. Typical paradigms include passive fixation tasks, randomized image sequences, and adjusted low-level stimulus features. These controls help overcoming technical challenges in subsequent analyses, but at the same time yield paradigms that strongly contrast natural vision. Do known properties of face selective ERPs generalize to this situation? Here we overcome these limitations by combining a set of novel analysis techniques. We record visually responsive ERPs in an unrestricted viewing paradigm while participants freely explore natural scenes. We use non-linear deconvolution in a mass-univariate analysis framework to separate neural responses to previous and current fixations, as well as other confounding variables (like saccade amplitude or the fixation position). Focusing on fixation-locked ERPs in a 2x2 design (previous/current fixation, face/background) we find a main effect of current fixation, reproducing the classic N170. Furthermore, our analyses reveal that fixation responses are strongly modulated by fixation history, in particular by the presence of a previously fixated face. To conclude, we here use a combination of novel analysis techniques to embed the classical N170 paradigm in an ecological more valid experimental setup. Replicating and extending classic lab-based findings, this project paves the way for future experimental investigating using more natural, less constrained paradigms.
- Subjects
CONFOUNDING variables; DECONVOLUTION (Mathematics)
- Publication
Journal of Eye Movement Research, 2019, Vol 12, Issue 7, p54
- ISSN
1995-8692
- Publication type
Article