Commonly associated face and object recognition impairments have implications for the cognitive architecture

Neural responses in a fast periodic visual stimulation paradigm reveal domain-general visual discrimination deficits in developmental prosopagnosia

“…Overall, our findings support the notion of a domain-general visual learning mechanism that is involved in the rapid perceptual discrimination of faces and of other familiar object categories such as cars (e.g., Richler, Wilmer, & Gauthier, 2017). There may be individual differences in the efficiency of this domain-general learning process, and it might be particularly impaired in many individuals with DP (e.g., Towler & Tree, 2018). In order to distinguish between these competing theoretical accounts, future EEG and behavioural studies should investigate the degree to which DPs might also be impaired in the rapid discrimination of low-and intermediate-level visual features and patterns, and of novel objects for which they have not acquired visual experience and expertise.…”

“…Gerlach et al, 2019; see also Towler & Tree, 2018;Gray & Cook, 2018, for similar suggestions). Our hypothesis makes the specific proposal that these atypical trajectories primarily affect rapid object discrimination processes in these areas, and that this is a major risk factor for DP.…”

“…These tests also often suffer from floor or ceiling effects in one or more conditions, which could reduce their sensitivity to inversion effects for the worst performers. For these reasons, the question of which aspects of face processing are impaired in DP needs to be thoroughly investigated with brain activity measures (e.g., Eimer, 2018;Towler & Tree, 2018). In spite of the manifest behavioural face processing impairments in DP, many functional neuroimaging studies of individuals with DP have found face-selective activity in core regions of the posterior face processing network (Avidan & Behrmann, 2009;Furl, Garrido, Dolan, Driver, & Duchaine, 2011;Avidan, Tanzer, Hadj-Bouziane, Liu, Ungerleider, & Behrmann, 2014).…”

Contrasting shared- and specific-mechanism accounts of developmental prosopagnosia: A new approach

“…Logically it would be incorrect to infer that all cases of DP are pure because some case are (Gray & Cook, 2018), but it would be similarly incorrect to infer that all cases of DP are caused by a deficit in a shared mechanism because most DPs have some impairment in object recognition . Although these two points may be considered trivial, they deserve emphasis because without it, we will probably never get around to the critical question: What sort of pathologic and/or functional mechanisms can explain both the existence of cases with selective impairments AND the frequent association between face and object recognition deficits (Towler & Tree, 2018)?…”

Objects, Faces, and Spaces: Organizational Principles of Visual Object Perception as Evidenced by Individual Differences in Behavior

“…Some large-scale organization of the primate ventral stream is still known, where patches of cortex respond greatly to particular categories such as faces (Bao et al, 2020; Grill-Spector & Weiner, 2014; Kanwisher et al, 1997). Consistent with this topographical organization, face recognition deficits and exceptional abilities have been documented, but its specificity is highly debated (Barton, 2020; Barton et al, 2019; Behrmann & Plaut, 2013; Bukach et al, 2006; Burns et al, 2019; Burns & Bukach, 2021, 2022; Campbell & Tanaka, 2018; de Gelder & Van den Stock, 2018; Eimer, 2018; Farah, 2004; Farah et al, 1995; Garrido et al, 2018; Gauthier et al, 1999; Gerlach et al, 2018; Gerlach & Starrfelt, 2021, 2022; Geskin & Behrmann, 2020; Gray & Cook, 2018; Hills et al, 2015; Kanwisher, 2000; Kanwisher et al, 1997; Nestor, 2018; Plaut & Behrmann, 2013; Ramon, 2018; Robotham & Starrfelt, 2017; Rosenthal & Avidan, 2018; Rossion, 2018; Rubino et al, 2016; Starrfelt & Robotham, 2018; Susilo, 2018; Susilo & Duchaine, 2013; Susilo et al, 2015; Tarr & Gauthier, 2000; Towler & Tree, 2018); individual differences in object perception might not fall into neat categories, and supposedly category-selective regions also respond to other categories.…”