The perceptual and neural processing of familiar faces is shaped by the statistical regularities of real-world viewing.

ABSTRACT: Face recognition depends upon the ability to match a visual image to a representation stored in memory. During natural viewing, observers fixate centrally on faces, resulting in face parts appearing in specific spatial locations. We examined whether this perceptual experience influences the cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in face recognition. Participants viewed left/right or upper/lower face halves presented in typical (eg left face half in left visual field) or atypical (eg left face half in right visual field) locations. For familiar faces, familiarity judgments were faster and more accurate when face halves were displayed in typical locations. To examine the neural correlates of this recognition bias, fMRI was used to measure responses to familiar face halves presented in typi

SUBMITTER: Quinn BPA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12687870 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature