The perception, memorization and recognition of faces: electrophysiological research of working memory

Abstract

The present research investigates brain electrical activity related to perception, memorization and recognition of human faces as the stages of working memory process. Participants in the study were 58 healthy people (middle age - 20.9±5.1 years old). The study consisted of four parts of a computer test: a task on face perception, two different tasks on memorization and recognition the images of faces from the working memory and a control task on perception of complex geometric figures. Multichannel EEG with event-related potentials (ERPs) was registered during the test. Obtained data analysis included the comparison of averaged for all subjects ERP amplitudes between different tasks. We revealed significant differences in earlier ERP components (P120) on the occipital regions of the scalp between the geometric figures perception task and all tasks with face stimuli. The differences were also found for later negative components (N300-500) on the frontal, temporal and central scalp regions between the perception tasks and both memory tasks. The results are discussed in light of a hypothesis that information about faces is processed by a specific brain system.