PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Observers can selectively deploy attention to regions of space, moments in time, specific visual features, individual objects, and even specific high-level categories-for example, when keeping an eye out for dogs while jogging. Here, we exploited visual periodicity to examine how category-based attention differentially modulates selective neural processing of face and non-face categories. We combined electroencephalography with a novel frequency-tagging paradigm capable of capturing selective neural responses for multiple visual categories contained within the same rapid image stream (faces/birds in Exp 1; houses/birds in Exp 2). We found that the pattern of attentional enhancement and suppression for face-selective processing is unique compared to other object categories: Where attending to non-face objects strongly enhances their selective neural signals during a later stage of processing (300-500 ms), attentional enhancement of face-selective processing is both earlier and comparatively more modest. Moreover, only the selective neural response for faces appears to be actively suppressed by attending towards an alternate visual category. These results underscore the special status that faces hold within the human visual system, and highlight the utility of visual periodicity as a powerful tool for indexing selective neural processing of multiple visual categories contained within the same image sequence.
摘要：
观察者可以有选择地将注意力集中在空间区域，时刻，特定的视觉特征，单个对象，甚至是特定的高级类别——例如，慢跑时留意狗狗。这里,我们利用视觉周期性来研究基于类别的注意力如何差异调节面部和非面部类别的选择性神经处理。我们将脑电图与一种新颖的频率标记范式相结合，能够捕获同一快速图像流中包含的多个视觉类别的选择性神经反应（实验1中的面孔/鸟类；实验2中的房屋/鸟类）。我们发现，与其他对象类别相比，面部选择性处理的注意力增强和抑制模式是独特的：在处理的后期阶段（300-500ms）中，对非面部对象的注意力强烈增强了其选择性神经信号，面部选择处理的注意力增强既较早，也相对较温和。此外，通过关注另一种视觉类别，只有面部的选择性神经反应似乎被积极抑制。这些结果强调了人脸在人类视觉系统中的特殊地位，并强调了视觉周期性的实用性，它是对同一图像序列中包含的多个视觉类别进行索引的选择性神经处理的强大工具。
