A neural basis for expert object recognition
Abstract
Although most adults are considered to be experts in the identification of faces, fewer people specialize in the recognition of other objects, such as birds and dogs. In this research, the neurophysiological processes associated with expert bird and dog recognition were investigated using event-related potentials. An enhanced early negative component (N170, 164 ms) was found when bird and dog experts categorized objects in their domain of expertise relative to when they categorized objects outside their domain of expertise. This finding indicates that objects from well-learned categories are neurologically differentiated from objects from lesser-known categories at a relatively early stage of visual processing.
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These processing benefits are also associated with changes in the response properties of ERPs recorded within the first 200 ms of processing stimuli.
“These processing benefits are linked to functional reorganizations in the response properties of a region of the right fusiform gyrus [32], which are also associated with changes in the response properties of ERPs recorded within the first 200 ms of processing stimuli [33].”
From The visual word form area: expertise for reading in the fusiform gyrus (2003) · cites this paper as [33]
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- Authors
- Tanaka, J. W., & Curran, T.
- Affiliations
- Oberlin College (US)
- Case Western Reserve University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Tanaka, James W.
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2001-01
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 43-47
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2100976300
- Cited by
- 500
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 35 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 8.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave
- Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division
- Scottish Government
- James Hutton Institute
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Keywords
- object recognition, expertise, N170, face processing, early visual processing, event-related potentials, category learning
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Cognition, Electroencephalography, Evoked Potentials, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Visual Perception
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