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Bartholomew Quinn @bartholomewquinn.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

We concluded that higher-level cognitive and neural mechanisms used in the perceptual processing of familiar faces are influenced by statistical regularities in the way facial information is divided across visual fields during natural viewing. Many thanks to everyone who made this one possible.

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Bartholomew Quinn @bartholomewquinn.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

While early visual regions’ responses were driven by visual field effects, occipital and (to a lesser extent) fusiform face areas showed response a bias to typically presented face halves. Whole brain analysis showed that this bias was also evident in regions outside of the visual brain.

An fMRI activation map on a brain showing responses to typical>atypical visual field location of face halves.

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Bartholomew Quinn @bartholomewquinn.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Using fMRI, we examined the neural correlates of this recognition bias. We compared neural responses in early visual and face-selective regions to upper/lower or left/right familiar face halves presented in associated visual fields, and across typical and atypical locations.

A brain with labeled early visual and face-selective regions of interest.

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Bartholomew Quinn @bartholomewquinn.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

We found that familiar faces were recognised more accurately and efficiently when presented in their typically experienced visual fields. This was not evident in unfamiliar faces, indicating that perceptual experience directly impacts the matching of perceived faces to internalized representations.

Results for a behavioural experiment, showing more accurate and efficient recognition for familiar faces when placed in typical locations.

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Bartholomew Quinn @bartholomewquinn.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Behaviourally, we presented participants with upper/lower or left/right, halves of familiar and unfamiliar faces in typical (e.g. left half in left visual field) or atypical (e.g. left half in right visual field) locations. Participants made familiarity judgements, while we recorded accuracy & RT.

An behavioural experiment design schematic, detailing trial structure for typical and atypical visual field positioning of face halves.

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Bartholomew Quinn @bartholomewquinn.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

I’m delighted to say that my PhD's final study has been published in Cerebral Cortex. We used behavioural & fMRI experiments to examine if face recognition’s cognitive & neural mechanisms were influenced by perceptual experience of visually divided facial information. doi.org/10.1093/cerc...

doi.org

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

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