A5054190978- Face Recognition and Perception
- Neural dynamics and brain function
- Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Action Observation and Synchronization
- Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Cell Image Analysis Techniques
- Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Electron and X-Ray Spectroscopy Techniques
- Motor Control and Adaptation
- Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces
- Multisensory perception and integration
- Neural Networks and Applications
- Image and Signal Denoising Methods
- Surface Roughness and Optical Measurements
- Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence
- Railway Engineering and Dynamics
- Spectroscopy and Chemometric Analyses
- Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Silicone and Siloxane Chemistry
- Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques
- Infrastructure Maintenance and Monitoring
- Medical Imaging Techniques and Applications
- Child and Animal Learning Development
University of Trento
2013-2020
Nederlandse Spoorwegen
2018
Dartmouth College
2012-2014
Harvard University
2013
Bangor University
2010-2012
Princeton University
2008-2010
People automatically evaluate faces on multiple trait dimensions, and these evaluations predict important social outcomes, ranging from electoral success to sentencing decisions. Based behavioral studies computer modeling, we develop a 2D model of face evaluation. First, using principal components analysis judgments emotionally neutral faces, identify two orthogonal valence dominance, that are sufficient describe evaluation show dimensions can be approximated by trustworthiness dominance....
Previous studies have shown that trustworthiness judgments from facial appearance approximate general valence evaluation of faces (Oosterhof & Todorov, 2008) and are made after as little 100 ms exposure to novel (Willis 2006). In Experiment 1, using better masking procedures shorter exposures, we replicate the latter findings. 2, systematically manipulate show a sigmoid function almost perfectly describes how change time exposure. The agreement these with time-unconstrained is above chance...
Recent years have seen an increase in the popularity of multivariate pattern (MVP) analysis functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) data, and, to a much lesser extent, magneto- and electro-encephalography (M/EEG) data. We present CoSMoMVPA, lightweight MVPA (MVP analysis) toolbox implemented intersection Matlab GNU Octave languages, that treats both fMRI M/EEG data as first-class citizens. CoSMoMVPA supports all state-of-the-art MVP techniques, including searchlight analyses, classification,...
Judgments of trustworthiness from faces determine basic approach/avoidance responses and approximate the valence evaluation that runs across multiple person judgments. Here, based on judgments using a computer model for face representation, we built representing (study 1). Using this model, generated novel with an increased range used these as stimuli in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study 2). Although participants did not engage explicit faces, amygdala response changed function...
Using a dynamic stimuli paradigm, in which faces expressed either happiness or anger, the authors tested hypothesis that perceptions of trustworthiness are related to these expressions. Although same emotional intensity was added both trustworthy and untrustworthy faces, who were perceived as happier than anger angrier faces. The also manipulated changes face simultaneously with change expression. Whereas transitions direction emotion (e.g., high-to-low anger) increased emotion, opposite...
People rapidly form impressions from facial appearance, and these affect social decisions. We argue that data-driven, computational models are the best available tools for identifying source of such impressions. Here we validate seven judgments faces: attractiveness, competence, dominance, extroversion, likability, threat, trustworthiness. The manipulate both face shape reflectance (i.e., cues as pigmentation skin smoothness). show human track models' predictions (Experiment 1) differentiate...
Many lines of evidence point to a tight linkage between the perceptual and motoric representations actions. Numerous demonstrations show how visual perception an action engages compatible activity in observer's motor system. This is seen for both intransitive actions (e.g., case unconscious postural imitation) transitive grasping object). Although discovery "mirror neurons" macaques has inspired explanations these processes human behaviors, areas brain that similarly form crossmodal...
Major theories for explaining the organization of semantic memory in human brain are premised on often-observed dichotomous dissociation between living and nonliving objects. Evidence from neuroimaging has been interpreted to suggest that this distinction is reflected functional topography ventral vision pathway as lateral-to-medial activation gradients. Recently, we observed similar gradients also reflect differences among stimuli consistent with dimension graded animacy. Here, address...
The discovery of mirror neurons-neurons that code specific actions both when executed and observed-in area F5 the macaque provides a potential neural mechanism underlying action understanding. To date, neuroimaging evidence for similar coding across visual motor modalities in human ventral premotor cortex (PMv)-the putative homologue F5-is limited to case observed from first-person perspective. However, it is third-person perspective figures centrally our understanding intentions others....
The face is our primary source of visual information for identifying people and reading their emotional mental states. With the exception prosopagnosics (who are unable to recognize faces) those suffering from such disorders social cognition as autism, extremely adept at these two tasks. However, cognitive powers in this regard come price too much into human face. often treated a window person's true nature. Given agreement perception faces, paper discusses that it should be possible model...
The human visual system can only represent a small subset of the many objects present in cluttered scenes at any given time, such that compete for representation. Despite these processing limitations, detection object categories natural is remarkably rapid. How does brain efficiently select goal-relevant from scenes? In study, we used multivariate decoding magneto-encephalography (MEG) data to track neural representation within-scene as function top-down attentional set. Participants...
Humans prioritize different semantic qualities of a complex stimulus depending on their behavioral goals. These features are encoded in distributed neural populations, yet it is unclear how attention might operate across these representations. To address this, we presented participants with naturalistic video clips animals behaving natural environments while the attended to either behavior or taxonomy. We used models representational geometry investigate attentional allocation affects...
Significance To reduce the complexity of our sensory environment, perceptual system discretizes information in different ways. In time domain, this is evident when stimuli that are presented very close sometimes faithfully perceived as entities, whereas they integrated into a single event at other times. Using multivariate decoding electroencephalography data, we show integration and segregation over scales (a few tens vs. hundreds milliseconds) do not rely on sampling rhythm; instead,...
Is vision necessary for the development of categorical organization Ventral Occipito-Temporal Cortex (VOTC)? We used fMRI to characterize VOTC responses eight categories presented acoustically in sighted and early blind individuals, visually a separate group. observed that reliably encodes sound people using representational structure connectivity partially similar one found vision. Sound were, however, more encoded than group, format closer Crucially, represents membership sounds rather...
Using a composite-face paradigm, we show that social judgments from faces rely on holistic processing. Participants judged facial halves more positively when aligned with trustworthy than untrustworthy halves, despite instructions to ignore the parts (experiment 1). This effect was substantially reduced were inverted (experiments 2 and 3) misaligned 3). In all three experiments, affected larger extent by to-be-attended to-be-ignored suggesting there is partial control of However, after rapid...
Motivation improves the efficiency of intentional behavior, but how this performance modulation is instantiated in human brain remains unclear. We used a reward-cued antisaccade paradigm to investigate motivational goals (the expectation reward for good performance) modulate patterns neural activation and functional connectivity improve preparation performance. Behaviorally, subjects performed better (faster more accurate antisaccades) when they knew would be rewarded Reward anticipation was...
Understanding other people's actions is a fundamental prerequisite for social interactions. Whether action understanding relies on simulating the of others in observers' motor system or access to conceptual knowledge stored nonmotor areas strongly debated. It has been argued previously that play crucial role should (1) distinguish between different actions, (2) generalize across ways which are performed (Dinstein et al., 2008; Oosterhof 2013; Caramazza 2014), and (3) have information around...
Common or folk knowledge about animals is dominated by three dimensions: (1) level of cognitive complexity “animacy;” (2) dangerousness “predacity;” and (3) size. We investigated the neural basis perceived aggressiveness animals, which we refer to more generally as “perception threat.” Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), analyzed activity evoked viewing images animal categories that spanned dissociable semantic dimensions threat taxonomic class. The results reveal a...