Study of Visual Mecanisms Involved in Face Recognition
Trial statusNot yet recruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-50
SponsorUniversité Catholique de Louvain
About this trial
Since the 19th century, perception has been regarded as an inferential process in which sensory input is compared with prior knowledge, namely the internalised representation of the visual environment. This notion is central to the understanding of everyday perception and cognition in general, and is attracting much attention in various areas of psychology and cognitive neuroscience. However, it is unclear whether and how the primary visual refinement that is thought to underlie the convergence of bottom-up inputs with top-down prior knowledge applies to the processing of meaningful stimuli in our everyday lives. The investigators have shown that human face processing mechanisms are shaped by prior knowledge that the horizontal range of face information conveys the richest and most reliable cues. Furthermore, investigators' previous data suggest that the primary visual cortex is recruited during the progressive refinement of face representation. Using very high field neuroimaging, the present project proposes to follow the neural mechanisms underlying the cortical refinement of horizontal information in human face processing, and to study their contribution to behaviour.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Be between 18 and 50 years old,
have normal eyesight or eyesight corrected with contact lenses,
Have no neurological disorder,
Not have had a skull fracture or head surgery,
Disqualifiers
Be younger than 18 or older than 50 years old,
have poor eyesight,
Have neurological disorder,
have had a skull fracture or head surgery,
Trial design
Design model
Single group
Treatments tested in this trial
3Tesla magnetic resonance imaging of the healthy human visual system
Other interventionThe present project presents a series of monocentric MRI studies carried out on healthy adult human volunteers. All neuroimaging will be performed at the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc (CUSL, IRM de recherche). Participants will not directly benefit from their participation. All studies will manipulate the visual properties of the experimental stimuli in a within-subject way, and therefore do not rely on any participation group assignation/randomization method. The duration of studies will vary between 3h to 6h, i.e., from 2 to 4x1h30 3Tesla magnetic resonance imaging sessions depending on the experimental design.
Treatment groups
100 Participants
are divided into 1 treatment groupGroup A: Study of the visual mechanisms involved in face perceptionExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Orientation tuning in the visual system
fMRI will be used to analyse brain responses along the ventral visual pathway to the visual presentation of orientation-filtered visual face and scene stimuli
Time frame
2 years2
Emergence of orientation tuning over processing course in the visual system
fMRI will be used to analyse brain responses along the ventral visual pathway to the visual presentation of temporally masked orientation-filtered visual stimuli
Time frame
2 years3
Receptive field mapping of the visual system
fMRI will be used to measure population receptive fields using stimuli varying in position and size randomly
Time frame
2 years4
Behavioral task performance
Participants will identify famous faces presented on-screen and respond via keypress.
Time frame
2 yearsLocations
Sponsors and contacts
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Source ClinicalTrials.gov
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