Emergence of categorical face perception after extended early-onset blindness
Name
PNAS-2017-Gandhi-6139-43.pdf
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1.12 MB
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Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Gandhi, Tapan K.
Swami, Piyush
Ganesh, Suma
Kalia, Amy Ashwin
Sinha, Pawan
Date Issued
April 2017
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Citation
Gandhi, Tapan K., et al. “Emergence of Categorical Face Perception after Extended Early-Onset Blindness.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 114, no. 23, June 2017, pp. 6139–43. © 2017 National Academy of Sciences
Version
Final published version
Abstract
It is unknown whether the ability to visually distinguish between faces and nonfaces is subject to a critical period during development. Would a congenitally blind child who gains sight several years after birth be able to acquire this skill? This question has remained unanswered because of the rarity of cases of late sight onset. We had the opportunity to work with five early-blind individuals who gained sight late in childhood after treatment for dense bilateral cataracts. We tested their ability to categorize patterns as faces, using natural images that spanned a spectrum of face semblance. The results show that newly sighted individuals are unable to distinguish between faces and nonfaces immediately after sight onset, but improve markedly in the following months. These results demonstrate preserved plasticity for acquiring face/ nonface categorization ability even late in life, and set the stage for investigating the informational and neural basis of this skill acquisition.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1616050114
