Brain potential correlates of the “internal features advantage” in face recognition

Whereas some behavioral studies have shown that internal features are crucial for efficient face recognition in healthy adults, compared to external features, the brain mechanisms underlying this “internal features advantage” are still unknown. In the present study, the differential relevance of both subsets of facial features is addressed analyzing N400-like potentials elicited in a face-feature matching task, where external or internal features and complete face targets were displayed consecutively in each trial. Experiment 1 revealed a larger and longer-lasting N400-like effect with the prior presentation of internal features, which suggests more efficient processing of long-term face-related information. An analysis of neural sources in Experiment 2 revealed greater activation of frontal and left temporal brain areas in the processing of mismatching targets when preceded by internal features. Thus, brain electrical correlates of the “internal features advantage” could be verified around 300-400 ms post-stimulus and supported by a face-identity related neural network.