面孔空想性错视及其神经机制

面孔空想性错视, 是指在不存在面孔的物体或抽象图案上看到面孔, 例如在月球表面看到面孔。它受到自下而上信息与自上而下加工的共同影响。近年来, 研究者通过行为实验、事件相关电位技术以及脑成像技术对不同的空想性错视影响因素进行研究。结果发现, 面孔空想性错视的产生取决于刺激是否包含类似面孔结构, 内部面孔模板是否能与当前刺激匹配, 以及有无面孔相关背景。同时也受到个体差异与情绪状态影响。脑成像研究发现, 在发生空想性错视时, 来自额叶区与枕叶视觉区的信息会在FFA进行整合。未来研究可以致力于探索面孔空想性错视中个体差异的行为与神经机制, 以及不同类型的自上而下调节之间的相互影响及其神经机制。

Face pareidolia and its neural mechanism

Face pareidolia refers to the compelling illusion of perceiving facial features on inanimate objects, such as an illusory face on the moon surface. Both top-down and bottom-up factors can modulate the occurrence of face pareidolia. In recent years, many studies using behavioral, brain imaging, as well as EEG techniques have been devoted to investigating its influential factors. It was found that the occurrence of face pareidolia depends on whether the stimuli contain face-like structures, whether the internal face template can match the current stimulus, and whether or not there are face related backgrounds. It was also influenced by individual differences and observers’ emotional states. Brain imaging studies suggest that information from the frontal and occipital vision regions can be infused at the fusiform face area (FFA) when experiencing face pareidolia. Future research should focus on exploring the behavioral and neural mechanisms of individual differences in face pareidolia, as well as the interactions and neural mechanisms between different types of top-down modulation.