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. 2007 Jun;36(2):464-71.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.12.016. Epub 2006 Dec 20.

The FN400 indexes familiarity-based recognition of faces

Tim Curran  1 , Jane Hancock
Affiliations

The FN400 indexes familiarity-based recognition of faces

Tim Curran et al. Neuroimage. 2007 Jun.

Abstract

Separate event-related brain potential (ERP) components have been hypothesized to index familiarity and recollection processes that support recognition memory. A 300- to 500-ms mid-frontal FN400 old/new difference has been related to familiarity, whereas a 500- to 800-ms parietal old/new difference has been related to recollection. Other recent work has cast doubt on the FN400 familiarity hypothesis, especially its application to familiarity-based recognition of conceptually impoverished stimuli such as novel faces. Here we show that FN400 old/new differences can be observed with novel faces, and as predicted by the familiarity hypothesis, these differences are observed regardless of whether or not recognition is accompanied by the recollection of specific details from the study episode. Furthermore, FN400 differentiation between hits and misses is more consistent with an explicit familiarity process than an implicit memory process.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Geodesic Sensor Net Layout. Electrode sites are number along with selected 10-10 positions. Black clusters are regions included in the topographic analyses. L = left, R = right, A = anterior, P = posterior, I = inferior, S = superior.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average-referenced, grand averaged ERPs in each of the 4 regions depicted in Figure 1. L = left, R = right, A = anterior, P = posterior, I = inferior, S = superior.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mastoid-referenced, grand averaged ERPs from frontal (Fz) and parietal (Cz) sensor locations.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Topographic maps comparing familiarity and recollection. (A) Familiarity-related differences at the time of the FN400 (300 – 500 ms) and parietal effects (500 – 700 ms). (B) Recollection-related differences at the time of the FN400 (300 – 500 ms) and parietal effects (500 – 700 ms).
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References

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