A neural basis for expert object recognition

Although most adults are considered to be experts in the identification of faces, Sewer people specialize in the recognition of other objects, such as birds and dogs. In this research, the neurophysiological processes associa ted with expert bird and dog recognition were investigated using event-rela ted potentials. An enhanced early negative component (N170, 164 ms) was fou nd when bird and dog experts categorized objects in their domain of experti se relative to when they categorized objects outside their domain of expert ise. This finding indicates that objects from well-learned categories are n eurologically differentiated from objects from lesser-known categories at a relatively early stage of visual processing.