Beyond localisation: a dynamical dual route account of face recognition

After decades of research the notion that faces are special is still at the heart of heated debates. New techniques like brain imaging have advanced s ome of the arguments but empirical data from brain-damaged patients like pa radoxical recognition effects have required more complex explanations aside from localisation of the face area in normal adults. In this paper we focu s on configural face processes and discuss configural processes in prosopag nosics in the light of findings obtained in brain-imaging studies. In order to account for data like paradoxical face recognition effects we propose a dual route model of face recognition. The model is based on the distinctio n between two separate aspects of fact: recognition, detection and identifi cation, considered as dynamical and interrelated. In this perspective the f ace detection system appears as the stronger candidate for face-specific pr ocesses. The face identification system on the other hand is part of the ob ject recognition system but derives its specificity in part from interactio n with the face-specific detection system. The fact that face detection app ears intact in some patients provides us with a possible explanation for th e interference of configural processes on feature-based identification. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.