IEEE CME 2012 Conference
Plenary Talk 1

Investigation of human face perception and recognition using EEG, MEG and NIRS

Ryusuke Kakigi, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Integrative Physiology
National Institute for Physiological Sciences
Okazaki, 444-8585, Japan
E-mail:kakigi@nips.ac.jp

Abstract:
We have been studying the underlying mechanisms of face perception in humans using magneto- (MEG) and electro-encephalography (EEG) including (1) perception by viewing the static face, (2) differences in perception by viewing the eyes and whole face, (3) the face inversion effect, (4) the effect of gaze direction, (5) perception of eye motion, (6) perception of mouth motion, (7) the interaction between auditory and visual stimuli related to the vowel sounds, (8) effects of face contour and features on early occipitotemporal activity when viewing eye movement, and (9) subliminal effects on face perception. In this talk, we mainly summarize our results obtained on (3), (5), (6), (8) and (9) above.

We recently made a special light probe of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for studying infants, and found that 5-months-infants could recognize upright face compared with inverted face and vegetable and 8-month-old infants could recognize the profile of face. In addition, we recently got interesting results about recognition of face expression as well as mothers｡ｯ face recognition. The NIRS study for infants should add important information for a development of face processing in humans.

Ryusuke Kakigi is Professor and Chairperson in Department of Department of Integrative Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, and The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI). He has been studying neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies in humans, mainly on somatosensory and pain perception. In addition, he recently focused on face perception and recognition in humans. He is the Chair of the national big project, ｡ｰFace perception and recognition: Multidisciplinary approaching to understanding face processing mechanisms｡ｱ supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. He is the current President of the Japan Biomagnetism and Bioelectromagnetics Society, and a main member of other many societies such as Japanese Society of Clinical Neurophysiology. He was the main member of many previous international symposiums, for example, Chair of the Program Committee of 29^th International Congress of Clinical neurophysiology held in 2010 (ICCN2010) at Kobe, Japan. He has published over 350 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, and a member of Editorial Board of many international journals such as Neuroimage and PAIN.