Summary: Researchers used Game of Thrones to study how the brain recognizes faces, providing insight into prosopagnosia, a condition that affects facial recognition in 1 in 50 people.
MRI scans showed increased brain activity in regions associated with character knowledge in fans of the series, but reduced activity in people unfamiliar with the series and in patients with prosopagnosia. This suggests that facial recognition relies on associating faces with personal knowledge.
The study highlights the importance of this connection for social interactions and mental health.
Highlights:
- Game of Thrones was used to study brain activity in recognizing familiar faces.
- Fans of the series showed increased brain activity in regions linked to knowledge of the characters.
- People with prosopagnosia showed reduced neural connections, affecting face recognition.
Source: University of York
Psychologists have used the hit TV series Game of Thrones to understand how the brain allows us to recognize faces.
Their findings provide new insights into prosopagnosia or face blindness, a condition that impairs facial recognition and affects about 1 in 50 people.
Researchers scanned the brains of more than 70 study participants as they watched clips from the hit TV series. Half of the participants were familiar with the main characters, who are famously complex, and the other half had never seen the series.
When the main characters appeared on screen, MRI scans showed that in neurotypical participants who knew the characters, brain activity increased in brain regions associated with nonvisual knowledge about the characters, such as who they are and what we know about them.
Interestingly, connections between the visual brain and these non-visual regions also increased in people who were familiar with Game of Thrones. However, these waves of activity were significantly reduced in the group of neurotypical participants who had never watched the series.
To determine whether these regions are important for face recognition, the researchers then repeated the study in people with prosopagnosia. As in the previous group, half had watched Game of Thrones and the other half had never seen the series. Consistent with their difficulty recognizing faces, the familiarity effect was not found in the same brain regions as in neurotypical participants. Connections between visual and nonvisual regions were also reduced in people with face blindness.
Lead author of the study, Professor Tim Andrews from the Department of Psychology, said: “We were very pleased to see the results of our study because they suggest that our ability to recognise faces depends on what we know about people, not just what they look like.”
“While it was previously thought that we recognize faces by learning their visual properties (such as features, configuration, and texture), our study suggests that it’s about connecting a face to knowledge about the person, including their personality traits, body language, and our personal experiences with them and feelings about them.
“Facial recognition is essential to everyday life and social interactions. When people struggle with it, it can have a significant impact on their lives and relationships, often leading to mental health issues and social anxiety.
“Our research helps us better understand how prosopagnosia appears to be linked to reduced neural connections, making it difficult to associate faces with personal knowledge, which is crucial for recognition.”
The researchers chose to show participants footage from Game of Thrones because of its international appeal and multitude of well-developed main characters.
Kira Noad, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology, said: “We chose to show participants footage from Game of Thrones because the show has captivated people around the world with its strong characters and deeply nuanced personalities.
“Many previous studies of the brain mechanisms underlying facial recognition have been conducted in the laboratory with static images of 2D faces. We sought to create a study format that was closer to real life, using video to show complex scenes with multiple people.
“We now need to conduct further studies to investigate in more detail how activity in different brain regions allows us to recognize faces, as well as the factors that may disrupt this process.”
About this prosopagnosia research news
Author: Samantha Martin
Source: University of York
Contact: Samantha Martin – University of York
Picture: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Access closed.
“Familiarity enhances functional connectivity between visual and nonvisual brain regions during natural viewing” by Tim Andrews et al. Cerebral cortex
Abstract
Familiarity enhances functional connectivity between visual and nonvisual brain regions during natural viewing
We investigated neural correlates of familiarity with people and places using a naturalistic visualization paradigm. Neural responses were measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants watched a Game of Thrones movie.
We compared between-subject correlations and functional connectivity in participants who were familiar with and unfamiliar with the TV series. Higher between-subject correlations were found among familiar participants in regions beyond the visual brain that are typically associated with processing semantic, episodic, and affective information.
However, familiarity also increased functional connectivity between face and scene regions in the visual brain and nonvisual regions of the familiarity network. To determine whether these regions play an important role in face recognition, we measured responses in participants with developmental prosopagnosia (DP).
Consistent with a face recognition deficit, the effect of familiarity was significantly attenuated in the familiarity network in DP. The effect of familiarity on functional connectivity between face regions and the familiarity network was also attenuated in DP.
These results show that the neural response to familiarity involves an extensive network of brain regions and that functional connectivity between visual and non-visual brain regions plays an important role in the recognition of people and places during natural viewing.