Neural representations of faces are tuned to eye movements

Abstract

Eye movements provide a functional signature of how human vision is achieved. Many recent studies have reported idiosyncratic visual sampling strategies during face recognition. Whether these inter-individual differences are mirrored by idiosyncratic neural responses has not been investigated yet. Here, we tracked observers eye movements during face recognition; additionally, we obtained an objective index of neural face discrimination through EEG that was recorded while subjects fixated different facial information.\n\nAcross all observers, we found that those facial features that were fixated longer during face recognition elicited stronger neural face discrimination responses. This relationship occurred independently of inter-individual differences in fixation biases. Our data show that eye movements play a functional role during face processing by providing the neural system with information that is diagnostic to a specific observer. The effective processing of face identity involves idiosyncratic, rather than universal representations.