Highly variable natural images of the same familiar face celebrity interleaved periodically in a rapid (6 images/second) train of unfamiliar faces automatically elicit an objective electroencephalographic (EEG) response over the occipito-temporal cortex of neurotypical human adults within a few minutes. However, the extent to which this frequency-tagged response goes beyond the association of common physical features of the periodically repeated face identity remains unknown. Here we compare participants who know or do not know the very same periodically repeated face celebrity and show that long-term familiarity accounts for about 80% of the neural face identity recognition response. This familiarity advantage disappears with upside-down images. Variability in response amplitude between face identities is preserved for inverted faces and in unfamiliar participants, suggesting a contribution of within-person physical face variability and distinctiveness to about 20% of the face identity response. These observations provide the strongest difference to date in human brain response between the same famous face identities perceived as familiar or unfamiliar in an implicit task. The frequency-tagged neural response largely reflects the strengthening effect of long-term memory in the human occipito-temporal cortex, and may serve to index automatic familiar face identity recognition in individual observers.

同一熟悉的面孔名人的高度可变的自然图像在不熟悉的面孔的快速（6幅图像/秒）训练中周期性地交织，在几分钟内自动在神经型人类成年人的枕颞皮质上引起客观的脑电图（EEG）反应。但是，这种带有频率标记的响应超出了周期性重复的面部识别的公共物理特征的关联的程度仍然未知。在这里，我们比较知道或不知道定期重复的脸部名人的参与者，并表明长期的熟悉程度约占神经人脸识别识别反应的80％。这种熟悉的优势在上下颠倒的图像中消失了。对于颠倒的面部和不熟悉的参与者，面部身份之间响应幅度的差异得以保留，这表明人脸物理面部变异性和独特性对约20％的面部身份响应做出了贡献。这些观察结果提供了迄今为止在相同的著名面孔身份在隐式任务中被视为熟悉或不熟悉之间在人脑反应方面最强的差异。带有频率标签的神经反应在很大程度上反映了人类枕颞皮层中长期记忆的增强作用，并且可能有助于索引各个观察者的自动熟悉的面部身份识别。这些观察结果提供了迄今为止在相同的著名面孔身份在隐式任务中被视为熟悉或不熟悉之间在人脑反应方面最强的差异。带有频率标签的神经反应在很大程度上反映了人类枕颞皮质中长期记忆的增强作用，并且可能有助于索引各个观察者的自动熟悉的面部身份识别。这些观察结果提供了迄今为止在相同的著名面孔身份在隐式任务中被视为熟悉或不熟悉之间在人脑反应方面最强的差异。带有频率标签的神经反应在很大程度上反映了人类枕颞皮层中长期记忆的增强作用，并且可能有助于索引各个观察者的自动熟悉的面部身份识别。