In the 3 experiments reported here we show that a specific neurostimulation method, whose influence can be understood in terms of a well-known theory of stimulus representation, is able to affect face recognition skills by impairing participants' performance for upright faces. We used the transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) procedure we have recently developed that allows perceptual learning, as indexed by the face inversion effect, to be modulated. We extended this tDCS procedure to another phenomenon, the composite face effect, which constitutes better recognition of the top half of an upright face when conjoined with a congruent (in terms of the response required) rather than incongruent bottom half. All three experiments used the Face-Matching task traditionally used to study this phenomenon. Experiment 1a (n = 48) showed that anodal tDCS (using a double-blind between-subjects design) delivered at Fp3 (10 mins at 1.5 mA) affected overall performance for upright faces compared with sham but had no effect on the composite face effect itself. Experiment 1b (n = 48) replicated our usual tDCS-induced effects on the face inversion effect but this time using a Face-Matching task instead of the old/new recognition task previously used to obtain the effect. Experiment 2 (n = 72) replicated the findings from Experiment 1a, and, using an active control group, showed that the Fp3 anodal tDCS effects on performance to upright faces are not obtained when a different brain area is targeted. We interpret our results in the light of previous literature on the tDCS effects on perceptual learning and face recognition and suggest that different mechanisms are involved in the face inversion effect and the composite face effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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经颅直流电刺激对直立面部知觉学习的影响及其在复合面部效应中的作用。

在此处报告的 3 个实验中，我们表明一种特定的神经刺激方法，其影响可以根据众所周知的刺激表征理论来理解，它能够通过削弱参与者对直立面孔的表现来影响人脸识别技能。我们使用了我们最近开发的经颅直流电刺激 (tDCS) 程序，该程序允许对由面部反转效应索引的感知学习进行调制。我们将此 tDCS 程序扩展到另一种现象，即复合面部效应，当与一致（根据所需的响应）而不是不一致的下半部分结合时，它可以更好地识别直立面部的上半部分。所有三个实验都使用了传统上用于研究这种现象的人脸匹配任务。实验 1a（n = 48）表明，与假手术相比，在 Fp3（1.5 mA 下 10 分钟）提供的阳极 tDCS（使用双盲受试者间设计）影响直立面部的整体性能，但对复合面部效果没有影响本身。实验 1b (n = 48) 复制了我们通常的 tDCS 对人脸反转效果的影响，但这次使用人脸匹配任务而不是以前用于获得效果的旧/新识别任务。实验 2 (n = 72) 复制了实验 1a 的结果，并使用主动对照组表明，当针对不同的大脑区域时，不会获得 Fp3 阳极 tDCS 对直立面部表现的影响。我们根据先前关于 tDCS 对感知学习和人脸识别的影响的文献来解释我们的结果，并表明不同的机制涉及人脸反转效应和复合人脸效应。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。