62 results on '"John Towler"'
Search Results
2. Holistic face perception is impaired in developmental prosopagnosia
- Author
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Katie Fisher, John Towler, and Martin Eimer
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Adult ,Male ,Matching (statistics) ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Facial recognition system ,050105 experimental psychology ,Task (project management) ,psyc ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Memory ,Face perception ,Orientation ,Reaction Time ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Control (linguistics) ,Evoked Potentials ,Repetition (rhetorical device) ,05 social sciences ,Brain ,Electroencephalography ,Middle Aged ,Prosopagnosia ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Face (geometry) ,Visual Perception ,Identity (object-oriented programming) ,Female ,Psychology ,Facial Recognition ,Photic Stimulation ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) have severe difficulties recognising familiar faces. A current debate is whether these face recognition impairments derive from problems with face perception and in particular whether individuals with DP cannot utilize holistic representations of individual faces. To assess this hypothesis, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) during a sequential face identity matching task where successively presented pairs of upright faces were either identical or differed with respect to their internal features, their external features, or both. Participants with DP and age-matched controls reported on each trial whether the face pair was identical or different. To track the activation of cortical visual face memory representations, we measured N250r components over posterior face-selective regions. N250r components to full face repetitions were strongly attenuated for DPs as compared to control participants, indicating impaired face identity matching processes in DP. In the Control group, the N250r to full face repetitions was superadditive (i.e., larger than the sum of the two N250r components to partial repetitions of external or internal features). This demonstrates that holistic face representations were involved in identity matching processes. In the DP group, N250r components to full and partial identity repetitions were strictly additive, indicating that the identity matching of external and internal features operated in an entirely part-based fashion, without any involvement of holistic representations. In line with this conclusion, DPs also made a disproportionate number of errors on partial repetition trials, where they often failed to report a change of internal facial features. This suggests an atypical strategy for encoding external features as cues to identity in DP. These results provide direct electrophysiological and behavioural evidence for qualitative differences in the representation of face identity in the occipital-temporal face processing system in developmental prosopagnosia.
- Published
- 2018
3. Neural responses in a fast periodic visual stimulation paradigm reveal domain-general visual discrimination deficits in developmental prosopagnosia
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Katie Fisher, Bruno Rossion, John Towler, Martin Eimer, University of London [London], Swansea University, Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy (CRAN), and Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
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Cognitive Neuroscience ,Identity (social science) ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Stimulation ,Electroencephalography ,Affect (psychology) ,Frequency tagging ,Facial recognition system ,050105 experimental psychology ,Visual processing ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Discrimination, Psychological ,medicine ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Face recognition ,Developmental prosopagnosia ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,FPVS ,05 social sciences ,Cognitive neuroscience of visual object recognition ,Object recognition ,Prosopagnosia ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Pattern Recognition, Visual ,Visual discrimination ,Visual Perception ,Domain specificity ,[SDV.NEU]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC] ,Psychology ,Neuroscience ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Photic Stimulation - Abstract
International audience; We investigated selective impairments of visual identity discrimination in developmental prosopagnosia (DP), using a fast periodic identity oddball stimulation paradigm with electroencephalography (EEG). In Experiment 1, neural responses to unfamiliar face identity changes were strongly attenuated for individuals with DP as compared to Control participants, to the same extent for upright and inverted faces. This reduction of face identity discrimination responses, which was confirmed in Experiment 2, provides direct evidence for deficits in the visual processing of unfamiliar facial identity in DP. Importantly, Experiment 2 demonstrated that DPs showed attenuated neural responses to identity oddballs not only with face images, but also with non-face images (cars). This result strongly suggests that rapid identity-related visual processing impairments in DP are not restricted to faces, but also affect familiar classes of non-face stimuli. Visual discrimination deficits in DP do not appear to be face-specific. To account for these findings, we propose a new account of DP as a domain-general deficit in rapid visual discrimination.
- Published
- 2020
4. Face identity matching is selectively impaired in developmental prosopagnosia
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Martin Eimer, Katie Fisher, and John Towler
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Adult ,Male ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Facial recognition system ,050105 experimental psychology ,Task (project management) ,psyc ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Face perception ,Event-related potential ,Perception ,Reaction Time ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,10. No inequality ,media_common ,Facial expression ,Working memory ,05 social sciences ,Brain ,Electroencephalography ,Middle Aged ,Facial Expression ,Prosopagnosia ,Memory, Short-Term ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Visual Perception ,Identity (object-oriented programming) ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Female ,Psychology ,Facial Recognition ,Photic Stimulation ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) have severe face recognition deficits, but the mechanisms that are responsible for these deficits have not yet been fully identified. We assessed whether the activation of visual working memory for individual faces is selectively impaired in DP. Twelve DPs and twelve age-matched control participants were tested in a task where they reported whether successively presented faces showed the same or two different individuals, and another task where they judged whether the faces showed the same or different facial expressions. Repetitions versus changes of the other currently irrelevant attribute were varied independently. DPs showed impaired performance in the identity task, but performed at the same level as controls in the expression task. An electrophysiological marker for the activation of visual face memory by identity matches (N250r component) was strongly attenuated in the DP group, and the size of this attenuation was correlated with poor performance in a standardized face recognition test. Results demonstrate an identity-specific deficit of visual face memory in DPs. Their reduced sensitivity to identity matches in the presence of other image changes could result from earlier deficits in the perceptual extraction of image-invariant visual identity cues from face images.
- Published
- 2017
5. Commonly associated face and object recognition impairments have implications for the cognitive architecture
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Jeremy J. Tree and John Towler
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Cognitive Neuroscience ,05 social sciences ,Cognitive neuroscience of visual object recognition ,Face (sociological concept) ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Cognitive architecture ,Facial recognition system ,Object (philosophy) ,050105 experimental psychology ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,Extant taxon ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Psychology ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Geskin & Behrmann provide an extensive and scholarly meta-analysis of the extant cases of developmental prosopagnosia (DP) in order to ascertain how often impairments in face recognition and object...
- Published
- 2018
6. The Silver Sunbeam: A Practical and Theoretical Text-Book on Sun Drawing and Photographic Printing; Comprehending All the Wet and Dry Processes at Present Known, With Collodion, Albumen, Gelatin, Wax, Resin and Silver (Classic Reprint)
- Author
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John Towler and John Towler
- Abstract
Excerpt from The Silver Sunbeam: A Practical and Theoretical Text-Book on Sun Drawing and Photographic Printing; Comprehending All the Wet and Dry Processes at Present Known, With Collodion, Albumen, Gelatin, Wax, Resin and Silver (Classic Reprint)Sun-drawing, Heliography, and Photography are synony mous expressions for the same phenomenon, although ety mologically the two latter are somewhat different — helio graphy signifying sun-writing, whilst the word photography signifies light-writing. Not one of these expressions is strictly correct, because actinic impressions can be obtained from rays emanating from the moon, from artificial light, or the electric spark. Actinic drawing would probably be the best name, although as regards the representation of facts by words, it is immaterial for the masses of mankind whether these words have an intrinsic or root-meaning or not. The phenomena comprehended under any one Of the above syn onymous expressions, depend immediately upon what is termed light as the force or cause, and upon the property, which only certain substances apparently possess, of being affected according to the intensity of the light employed. The principal of these substances are the salts of silver, the salts of iron, bielzromate of potassa, and certain resins, as the oil of lavender and asphaltum. That light acts upon or ganized substances is a phenomenon which must have been Observed by the first occupants Of earth; they could not fail to remark the brilliant hues on the side of an apple that received the direct rays Of the sun, and to contrast these resplendent mixtures Of red, crimson, green, purple, yellow, orange, and other colors, on the one side, with the white, or greenish White, on the side exposed simply to the diffused light of day. The variegated foliage of a tropical clime, as contrasted with the continual merging into green, according to the increase in latitude, gives evidence of the influence of actinic action; and this change of green into white in the leaves and stalks of similar plants, when supplied with heat and air, and not with light, is a still stronger proof of heliographic influence. But this species of influence is not limited to the vegetable part of the earth; it is perceived, in all its beauties, in the blooming cheeks of a maiden from Kaiserstuhl in the Black Forest, or from the pasturing de clivities of the Tyrolese Alps; and its deficiency is quite as apparent in the pale, white, and lifeless facial integuments Of the unfortunate denizens of crowded cities, as in the blanched stalks of celery in a dunghill, or the sickly white filiform shoots of potatoes in a dark cellar. These phenom ena are full of wonder, no less so than any of the Opera tions Of sun-drawing on paper or collodion, and quite as in explicable; but they have long failed to excite astonishment, from the frequency and commonness of their occurrence.
- Published
- 2018
7. The cognitive and neural basis of developmental prosopagnosia
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Katie Fisher, Martin Eimer, and John Towler
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genetic structures ,Physiology ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Electroencephalography ,Facial recognition system ,050105 experimental psychology ,psyc ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Visual memory ,Face perception ,Physiology (medical) ,Perception ,medicine ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,10. No inequality ,Evoked Potentials ,General Psychology ,media_common ,Facial expression ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,05 social sciences ,Brain ,Cognition ,General Medicine ,Prosopagnosia ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Face (geometry) ,Psychology ,Cognition Disorders ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is a severe impairment of visual face recognition in the absence of any apparent brain damage. The factors responsible for DP have not yet been fully identified. This article provides a selective review of recent studies investigating cognitive and neural processes that may contribute to the face recognition deficits in DP, focusing primarily on event-related brain potential (ERP) measures of face perception and recognition. Studies that measured the face-sensitive N170 component as a marker of perceptual face processing have shown that the perceptual discrimination between faces and non-face objects is intact in DP. Other N170 studies suggest that faces are not represented in the typical fashion in DP. Individuals with DP appear to have specific difficulties in processing spatial and contrast deviations from canonical upright visual–perceptual face templates. The rapid detection of emotional facial expressions appears to be unaffected in DP. ERP studies of the activation of visual memory for individual faces and of the explicit identification of particular individuals have revealed differences between DPs and controls in the timing of these processes and in the links between visual face memory and explicit face recognition. These observations suggest that the speed and efficiency of information propagation through the cortical face network is altered in DP. The nature of the perceptual impairments in DP suggests that atypical visual experience with the eye region of faces over development may be an important contributing factor to DP.
- Published
- 2017
8. Social inferences from faces: Ambient images generate a three-dimensional model
- Author
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D. Michael Burt, Clare A. M. Sutherland, Isabel M. Santos, Julian A. Oldmeadow, Andrew W. Young, and John Towler
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Adult ,Male ,Linguistics and Language ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Inference ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Models, Psychological ,Trust ,Language and Linguistics ,Young Adult ,Nonverbal communication ,Face perception ,Social cognition ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,Humans ,Valence (psychology) ,Everyday life ,Social perception ,Reproducibility of Results ,Morphing ,Pattern Recognition, Visual ,Social Dominance ,Social Perception ,Face ,Female ,Psychology ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Three experiments are presented that investigate the two-dimensional valence/trustworthiness by dominance model of social inferences from faces (Oosterhof & Todorov, 2008). Experiment 1 used image averaging and morphing techniques to demonstrate that consistent facial cues subserve a range of social inferences, even in a highly variable sample of 1000 ambient images (images that are intended to be representative of those encountered in everyday life, see Jenkins, White, Van Montfort, & Burton, 2011). Experiment 2 then tested Oosterhof and Todorov’s two-dimensional model on this extensive sample of face images. The original two dimensions were replicated and a novel ‘youthful-attractiveness’ factor also emerged. Experiment 3 successfully cross-validated the three-dimensional model using face averages directly constructed from the factor scores. These findings highlight the utility of the original trustworthiness and dominance dimensions, but also underscore the need to utilise varied face stimuli: with a more realistically diverse set of face images, social inferences from faces show a more elaborate underlying structure than hitherto suggested.
- Published
- 2013
9. Electrophysiological evidence for parts and wholes in visual face memory
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John Towler and Martin Eimer
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Adult ,Male ,Matching (statistics) ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,050105 experimental psychology ,Identity (music) ,Task (project management) ,psyc ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Memory ,Reaction Time ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Communication ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,Brain ,Electroencephalography ,Recognition, Psychology ,Inversion (music) ,Electrophysiology ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Face identity ,Face (geometry) ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Female ,Psychology ,business ,Facial Recognition ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Photic Stimulation ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
It is often assumed that upright faces are represented in a holistic fashion, while representations of inverted faces are essentially part-based. To assess this hypothesis, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) during a sequential face identity matching task where successively presented pairs of upright or inverted faces were either identical or differed with respect to their internal features, their external features, or both. Participants' task was to report on each trial whether the face pair was identical or different. To track the activation of visual face memory representations, we measured N250r components that emerge over posterior face-selective regions during the activation of visual face memory representations by a successful identity match. N250r components to full identity repetitions were smaller and emerged later for inverted as compared to upright faces, demonstrating that image inversion impairs face identity matching processes. For upright faces, N250r components were also elicited by partial repetitions of external or internal features, which suggest that the underlying identity matching processes are not exclusively based on non-decomposable holistic representations. However, the N250r to full identity repetitions was super-additive (i.e., larger than the sum of the two N250r components to partial repetitions of external or internal features) for upright faces, demonstrating that holistic representations were involved in identity matching processes. For inverted faces, N250r components to full and partial identity repetitions were strictly additive, indicating that the identity matching of external and internal features operated in an entirely part-based fashion. These results provide new electrophysiological evidence for qualitative differences between representations of upright and inverted faces in the occipital-temporal face processing system.
- Published
- 2016
10. Reduced sensitivity to contrast signals from the eye region in developmental prosopagnosia
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John Towler, Martin Eimer, and Katie Fisher
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Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Visual perception ,genetic structures ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Audiology ,Electroencephalography ,Eye ,Facial recognition system ,050105 experimental psychology ,psyc ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Face perception ,Perception ,medicine ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,media_common ,Communication ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,Recognition, Psychology ,Gaze ,Prosopagnosia ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Pattern Recognition, Visual ,Face ,Fixation (visual) ,Visual Perception ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Female ,business ,Psychology ,Photic Stimulation ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Facial identity - Abstract
Contrast-related signals from the eye region are known to be important for the processing of facial identity. Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) have severe face recognition problems, which may be linked to deficits in the perceptual processing of identity-related information from the eyes. We tested this hypothesis by measuring N170 components in DP participants and age-matched controls in response to face images where the contrast polarity of the eyes and of other face parts was independently manipulated. In different trials, participants fixated either the eye region or the lower part of a face. In the Control group, contrast-reversal of the eyes resulted in enhanced and delayed N170 components, irrespective of the contrast of other face parts and of gaze location. In the DP group, these effects of eye contrast on N170 amplitudes were strongly and significantly reduced, demonstrating that perceptual face processing in DP is less well tuned to contrast information from the eye region. Inverting the contrast of other parts of the face affected N170 amplitudes only when fixation was outside the eye region. This effect did not differ between the two groups, indicating that DPs are not generally insensitive to the contrast polarity of face images. These results provide new evidence that a selective deficit in detecting and analysing identity-related information provided by contrast signals from the eye region may contribute to the face recognition impairment in DP.
- Published
- 2016
11. Simulations and games
- Author
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Jonathan Lean, Jonathan Moizer, Caroline Abbey, and Michael John Towler
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Resource (project management) ,Knowledge management ,Categorization ,Higher education ,Work (electrical) ,Computer science ,business.industry ,Teaching method ,Active learning ,Informal education ,business ,Composition (language) ,Education - Abstract
Based on a categorization of simulation and gaming barriers developed in a previous study, this work seeks to explore in greater depth the composition and nature of these obstacles. It examines the interrelationships between the barriers and the impact of other contextual factors in the pedagogic environment. A series of in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 staff involved in teaching with simulations and games within a UK higher education institution. The findings underline the significant linkages apparent between three broad barriers to teaching with simulations, games and role-play: suitability, resource and risk. Further analysis of the interview transcripts facilitated the identification of a range of mechanisms which may be employed to overcome the aforementioned barriers: freeing up academics’ time, providing training and development, enabling informal learning, providing resource support, facilitating access to networks and providing access to secondary information sources. These mechanisms are discussed and evaluated in relation to the broader educational context.
- Published
- 2009
12. Facial identity and facial expression are initially integrated at visual perceptual stages of face processing
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John Towler, Martin Eimer, and Katie Fisher
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Adult ,Male ,Visual perception ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Speech recognition ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Facial recognition system ,050105 experimental psychology ,psyc ,Visual processing ,03 medical and health sciences ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Young Adult ,0302 clinical medicine ,Face perception ,medicine ,Reaction Time ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,10. No inequality ,Communication ,Facial expression ,Analysis of Variance ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,Electroencephalography ,Recognition, Psychology ,Facial Expression ,Visual cortex ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Expression (architecture) ,Pattern Recognition, Visual ,Face ,Identity (object-oriented programming) ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Female ,business ,Psychology ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Photic Stimulation - Abstract
It is frequently assumed that facial identity and facial expression are analysed in functionally and anatomically distinct streams within the core visual face processing system. To investigate whether expression and identity interact during the visual processing of faces, we employed a sequential matching procedure where participants compared either the identity or the expression of two successively presented faces, and ignored the other irrelevant dimension. Repetitions versus changes of facial identity and expression were varied independently across trials, and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during task performance. Irrelevant facial identity and irrelevant expression both interfered with performance in the expression and identity matching tasks. These symmetrical interference effects show that neither identity nor expression can be selectively ignored during face matching, and suggest that they are not processed independently. N250r components to identity repetitions that reflect identity matching mechanisms in face-selective visual cortex were delayed and attenuated when there was an expression change, demonstrating that facial expression interferes with visual identity matching. These findings provide new evidence for interactions between facial identity and expression within the core visual processing system, and question the hypothesis that these two attributes are processed independently.
- Published
- 2015
13. The activation of visual face memory and explicit face recognition are delayed in developmental prosopagnosia
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Martin Eimer, Joanna Parketny, and John Towler
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Adult ,Male ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Electroencephalography ,Facial recognition system ,psyc ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Young Adult ,Face perception ,Conscious awareness ,medicine ,Humans ,Normal face ,Cerebral Cortex ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Middle Aged ,16. Peace & justice ,Identity recognition ,Temporal Lobe ,Prosopagnosia ,Face (geometry) ,Mental Recall ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Female ,Occipital Lobe ,Psychology ,Facial Recognition ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) are strongly impaired in recognizing faces, but the causes of this deficit are not well understood. We employed event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to study the time-course of neural processes involved in the recognition of previously unfamiliar faces in DPs and in age-matched control participants with normal face recognition abilities. Faces of different individuals were presented sequentially in one of three possible views, and participants had to detect a specific Target Face (“Joe”). EEG was recorded during task performance to Target Faces, Nontarget Faces, or the participants' Own Face (which had to be ignored).\ud \ud The N250 component was measured as a marker of the match between a seen face and a stored representation in visual face memory. The subsequent P600f was measured as an index of attentional processes associated with the conscious awareness and recognition of a particular face. Target Faces elicited reliable N250 and P600f in the DP group, but both of these components emerged later in DPs than in control participants. This shows that the activation of visual face memory for previously unknown learned faces and the subsequent attentional processing and conscious recognition of these faces are delayed in DP. N250 and P600f components to Own Faces did not differ between the two groups, indicating that the processing of long-term familiar faces is less affected in DP. However, P600f components to Own Faces were absent in two participants with DP who failed to recognize their Own Face during the experiment. These results provide new evidence that face recognition deficits in DP may be linked to a delayed activation of visual face memory and explicit identity recognition mechanisms.
- Published
- 2015
14. Facial misidentifications arise from the erroneous activation of visual face memory
- Author
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Katie Fisher, John Towler, Benedikt Emanuel Wirth, and Martin Eimer
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Adult ,Male ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Speech recognition ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Electroencephalography ,Neuropsychological Tests ,Facial recognition system ,Identity (music) ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Face perception ,Perception ,medicine ,Reaction Time ,Humans ,Evoked Potentials ,media_common ,Communication ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,Working memory ,Brain ,Cognition ,Memory, Short-Term ,Face (geometry) ,Female ,business ,Psychology ,Facial Recognition - Abstract
Misidentifications are a common phenomenon in unfamiliar face processing, but little is known about the underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms. We used the face identity-sensitive N250r component of the event-related brain potential as a measure of identity-sensitive face matching process in visual working memory. Two face images were presented in rapid succession, and participants had to judge whether they showed the same or two different individuals. Identity match and mismatch trials were presented in random sequence. On similar mismatch trials, perceptually similar faces of two different individuals were shown, while two physically distinct faces were presented on dissimilar mismatch trials. Misidentification errors occurred on 40% of all similar mismatch trials. N250r components were elicited not only in response to an identity match, but also on trials with misidentification errors. This misidentification N250r was smaller and emerged later than the N250r to correctly detected identity repetitions. Importantly, N250r components were entirely eliminated on similar mismatch trials where participants correctly reported two different facial identities. Results show that misidentification errors are not primarily a post-perceptual decision-related phenomenon, but are generated during early visual stages of identity-related face processing. Misidentification errors occur when stored representations of a particular individual face in visual working memory are incorrectly activated by a perceptual match with a different face.
- Published
- 2015
15. Effects of contrast inversion on face perception depend on gaze location: Evidence from the N170 component
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Katie Fisher, John Towler, and Martin Eimer
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,genetic structures ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Fixation, Ocular ,Eye ,Facial recognition system ,050105 experimental psychology ,psyc ,Contrast Sensitivity ,03 medical and health sciences ,Young Adult ,0302 clinical medicine ,Face perception ,Perception ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Computer vision ,Evoked Potentials ,media_common ,Communication ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,Electroencephalography ,Gaze ,eye diseases ,Social Perception ,Fixation (visual) ,Female ,sense organs ,Artificial intelligence ,Psychology ,business ,Facial Recognition ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Face recognition is known to be impaired when the contrast polarity of the eyes is inverted. We studied how contrast affects early perceptual face processing by measuring the face-sensitive N170 component to face images when the contrast of the eyes and of the rest of the face was independently manipulated. Fixation was either located on the eye region or on the lower part of a face. Contrast-reversal of the eyes triggered delayed and enhanced N170 components independently of the contrast of other face parts, and regardless of gaze location. Similar N170 modulations were observed when the rest of a face was contrast-inverted, but only when gaze was directed away from the eyes. Results demonstrate that the contrast of the eyes and of other face parts can both affect face perception, but that the contrast polarity of the eye region has a privileged role during early stages of face processing.
- Published
- 2015
16. The Focus of Spatial Attention Determines the Number and Precision of Face Representations in Working Memory
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Maria G. Kelly, Martin Eimer, and John Towler
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Adult ,Male ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Neuropsychological Tests ,050105 experimental psychology ,Functional Laterality ,psyc ,03 medical and health sciences ,Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience ,0302 clinical medicine ,Discrimination, Psychological ,Encoding (memory) ,Reaction Time ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Attention ,Visual short-term memory ,Evoked Potentials ,Working memory ,05 social sciences ,Memory rehearsal ,Brain ,Electroencephalography ,Visual spatial attention ,Iconic memory ,Memory, Short-Term ,Face (geometry) ,Space Perception ,Female ,Implicit memory ,Psychology ,Facial Recognition ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Photic Stimulation ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
The capacity of visual working memory for faces is extremely limited, but the reasons for these limitations remain unknown. We employed event-related brain potential (ERP) measures to demonstrate that individual faces have to be focally attended in order to be maintained in working memory, and that attention is allocated to only a single face at a time. When two faces have to be memorized simultaneously in a face identity matching task, the focus of spatial attention during encoding predicts which of these faces can be successfully maintained in working memory and matched to a subsequent test face. We also show that memory representations of attended faces are maintained in a position-dependent fashion. These findings demonstrate that the limited capacity of face memory is directly linked to capacity limits of spatial attention during the encoding and maintenance of individual face representations. We suggest that the capacity and distribution of selective spatial attention is a dynamic resource that constrains the capacity and fidelity of working memory for faces.
- Published
- 2015
17. Perceptual face processing in developmental prosopagnosia is not sensitive to the canonical location of face parts
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John Towler, Martin Eimer, and Joanna Parketny
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Visual perception ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Electroencephalography ,Audiology ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,050105 experimental psychology ,psyc ,03 medical and health sciences ,Young Adult ,0302 clinical medicine ,Face perception ,Perception ,medicine ,Contrast (vision) ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,media_common ,Visual Cortex ,Communication ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,Recognition, Psychology ,Middle Aged ,body regions ,Prosopagnosia ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Visual cortex ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Feature (computer vision) ,Face (geometry) ,Face ,Visual Perception ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Female ,business ,Psychology ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Photic Stimulation - Abstract
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) are strongly impaired in recognizing faces, but it is controversial whether this deficit is linked to atypical visual-perceptual face processing mechanisms. Previous behavioural studies have suggested that face perception in DP might be less sensitive to the canonical spatial configuration of face parts in upright faces. To test this prediction, we recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to intact upright faces and to faces with spatially scrambled parts (eyes, nose, and mouth) in a group of ten participants with DP and a group of ten age-matched control participants with normal face recognition abilities. The face-sensitive N170 component and the vertex positive potential (VPP) were both enhanced and delayed for scrambled as compared to intact faces in the control group. In contrast, N170 and VPP amplitude enhancements to scrambled faces were absent in the DP group. For control participants, the N170 to scrambled faces was also sensitive to feature locations, with larger and delayed N170 components contralateral to the side where all features appeared in a non-canonical position. No such differences were present in the DP group. These findings suggest that spatial templates of the prototypical feature locations within an upright face are selectively impaired in DP.
- Published
- 2015
18. Early stages of perceptual face processing are confined to the contralateral hemisphere: Evidence from the N170 component
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John Towler and Martin Eimer
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,genetic structures ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,Functional Laterality ,psyc ,Visual processing ,Young Adult ,Face perception ,Perception ,Component (UML) ,Visual Objects ,medicine ,Humans ,Visual Cortex ,media_common ,computer.programming_language ,Brain Mapping ,Communication ,business.industry ,Functional Neuroimaging ,Electroencephalography ,eye diseases ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Visual cortex ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Face ,Face (geometry) ,Visual Perception ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Female ,Psychology ,business ,Neuroscience ,N2pc ,computer - Abstract
High-level visual object processing is often assumed to be largely position-independent. Here we demonstrate that when faces and non-face objects simultaneously appear in opposite visual hemifields, the face-sensitive N170 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) is exclusively generated in the contralateral hemisphere. The effects of face inversion on N170 amplitudes and latencies also show strong contralateral biases. These results reveal that retinotopic biases in low-level visual cortex extend well into category-selective high-level vision. We suggest that the contralateral organisation of face-sensitive visual processing results from generic competitive interactions between hemispheres during the simultaneous perception of visual objects.
- Published
- 2015
19. Simulations and games
- Author
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Jonathan Lean, Caroline Abbey, Michael John Towler, and Jonathan Moizer
- Subjects
Typology ,021110 strategic, defence & security studies ,Higher education ,business.industry ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Teaching method ,05 social sciences ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,050301 education ,02 engineering and technology ,Public relations ,Education ,Promotion (rank) ,Resource (project management) ,Extant taxon ,Perception ,Pedagogy ,Institution ,business ,Psychology ,0503 education ,media_common - Abstract
This article explores the use of simulations and games in tertiary education. It examines the extent to which academics use different simulation-based teaching approaches and how they perceive the barriers to adopting such techniques. Following a review of the extant literature, a typology of simulations is constructed. A staff survey within a UK higher education (HE) institution is conducted to investigate the use of the different approaches identified within the typology. The findings show significant levels of use of both computer and non-computer-based simulations and games. The main barrier to teaching with simulations, as perceived by the respondents, is the availability of resources. However, further analysis indicates that use of simulations is not associated with perceptions of resource issues, but rather is influenced by views on the suitability of, and risk attached to, such learning methods. The study concludes by recommending improved promotion of simulation-based teaching through enhanced information provision on the various techniques available and their application across subject areas.
- Published
- 2006
20. Isolation techniques for long‐term bistability of the bistable twisted nematic mode
- Author
-
N. J. Smith, Michael John Towler, and E. J. Acosta
- Subjects
Materials science ,Liquid-crystal display ,Bistability ,business.industry ,Mode (statistics) ,General Chemistry ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Term (time) ,law.invention ,Liquid crystal ,law ,Metastability ,Isolation techniques ,Optoelectronics ,General Materials Science ,business - Abstract
Low power, storage liquid crystal displays are of interest in the foreseeable future in portable applications. The use of a bistable twisted namatic (BTN) mode in a true storage device requires long term bistability of its operating states since it is intrinsically a metastable device. Two novel isolation techniques are described and demonstrated to isolate and stabilize the operating states in a BTN device. Existing limitations are highlighted and further areas for research suggested.
- Published
- 2006
21. Storage Addressing Scheme for the Bistable Twisted Nematic Mode
- Author
-
E. J. Acosta, P. Bonnett, and Michael John Towler
- Subjects
Scheme (programming language) ,Physics ,Liquid-crystal display ,Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) ,Bistability ,business.industry ,Video rate ,ComputingMethodologies_IMAGEPROCESSINGANDCOMPUTERVISION ,General Engineering ,Mode (statistics) ,General Physics and Astronomy ,GeneralLiterature_MISCELLANEOUS ,Computer Science::Other ,law.invention ,Condensed Matter::Soft Condensed Matter ,Optics ,law ,Liquid crystal ,business ,computer ,ComputingMethodologies_COMPUTERGRAPHICS ,computer.programming_language - Abstract
Earlier works have discussed addressing schemes for switching Bistable twisted nematic (BTN) liquid crystal displays (LCD) with continued refresh, for video rate displays. This paper presents a novel storage-addressing scheme for the BTN mode.
- Published
- 2006
22. Nucleation of the pi-cell operating state: a comparison of techniques
- Author
-
C. Tombling, R. Winlow, M. D. Tillin, H. G. Walton, E. J. Acosta, Michael John Towler, B. Henley, E. Walton, and D. Kean
- Subjects
Work (thermodynamics) ,Liquid-crystal display ,Materials science ,law ,Liquid crystal ,Chemical physics ,Nucleation ,General Materials Science ,General Chemistry ,State (computer science) ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Low voltage ,law.invention - Abstract
It is well known that the operating state (e.g. bend or V state) of a pi-cell must be nucleated prior to operation. For direct view liquid crystal display applications, such as direct view TV, low voltage nucleation of the operating state is necessary. A brief description of existing nucleation techniques is presented, followed by a detailed consideration of three low voltage nucleation techniques. The concept behind these techniques and their observed performance is described. Possible areas for further work are included.
- Published
- 2004
23. Normal perception of Mooney faces in developmental prosopagnosia: Evidence from the N170 component and rapid neural adaptation
- Author
-
Bradley Duchaine, John Towler, Martin Eimer, and Angela Gosling
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Adaptation (eye) ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,050105 experimental psychology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Young Adult ,0302 clinical medicine ,Discrimination, Psychological ,Neurological Damage ,Face perception ,Perception ,medicine ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,media_common ,Aged ,05 social sciences ,Neural adaptation ,Normal perception ,Middle Aged ,Adaptation, Physiological ,body regions ,Prosopagnosia ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Face (geometry) ,Face ,Gestalt psychology ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Female ,Psychology ,Facial Recognition ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Photic Stimulation ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) have a severe difficulty recognizing the faces of known individuals in the absence of any history of neurological damage. These recognition problems may be linked to selective deficits in the holistic/configural processing of faces. We used two-tone Mooney images to study the processing of faces versus non-face objects in DP when it is based on holistic information (or the facial gestalt) in the absence of obvious local cues about facial features. A rapid adaptation procedure was employed for a group of 16 DPs. Naturalistic photographs of upright faces were preceded by upright or inverted Mooney faces or by Mooney houses. DPs showed face-sensitive N170 components in response to Mooney faces versus houses, and N170 amplitude reductions for inverted as compared to upright Mooney faces. They also showed the typical pattern of N170 adaptation effects, with reduced N170 components when upright naturalistic test faces were preceded by upright Mooney faces, demonstrating that the perception of Mooney and naturalistic faces recruits shared neural populations. Our findings demonstrate that individuals with DP can utilize global information about face configurations for categorical discriminations between faces and non-face objects, and suggest that face processing deficits emerge primarily at more fine-grained higher level stages of face perception.
- Published
- 2014
24. On the response speed of pi-cells
- Author
-
Michael John Towler and H. G. Walton
- Subjects
Physics ,Condensed matter physics ,business.industry ,General Chemistry ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Surface mode ,Symmetry (physics) ,Switching time ,Optics ,Liquid crystal ,General Materials Science ,Dielectric anisotropy ,business ,Equations for a falling body - Abstract
We discuss the role of the Miesowicz viscosities on director reorientation in pi-cells, showing that the symmetry of this system allows for a simplification of the dynamical equations. We consider practical aspects of material optimisation for increased pi-cell switching speed. We make an observation regarding the switching speeds of positive and negative dielectric anisotropy surface mode devices.
- Published
- 2000
25. Periodic Layer Slipping in a Sheared Smectic A Cell
- Author
-
Michael John Towler, Nigel J. Mottram, S. J. Elston, and Timothy J. Sluckin
- Subjects
Condensed Matter::Soft Condensed Matter ,Optics ,Shear (geology) ,Condensed matter physics ,Liquid crystal ,Chemistry ,business.industry ,Numerical analysis ,Condensed Matter Physics ,First order ,business ,Slipping - Abstract
In this paper we present a theoretical analysis of shear induced melting in smectic A liquid crystals. We have performed a detailed numerical analysis and find that for a range of parameter values a first order transition, from a supersheared state to a more relaxed state, is periodically encountered as the total shear is increased. This first order transition involves the melting and reformation of the smectic layers. In this paper we present a summary of this analysis while a more detailed analysis, including analytic expressions for certain critical quantities, is presented elsewhere.
- Published
- 2000
26. The role of surface tilt in the operation of pi-cell liquid crystal devices
- Author
-
E. J. Acosta, Michael John Towler, and H. G. Walton
- Subjects
Surface (mathematics) ,Liquid crystal devices ,Materials science ,business.industry ,General Chemistry ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Relative stability ,Optics ,Tilt (optics) ,Liquid crystal ,Pi ,Optoelectronics ,General Materials Science ,business ,Growth speed - Abstract
The role of surface tilt in the operation of pi-cells (OCB) is discussed. We show the effect of tilt on the relative stability of the H and V states, the switching characteristics and the domain growth speed. We further study the effects of temperature and cell thickness on the domain growth.
- Published
- 2000
27. Numerical analysis of nematic liquid crystal alignment on asymmetric surface grating structures
- Author
-
V. C. Hui, Michael John Towler, Guy Peter Bryan-Brown, and Carl V. Brown
- Subjects
Surface (mathematics) ,Materials science ,Condensed matter physics ,Field (physics) ,business.industry ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Degenerate energy levels ,Anchoring ,General Chemistry ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Asymmetry ,Condensed Matter::Soft Condensed Matter ,Optics ,Tilt (optics) ,Liquid crystal ,General Materials Science ,business ,Groove (music) ,media_common - Abstract
The influence of an asymmetric periodic grooved cell surface on the 2D static director configuration of a nematic liquid crystal has been investigated. The minimum in the Frank-Oseen free energy was solved numerically with the Rapini-Papoular form of the surface anchoring energy at the nematic-grating interface. Results are presented for the variation of pretilt angle in the tilted bulk director field as a function of the surface groove depth, pitch and asymmetry and the bulk parameters. The simulations demonstrate the existence of two energetically degenerate high and low pretilted bulk alignment configurations. The pretilt values in these two regimes and also for the low tilt regime with finite surface anchoring are consistent with experimental results. An effective increase in the resolution of the model is obtained by using an irregular grid to describe the surface profile.
- Published
- 2000
28. Permeative flow and the compatability of smectic C zig-zag defects with compressive and dilative regions
- Author
-
P. A. Gass, Michael John Towler, Iain W. Stewart, H. G. Walton, and D. C. Ulrich
- Subjects
Materials science ,Zigzag ,Flow (mathematics) ,Condensed matter physics ,Liquid crystal ,General Materials Science ,General Chemistry ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Layer (electronics) ,Lightning - Abstract
Mukai and Nakagawa have predicted that hairpin and lightning defects correspond to compressive and dilative regions in the smetic C layer structure. Walton et al. have previously used the Helfrich-...
- Published
- 2000
29. Switching and induced flow effects in chiral smectic C liquid crystals
- Author
-
Frank M. Leslie, George I. Blake, and Michael John Towler
- Subjects
Condensed Matter::Soft Condensed Matter ,Materials science ,Flow (mathematics) ,Liquid crystal ,Chemical physics ,Applied Mathematics - Abstract
We consider a chiral smectic C liquid crystal confined between parallel plates in the bookshelf geometry. Using a recently proposed continuum theory for such materials the behaviour of the cell is discussed when an electric field is applied and subsequently removed from the cell. We examine both symmetric and asymmetric boundary conditions for the director.
- Published
- 1997
30. On the measurement of switching parameters of ferroelectric liquid crystal devices: A new method for material assessment
- Author
-
Michael John Towler, I. C. Sage, H. M. Crowther, T. J. Phillips, and T. F. Waterworth
- Subjects
Liquid crystal devices ,Materials science ,business.industry ,Ac field ,Thermodynamics ,Function (mathematics) ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Ferroelectricity ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Optics ,Liquid crystal ,Commutation ,business ,Analytic function - Abstract
A new method is proposed to assess the switching characteristics of chiral Smectic C mixtures. In this method the minimum in the τ-V curve (Vmin) is measured as a function of the stabilizing AC field and is fitted to an approximate analytical function derived from the uniform switching model of Towler et al. This procedure provides a value for Vmin at infinite AC field stabilization, which gives a cell-independent quantity, allowing improved comparison between materials.
- Published
- 1995
31. The effect of an electric field on a homeotropically aligned smectic C liquid crystal
- Author
-
J. R. Sambles, Michael John Towler, and Lizhen Ruan
- Subjects
Permittivity ,Materials science ,Condensed matter physics ,Field (physics) ,business.industry ,General Chemistry ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Condensed Matter::Soft Condensed Matter ,Tilt (optics) ,Optics ,Liquid crystal ,Electric field ,General Materials Science ,Ligand cone angle ,business ,Excitation ,Voltage - Abstract
A homeotropically aligned layer of smectic C liquid crystal has been studied using optical excitation of half leaky guided modes. Under the application of an AC voltage, the director configuration changes over a time-scale of the order of seconds. Fitting model results to the recorded angle dependent reflectivity data indicates firstly a change of tilt angle of the primary director, suggesting perhaps a layer tilt, and secondly a reduction of the imaginary part of the optical permittivity, implying a suppression of fluctuations. There is no evidence for a Helfrich-like deformation in the liquid crystal layer. Detailed analysis finally shows that the results are correctly interpreted as an increase in cone angle, not layer tilt, with field. Then from the fitted data, the change of tilt angle with field is obtained and hence information on the mean-field theory parameters.
- Published
- 1995
32. The face-sensitive N170 component in developmental prosopagnosia
- Author
-
Angela Gosling, John Towler, Martin Eimer, and Bradley Duchaine
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Statistics as Topic ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Audiology ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,Facial recognition system ,Developmental psychology ,Visual processing ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Young Adult ,Neurological Damage ,Face perception ,medicine ,Humans ,Aged ,Brain Mapping ,Age Factors ,Electroencephalography ,Recognition, Psychology ,Middle Aged ,Visual cognition ,body regions ,Prosopagnosia ,Pattern Recognition, Visual ,Face (geometry) ,Face ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Component (group theory) ,Female ,Psychology ,Photic Stimulation - Abstract
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) show severe face recognition deficits in the absence of any history of neurological damage. To examine the time-course of face processing in DP, we measured the face-sensitive N170 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) in a group of 16 participants with DP and 16 age-matched control participants. Reliable enhancements of N170 amplitudes in response to upright faces relative to houses were found for the DP group. This effect was equivalent in size to the effect observed for controls, demonstrating normal face-sensitivity of the N170 component in DP. Face inversion enhanced N170 amplitudes in the control group, but not for DPs, suggesting that many DPs do not differentiate between upright and inverted faces in the typical manner. These N170 face inversion effects were present for younger but not older controls, while they were absent for both younger and older DPs. Results suggest that the early face-sensitivity of visual processing is preserved in most individuals with DP, but that the face processing system in many DPs is not selectively tuned to the canonical upright orientation of faces.
- Published
- 2012
33. Electrophysiological studies of face processing in developmental prosopagnosia: Neuropsychological and neurodevelopmental perspectives
- Author
-
Martin Eimer and John Towler
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Visual perception ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Electroencephalography ,Audiology ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,Facial recognition system ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,Functional neuroimaging ,Face perception ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,medicine ,Semantic memory ,Humans ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Functional Neuroimaging ,Neuropsychology ,Brain ,Recognition, Psychology ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,Prosopagnosia ,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology ,Pattern Recognition, Visual ,Covert ,Visual Perception ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Psychology ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
People with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) show severe face-recognition deficits that typically emerge during childhood without history of neurological damage. We review findings from recent event-related brain potential (ERP) studies of face perception and face recognition in DP. The generic face-sensitivity of the N170 component is present in most DPs, suggesting rapid category-selective streaming of facial information. In contrast, DPs show atypical N170 face inversion effects, indicative of impaired structural encoding, specifically for upright faces. In line with neurodevelopmental accounts of DP, these effects are similar to those observed for other developmental disorders, as well as for younger children and older adults. Identity-sensitive ERP components (N250, P600f) triggered during successful face recognition are similar for DPs and control participants, indicating that the same mechanisms are active in both groups. The presence of covert face-recognition effects for the N250 component suggests that visual face memory and semantic memory can become disconnected in some individuals with DP. The implications of these results for neuropsychological and neurodevelopmental perspectives on DP are discussed.
- Published
- 2012
34. Response of face-selective brain regions to trustworthiness and gender of faces
- Author
-
John Towler, Timothy J. Andrews, Andrew W. Young, Giulia Mattavelli, Aziz Asghar, Mattavelli, G, Andrews, T, Asghar, A, Towler, J, and Young, A
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Adolescent ,Face perception ,Cognitive Neuroscience ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Trust ,Amygdala ,Developmental psychology ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Judgment ,Young Adult ,Neuroimaging ,medicine ,Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ,Humans ,Set (psychology) ,Social Behavior ,Trustworthiness ,Neuropsychology ,Brain ,Gender Identity ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,Temporal Lobe ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Variation (linguistics) ,Face (geometry) ,Face ,Optimal distinctiveness theory ,Female ,Occipital Lobe ,Cues ,Psychology ,Face-se-ective region ,Photic Stimulation ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have demonstrated a role for the amygdala in processing the perceived trustworthiness of faces, but it remains uncertain whether its responses are linear (with the greatest response to the least trustworthy-looking faces), or quadratic (with increased fMRI signal for the dimension extremes). It is also unclear whether the trustworthiness of the stimuli is crucial or if the same response pattern can be found for faces varying along other dimensions. In addition, the responses to perceived trustworthiness of face-selective regions other than the amygdala are seldom reported. The present study addressed these issues using a novel set of stimuli created through computer image-manipulation both to maximise the presence of naturally occurring cues that underpin trustworthiness judgments and to allow systematic manipulation of these cues. With a block-design fMRI paradigm, we investigated neural responses to computer-manipulated trustworthiness in the amygdala and core face-selective regions in the occipital and temporal lobes. We asked whether the activation pattern is specific for differences in trustworthiness or whether it would also track variation along an orthogonal male-female gender dimension. The main findings were quadratic responses to changes in both trustworthiness and gender in all regions. These results are consistent with the idea that face-responsive brain regions are sensitive to face distinctiveness as well as the social meaning of the face features. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
- Published
- 2011
35. Fast, high-contrast ferroelectric liquid crystal displays and the role of dielectric biaxiality
- Author
-
J. R. Hughes, Michael John Towler, and John Clifford Jones
- Subjects
High contrast ,Materials science ,Liquid-crystal display ,business.industry ,Dielectric ,Polarization (waves) ,Ferroelectricity ,Multiplexing ,law.invention ,Human-Computer Interaction ,Optics ,Hardware and Architecture ,law ,Liquid crystal ,Optoelectronics ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,Material properties ,business - Abstract
The operation of ferroelectric liquid crystal displays depends strongly on the material properties and the electrical addressing method. Fast, high-contrast displays with high levels of multiplexing and wide operating ranges are possible using materials showing a minimum in their response time-voltage characteristic operated with JOERS/Alvety and related drive schemes. These utilize materials with significant dielectric biaxialities and relatively low values of the ferroelectric polarization so that a minimum is observed in the switching characteristic. The route for material improvement is explored.
- Published
- 1993
36. The effect of the biaxial permittivity tensor and tilted layer geometries on the switching of ferroelectric liquid crystals
- Author
-
John Clifford Jones, E. P. Raynes, and Michael John Towler
- Subjects
Permittivity ,Materials science ,Condensed matter physics ,business.industry ,General Chemistry ,Dielectric ,Physics::Classical Physics ,Condensed Matter::Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Ferroelectricity ,Condensed Matter::Soft Condensed Matter ,Switching time ,Condensed Matter::Materials Science ,Tilt (optics) ,Optics ,Liquid crystal ,General Materials Science ,Tensor ,business ,Voltage - Abstract
Using a simple uniform switching model, we investigate the behaviour of the voltage dependent switching time of surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals as a function of the biaxial permittivity tensor and the layer tilt angle. We show that the dielectric biaxiality can markedly effect the response time (τ) of the device and is the origin of the minimum in τ as a function of voltage (V) in tilted layer systems. The dielectric biaxiality should, therefore, be optimized for multiplexing schemes which use the τ—V minimum.
- Published
- 1992
37. The 'JOERS/Alvey' ferroelectric multiplexing scheme
- Author
-
William A. Crossland, Michael John Towler, I. Coulson, P. J. Ayliffe, P. W. H. Surguy, P. W. Ross, J. R. Hughes, M. J. Birch, F. C. Saunders, and M. F. Bone
- Subjects
Materials science ,Liquid-crystal display ,Response time ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Ferroelectricity ,Multiplexing ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,law.invention ,Alvey ,law ,Monopulse radar ,Electronic engineering ,Contrast ratio ,Voltage - Abstract
Ferroelectric liquid crystal displays offer an attractive matrix addressed alternative for complex displays. However, their potential can only be realised by using novel addressing schemes suitable for the fast responding, DC sensitive, ferroelectric electro-optic effect. Over a period of several years, a high performance, novel, ferroelectric drive scheme1 has been developed in a UK, JOERS/Alvey funded, collaborative programme. The JOERS/Alvey drive scheme is based on monopulse strobe waveforms2,3,4 and utilises the response time - voltage minimum5,6 found in certain materials. Using this novel drive scheme, complex ferroelectric displays with a high contrast ratio, wide operating range and fast addressing times have been made7,8,9,10 The JOERS/Alvey drive scheme is described, compared with other published drive schemes, and the operating principles discussed.
- Published
- 1991
38. Optical studies of thin layers of smectic C materials
- Author
-
Michael John Towler, E. P. Raynes, Marie Harper Anderson, and John Clifford Jones
- Subjects
Thin layers ,Materials science ,Bistability ,business.industry ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Ferroelectricity ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Transmission properties ,Wavelength ,Optics ,Optical modulator ,Liquid crystal ,Optoelectronics ,business - Abstract
Surface stabilised ferroelectric liquid crystals (SSFLC) provide fast, bistable, optical modulators suitable for display and other applications. The effect of surface alignments and the resulting director profiles are not fully understood, but can be probed by studying the wavelength dependent optical transmission properties. 5° and 30° evaporated SiO alignments are investigated and it is shown that the surface pretilt affects markedly the director profile.
- Published
- 1991
39. The importance of dielectric biaxiality for ferroelectric liquid crystal devices
- Author
-
Michael John Towler, E. P. Raynes, and John Clifford Jones
- Subjects
Maxima and minima ,Condensed Matter::Materials Science ,Liquid crystal devices ,Materials science ,Condensed matter physics ,Liquid crystal ,Ac field ,Response time ,Dielectric ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Ferroelectricity ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Voltage - Abstract
The dielectric biaxiality of SCE13, a commercially available ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) mixture, has been measured. The results have been used to compare theoretically predicted AC field stabilization effects and the voltages for response time minima with experiment.
- Published
- 1991
40. Optical studies of high tilt SiO aligned thin layers of smectic C materials
- Author
-
Marie Harper Anderson, John Clifford Jones, Michael John Towler, and E. P. Raynes
- Subjects
Materials science ,Thin layers ,business.industry ,General Chemistry ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Wavelength ,Tilt (optics) ,Optics ,Extinction (optical mineralogy) ,Liquid crystal ,Chevron (geology) ,General Materials Science ,business ,Layer (electronics) - Abstract
In thin layers of aligned smectic C materials, the balance between surface and bulk elastic forces within the confine of the chevron layer geometry led to the proposal for a triangular director profile (TDP), and an understanding of the director profile in parallel aligned low tilt cells. We have measured the wavelength dependent extinction angles of high tilt cells fabricated using 5° SiO alignment, and offer a qualitative explanation based on the TDP. We conclude that the differences in the extinction angles at wavelengths around λ = Δd are a useful probe of the SC director profile.
- Published
- 1991
41. Dielectric Biaxiality in SCHost Systems
- Author
-
E. P. Raynes, Michael John Towler, J. R. Sambles, and John Clifford Jones
- Subjects
Condensed Matter::Materials Science ,Crystallography ,Planar ,Materials science ,Condensed matter physics ,Liquid crystal ,Phase (matter) ,Relaxation (NMR) ,Physics::Optics ,Ligand cone angle ,Dielectric ,Ferroelectricity ,Voltage - Abstract
AC field stabilisation of ferroelectric SC* liquid crystals with the chevron layer geometry requires that there is a significant dielectric biaxiality.1,2 To investigate this, the electric permittivities of an SC host mixture based on the phenyl pyrimidines and exhibiting an N-SA-SC phase sequence are reported. A large relaxation of e∥ occurred, which caused a sign reversal of the dielectric anisotropy with a crossover frequency of 25 kHz at 25°C. The host electro-optic behaviour was then characterised using extinction angle measurements as a function of applied voltage at frequencies corresponding to Δ≈ > 0, Δe ≈ 0 and δe < 0, and the results explained using a tilted layer model with a biaxial dielectric tensor. The magnitude of the SC dielectric biaxiality, the layer tilt angle in the planar homogeneous geometry and the cone angle are determined. Measurements for several other hosts commonly used in commercial FLC mixtures are reported and it is shown that in each case the dielectric biaxiality...
- Published
- 1991
42. Optical studies of thin layers of smectic-C materials
- Author
-
Marie Harper Anderson, Michael John Towler, John Clifford Jones, and E. P. Raynes
- Subjects
Surface (mathematics) ,Thin layers ,Acoustics and Ultrasonics ,Condensed matter physics ,Chemistry ,business.industry ,Analyser ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Ferroelectricity ,Surfaces, Coatings and Films ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Condensed Matter::Soft Condensed Matter ,Optics ,Simple (abstract algebra) ,Liquid crystal ,Chevron (geology) ,business ,Layer (electronics) - Abstract
The optical behaviour of surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal samples cannot be described using a uniform director profile. The simplest model based on the chevron layer structure and the surface alignment is a triangular director profile. Analytical expressions for the resulting transmitted light were calculated using the Jones matrix formalism and fitted to experimental data results of a smectic-C host made using an optical multichannel analyser (OMA). This simple model gives an excellent fit, with results that are consistent with X-ray measurements of the chevron structure.
- Published
- 1991
43. Switching behaviour of Sc*liquid crystals
- Author
-
F. C. Saunders, J. R. Hughes, and Michael John Towler
- Subjects
Switching time ,Materials science ,Condensed matter physics ,Liquid crystal ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Electric field ,Nanotechnology ,Monotonic function ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Asymmetry ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Voltage ,media_common - Abstract
The ‘anomalous’ switching behaviour of Sc * liquid crystals has been reported both theoretically and experimentally. These FLCs show a minimum in switching time (τ) at sufficiently high fields. Although in many cases the simple uniform switching model successfully predicts the electric field for which τ attains a minimum, for other materials the switching time is found to decrease monotonically with increasing applied voltage. We discuss the inadequacies of the uniform switching model and then proceed to describe our early attempts to develop a non-uniform model. We consider the E-field variation through the cell and also the effect of introducing asymmetry into the system. At all times we use the bookshelf geometry.
- Published
- 1991
44. The focus of spatial attention determines the number and quality of individual faces retained in working memory
- Author
-
John Towler and Martin Eimer
- Subjects
Ophthalmology ,Focus (computing) ,Working memory ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Quality (business) ,Psychology ,Sensory Systems ,Cognitive psychology ,media_common - Published
- 2015
45. Simulation Modeling in the Development of Flight Procedures and Airport Standards
- Author
-
David Anderson, Jerry Robinson, John Towler, Donald Pate, Stephen Barnes, Lynn Boniface, David Lankford, George Legarreta, Gerry McCartor, Erwin Lassooij, Edward Bailey, and Rene Putters
- Subjects
Government ,Engineering ,Development (topology) ,Aeronautics ,Scope (project management) ,business.industry ,Research community ,Flight inspection ,Simulation modeling ,Systems engineering ,business ,Aerospace - Abstract
This paper will describe areas where there has been government and industry cooperation in the development of new simulation modeling tools that are being applied in the development of flight procedures and airport standards. This paper will provide information on where there has been successful application of some of these tools to design problems that are international and domestic in scope and where there are needs for further development and application from the aerospace research community.
- Published
- 2005
46. Liquid Crystal Devices
- Author
-
Michael John Towler and Martin David Tillin
- Subjects
chemistry.chemical_compound ,Monomer ,Materials science ,chemistry ,Chemical engineering ,Dopant ,Liquid crystal ,Phase (matter) ,Electrode ,Nucleation ,Ultraviolet light ,Ferroelectricity - Abstract
A mixture of a ferroelectric or anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal material and a monomer having a single photopolymeric functional group is injected in the space between two electrode substrates while heat is applied. After cooling of the mixture it is irradiated with ultraviolet light at a temperature at which the liquid crystal material remains in the smectic phase so as to polymerise the monomer. Areas of liquid crystal material requiring different threshold voltages for switching are thereby produced. Alternatively such areas can be produced by changing the conditions applied to a mixture of liquid crystal material with a suitable dopant so as to cause separation of the dopant out of the liquid crystal material in order to provide a polarity of nucleation points for controlling domain formation within the liquid crystal material. Such control of domain formation can be used to provide greyscale in a liquid crystal device.
- Published
- 2003
47. Shear-induced melting of smectic-A liquid crystals
- Author
-
Steve J. Elston, Timothy J. Sluckin, Nigel J. Mottram, and Michael John Towler
- Subjects
Condensed Matter::Soft Condensed Matter ,Amplitude ,Materials science ,Condensed matter physics ,Shear (geology) ,Liquid crystal ,Statistical physics - Abstract
A numerical and analytical analysis of shear-induced melting in smectic-A liquid crystals is presented. Based on a Landau expansion of the complex smectic order parameter, equations governing the phase and amplitude of the local density modulation are found. Numerically solving these equations indicates that for a range of parameter values a first-order transition, from a shear-stressed to a more relaxed state, is periodically encountered as the total shear is increased. Suitable approximations allow the analytic determination of certain characteristics of this first-order transition.
- Published
- 1999
48. Supervision in Uniformed Settings
- Author
-
John Towler
- Published
- 1998
49. Managing the Counselling Process in Organizations
- Author
-
John Towler
- Subjects
Process management ,Process (engineering) ,Business - Published
- 1997
50. The N250r component indexes holistic perception of individual facial identity
- Author
-
John Towler and Martin Eimer
- Subjects
Ophthalmology ,Perception ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Component (UML) ,Psychology ,Sensory Systems ,Facial identity ,Cognitive psychology ,media_common - Published
- 2013
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