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(615) 322-1778
308A Wilson Hall

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Education

Ph.D. Yale University Department of Psychology, 1998

Advising

Isabel Gauthier

David K. Wilson Chair of Psychology
Associate Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences

Gauthier studies visual object recognition, with particular emphasis on the plasticity of recognition mechanisms and their neural substrate. One issue that is of particular interest to her is how the visual system organizes itself into what appears to be category-specific modules. For instance, face recognition is often given as an example of a highly specialized module that may function independently from general object recognition mechanisms. However, faces are among the most visually similar objects that we need to recognize individually and most of us acquire a large amount of expertise in doing so throughout our lives. A diversity of techniques (e.g., expertise training with computer-generated objects, brain-lesion studies, functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments) can be used in order to explore factors that may contribute to the tuning of general mechanisms for the particular problem of face recognition. Current research continues to explore the role of expertise in object recognition, including new lines of research into perceptual expertise with letters and also haptic expertise. Other projects include looking at the role of spatial frequencies in various visual areas involved in object recognition and investigating interactions between the visual and semantic systems.

Lab Website

Representative Publications

  • Bukach, C. M., Bub, D. N., Gauthier, I. & Tarr, M. J. Fine-level discrimination and perceptual expertise in a prosopagnosic subject. Manuscript in preparation.
  • Curby, K.M. & Gauthier, I. Interference between car and face processing depends on car expertise. Manuscript under revision.
  • Gauthier, I. & Curby, K.M. A perceptual traffic-jam on highway N170: interference between face and car expertise. Manuscript under review.
  • Gauthier, I., Curby, K.M. & Epstein, R. Activity of spatial frequency channels in the fusiform face-selective area relates to expertise in car recognition. Manuscript under review.
  • Gauthier, I., Wong, C.-N., Hayward, W. & Cheung, S.-C. Font tuning associated with expertise in letter perception. Manuscript under preparation.
  • Grelotti, D.J., Klin, A. J., Volkmar, F. R., Gauthier, I., Skudlarski, P., Cohen, D.J., Gore, J.C., & Schultz, R.T. FMRI activation of the fusiform gyrus and amygdala to cartoon characters but not faces in a boy with autism. Manuscript under revision.
  • James, K. H., James, T. W., Jobard, G. Wong, C.-N. & Gauthier, I. Letter processing in the visual system: different activation patterns for single letters and strings. Manuscript under review.
  • Rossion B., Gauthier, I., Caldara, R., Schuller, A.-M., Tarr, M.J., Seghier, M., Lazeyras, F. & Mayer, E. Are fusiform face areas necessary to maintain and acquire visual expertise? Evidence from a pure case of prosopagnosia with bilateral occipito-temporal lesions. Manuscript under revision.
  • Wong, C.-N. & Gauthier, I. The basic level as the entry point of expert letter recognition. Manuscript under revision. Articles in Refereed Journals
  • Gauthier, I., Behrmann, M. & Tarr, M. J. (In press). Are Greebles like faces? Using the Neuropsychological exception to test the rule. Neuropsychologia.
  • Curby, K.M., Hayward, W. G. & Gauthier, I. (In press). Laterality effects in the Recognition of Depth Rotated Novel Objects. Cognitive and Affective Behavioral Neuroscience.
  • James, T. W. & Gauthier, I. (2004). Brain areas engaged during visual judgments by involuntary access to semantic information. Vision Research, 44(5): 429-39.
  • James, T. W. & Gauthier, I. (2003). Auditory and action semantic feature types activate sensory-specific perceptual brain regions. Current Biology, 13(20): 1792-6.
  • Gauthier, I., Curran, T., Curby, K.M. & Collins, D. (2003). Perceptual interference evidence for a non-modular account of face processing. Nature Neuroscience, 6: 428-32.
  • Goffaux, V., Gauthier, I., & Rossion, B. (in press). Spatial Scale contribution to early visual differences between face and object processing. Cognitive Brain Research, 16:416-24.
  • Gauthier, I., James, T. W., Curby, K.M. & Tarr, M.J. (2003). The influence of conceptual knowledge on visual discrimination. Cognitive Neuropsychology. 3/4/5/6: 507-523.
  • Gauthier, I., Hayward, W. G., Tarr, M.J (2002). BOLD activity during mental rotation and viewpoint-dependent object recognition. Neuron. 34:161-171.
  • Gauthier, I., & Tarr, M. J. (2002). Unraveling mechanisms for expert object recognition: Bridging brain activity and behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. 28(2):431-446.
  • Grelotti, D., Gauthier, I., Schultz, R. T. (2002). Social interest and the development of cortical face specialization: what autism teaches us about face processing. Developmental Psychobiology 40(30):13-25.
  • Rossion, B., Gauthier, I. (2002). How does the brain process upright and inverted faces? Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews. 1(1):63-75.
  • Rossion, B., Gauthier, I., Goffaux, V., Tarr, M.J., Crommelinck, M. (2002). Expertise training with novel objects leads to left lateralized face-like electrophysiological responses. Psychological Science. 13(3):250-57.
  • Gauthier, I., Logothetis (2000). Is face recognition not so unique after all? Cognitive Neuropsychology. 17(1/2/3), 125-142.
  • Gauthier, I., Skudlarski, P., Gore, J.C., & Anderson, A. W. (2000). Expertise for cars and birds recruits brain areas involved in face recognition. Nature Neuroscience, 3(2): 191-197.
  • Gauthier, I., Tarr, M. J., Moylan, J., Skudlarski, P., Gore, J.C. & Anderson, A.W., (2000). The fusiform "face area" is part of a network that processes faces at the individual level. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 12(3): 495-504.
  • Gauthier, I., Tarr, M. J., Moylan, J., Anderson, A.W., Skudlarski, P. & Gore J.C. (2000). Does visual subordinate-level categorization engage the functionally defined fusiform face area? Cognitive Neuropsychology, 17(1/2/3), 143-163.
  • Rossion, B., Gauthier, I., Tarr, M.J., Despland, P., Bruyer, R, Linotte, S., Crommelinck, M. (2000). The N170 occipito-temporal component is delayed and enhanced to inverted faces but not to inverted objects: an electrophysiological account of face-specific processes in the human brain. Neuroreport. 11(1): 69-74.
  • Schultz, R.T., Gauthier, I., Klin A., Fulbright, R., Anderson, A., Volkmar, F., Skudlarski, P., Lacadie, C., Cohen, D.J., Gore, J.C. (2000). Abnormal Ventral Temporal Cortical Activity among Individuals with Autism and Asperger Syndrome during Face Discrimination. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57: 331-340.
  • Tarr, M. J., & Gauthier, I., (2000). FFA: A flexible fusiform area for subordinate-level visual processing automatized by expertise. Nature Neuroscience, 3(8), 764-769.
  • Gauthier, I., Behrmann, M., & Tarr, M. J. (1999). Can face recognition really be dissociated from object recognition? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 11, 349-370.
  • Gauthier, I., Tarr, M.J., Anderson A.W., Skudlarski, P. & Gore, J. C. (1999). Activation of the middle fusiform 'face area' increases with expertise recognizing novel objects. Nature Neuroscience, 2(6):568-573.
  • Gauthier, I., Williams, P., Tarr, M. J., & Tanaka, J. (1998). Training "Greeble" experts: A framework for studying expert object recognition processes. Vision Research, 38, 2401-2428.
  • Tarr, M.J., & Gauthier, I., (1998). Do viewpoint-dependent mechanisms generalize across members of a class? Cognition, 67, 71-108.
  • Tarr., M. J., Williams, P., Hayward, W. G., & Gauthier, I., (1998). Three-dimensional object recognition is viewpoint dependent. Nature Neuroscience, 1(4), 275-277.
  • Gauthier, I., Anderson, A.W., Tarr, M.J., Skudlarski, P., & Gore, J.C. (1997). Levels of categorization in visual recognition studied with functional MRI. Current Biology, 7, 645-651. Gauthier, I., & Tarr, M.J. (1997). Becoming a "Greeble" expert: Exploring mechanisms for face recognition, Vision Research, 37(12), 1673-1682.
  • Gauthier, I., & Tarr, M.J. (1997). Orientation priming of novel shapes in the context of viewpoint-dependent recognition, Perception, 26(1), 51-73. Invited Commentary and Reviews:
  • Palmeri, T. J., Wong, A. C.-N., Gauthier, I. (In press). Computational approaches to the development of perceptual expertise, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
  • Gauthier, I. & Curby, K.M., (In press). A Perceptual Traffic-Jam on Highway N170: Interference between face and car expertise. Current Directions in Psychological Science. (peer reviewed).
  • Palmeri, T. J. Gauthier, I. (2004). Visual Object Understanding. Invited Review (peer reviewed). Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5, 291-303.
  • Rossion, B., Curran, T., Gauthier, I. (2002). A defense of the subordinate level-expertise account for the N170 component. Commentary. Cognition 85(2):189-196.
  • Gauthier, I., & Nelson, C. (2001). The development of face expertise, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.11:219-224.
  • Gauthier, I., (2000). Visual Priming: The ups and downs of familiarity. Current Biology, 10: R753-756.
  • Gauthier, I., (2000). What constrains the organization of ventral temporal cortex?, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4(1):1-2.
  • Williams, P., Gauthier, I., & Tarr, M. J. (1998). Feature learning during the acquisition of perceptual expertise. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21 (1), 40-41. Book Chapters
  • Gauthier, I., (2002) Face expertise ad category specialization in the human occipitotemporal cortex. In: The Primate Visual System, Kaas, J.H. & Collins, C.E. (Eds), CRC Press. In Press.
  • Viele, K., Kass, R. E., Tarr, M.J., Behrmann, M. & Gauthier, I. (2002) Recognition of faces versus Greebles: A case study in model selection. In: Case Studies in Bayesian Statistics, Volume VI., pp. 91-133. Gatsonis, C., Kass, R. E., Carriquiry, A., Gelman, A., Higdon, D., Pauler, D. K., & Verdinelli, I. (Eds), Springer-Verlag, New York.
  • Tanaka, J. W., & Gauthier, I., (1997). Expertise in object and face recognition. Mechanisms of Perceptual Learning, Vol.36 (eds. Medin, Goldstone & Schyns), 83-125.
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