Representational dynamics of the main dimensions of object space: Face/body
selectivity aligns temporally with animal taxonomy but not with animacy
#MMPMID41182013
Leys G
; Chen CY
; von Leupoldt A
; Ritchie JB
; Op de Beeck H
J Vis
2025[Nov]; 25
(13
): 2
PMID41182013
show ga
Object representations are organized according to multiple dimensions, with an
important role for the distinction between animate and inanimate objects and for
selectivity for faces versus bodies. For other dimensions, questions remain how
they stand relative to these two primary dimensions. One such dimension is a
graded selectivity for the taxonomic level that an animal belongs to. Earlier
research suggested that animacy can be understood as a graded selectivity for
animal taxonomy, although a recent functional magnetic resonance imaging study
suggested that taxonomic effects are instead due to face/body selectivity. Here
we investigated the temporal profile at which these distinctions emerge with
multivariate electroencephalography (N = 25), using a stimulus set that
dissociates taxonomy from face/body selectivity and from animacy as a binary
distinction. Our findings reveal a very similar temporal profile for taxonomy and
face/body selectivity with a peak around 150 ms. The binary animacy distinction
has a more continuous and delayed temporal profile. These findings strengthen the
conclusion that effects of animal taxonomy are in large part due to face/body
selectivity, whereas selectivity for animate versus inanimate objects is delayed
when it is dissociated from these other dimensions.
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