Atypical Face Processing following Early Visual Deprivation (1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Is there a critical period for face-expertise development within the first year of life? Discriminating between face and object processing in cases of early visual deprivation.
IRAS ID
208283
Contact name
Grace V Baptie
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Plymouth
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 25 days
Research summary
The current project will be focusing on face and object recognition and processing in cases of early visual deprivation as a result of bilateral congenital cataracts. Individuals would have been born with this condition causing visual impairments during the first few weeks/months of life but would have received restorative surgery during the first year of life to remove the cataracts. Previous research testing visually-restored adults have found that despite a wealth of visual experience following cataract removal, differences in face processing and deficits in face recognition are present. This suggests that typical face expertise requires exposure to faces during the first few weeks of life to provide the foundations for the development of configural processing of faces which is believed to underpin face expertise.
The current project aims to test cataract-reversal patients and has two strands. The first is to determine whether recognition deficits are face-specific or whether deficits can also be seen in tests of object recognition. The second strand aims to identify precisely what deviations of face processing occur in cataract-reversal patients.
The project will contribute to current research into the possibility of a 'critical window' for face processing expertise and will provide additional information on the consequences of congenital cataracts in later life.
The project will involve a series of computerised experiments testing face perception and recognised perception tasks using study materials testing object perception. All experiments will be conducted in Psychology lab rooms on the Plymouth University campus.
The participant sample will be individuals (over the age of 13 years) who were born with cataracts and received restorative surgery during infancy. Data will be compared with visually-typical matched control participants who will be recruited using the University participation pool or through an affiliated secondary school should we require control participants under the age of 18 years.REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SW/0008
Date of REC Opinion
23 Jan 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion