Category specificity of N170 response recovery speeds for faces and Chinese characters

Abstract

Neural selectivity of N170 responses is an important phenomenon in perceptual processing; however, the recovery times of neural selective responses remain unclear. In the present study, we used an adaptation paradigm to test the recovery speeds of N170 responses to faces and Chinese characters. The results showed that recovery of N170 responses elicited by faces occurred between 1400 and 1800 ms after stimuli onset, whereas recovery of N170 responses elicited by Chinese characters occurred between 600 and 800 ms after stimuli onset. These results demonstrate category-specific recovery speeds of N170 responses involved in the processing of faces and Chinese characters.