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The late positive potential is associated with serial dependence effects in facial identity

Lidström, Anette LU orcid and Bramão, Inês LU orcid (2026) In Scientific Reports 16(1).
Abstract

The visual system can exploit knowledge about temporal contexts in two ways. Attractive serial dependence (SD) can facilitate stability by biasing current stimulus judgments toward recent stimulus history, while repulsive SD can promote change detection by biasing current judgments away from recent stimulus history. This study investigated the co-occurrence of repulsive and attractive SD across facial identity similarity using electroencephalography. Participants performed a matching task with morphed facial identities at varying visibility levels. Results revealed repulsive SD effects for similar faces and attractive SD effects for dissimilar faces, regardless of visibility. Event-related potential analysis showed no significant... (More)

The visual system can exploit knowledge about temporal contexts in two ways. Attractive serial dependence (SD) can facilitate stability by biasing current stimulus judgments toward recent stimulus history, while repulsive SD can promote change detection by biasing current judgments away from recent stimulus history. This study investigated the co-occurrence of repulsive and attractive SD across facial identity similarity using electroencephalography. Participants performed a matching task with morphed facial identities at varying visibility levels. Results revealed repulsive SD effects for similar faces and attractive SD effects for dissimilar faces, regardless of visibility. Event-related potential analysis showed no significant effects of facial similarity on the N170 and N250, while the Late Positive Potential (LPP) was amplified for dissimilar faces and attenuated for similar faces. Regression analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between the LPP and attractive, but not repulsive, SD effects. Topographical analysis indicated distinct distributions for repulsive and attractive SD effects within the LPP time-window. These findings suggest that the LPP, possibly reflecting attention-dependent comparison processes, is associated with attractive SD in facial identity. Overall, repulsive and attractive SD effects may rely on partially distinct neural generators, indicating that segregation and integration processes in SD are not due to a common underlying mechanism.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Electroencephalography, Event-related potentials, Facial identity, Integration, Segregation, Serial dependence
in
Scientific Reports
volume
16
issue
1
article number
11222
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:41922740
  • scopus:105034959070
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-026-47266-3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026.
id
64867811-233f-49a5-914f-2cb389bd3464
date added to LUP
2026-06-18 11:37:08
date last changed
2026-07-31 21:07:52
@article{64867811-233f-49a5-914f-2cb389bd3464,
  abstract     = {{<p>The visual system can exploit knowledge about temporal contexts in two ways. Attractive serial dependence (SD) can facilitate stability by biasing current stimulus judgments toward recent stimulus history, while repulsive SD can promote change detection by biasing current judgments away from recent stimulus history. This study investigated the co-occurrence of repulsive and attractive SD across facial identity similarity using electroencephalography. Participants performed a matching task with morphed facial identities at varying visibility levels. Results revealed repulsive SD effects for similar faces and attractive SD effects for dissimilar faces, regardless of visibility. Event-related potential analysis showed no significant effects of facial similarity on the N170 and N250, while the Late Positive Potential (LPP) was amplified for dissimilar faces and attenuated for similar faces. Regression analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between the LPP and attractive, but not repulsive, SD effects. Topographical analysis indicated distinct distributions for repulsive and attractive SD effects within the LPP time-window. These findings suggest that the LPP, possibly reflecting attention-dependent comparison processes, is associated with attractive SD in facial identity. Overall, repulsive and attractive SD effects may rely on partially distinct neural generators, indicating that segregation and integration processes in SD are not due to a common underlying mechanism.</p>}},
  author       = {{Lidström, Anette and Bramão, Inês}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  keywords     = {{Electroencephalography; Event-related potentials; Facial identity; Integration; Segregation; Serial dependence}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{The late positive potential is associated with serial dependence effects in facial identity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-47266-3}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-026-47266-3}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}