Revealing the neural representations underlying other-race face perception

Abstract

The other-race effect, a disadvantage at recognizing faces of other races than ones own, has received considerable attention, especially regarding its wide scope and underlying mechanisms. Here, we aim to elucidate its neural and representational basis by relating behavioral performance in East Asian and White individuals to neural decoding and image reconstruction relying on electroencephalography data. Our investigation uncovers a reliable neural counterpart of the other-race effect (i.e., a decoding disadvantage for other-race faces) along with its extended dynamics and prominence across individuals. Further, it retrieves, via neural-based image reconstruction, visual representations underlying other-race face perception and their intrinsic biases. Notably, our data-driven approach reveals that other-race faces are perceived not just as more typical but, also, as younger and more expressive. These findings, pointing to multiple visual biases surrounding the other-race effect, speak to the complexity of its neural mechanisms and its social implications.