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Sketchpad Series 

Neural Signatures of False and Veridical Remembering for Faces Shared by Perceptual and Semantic Similarity: A Preliminary fMRI Study

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Asa Umeda¹ (), Akiho Kamo¹, Takashi Tsukiura¹; ¹Kyoto University

False remembering of faces is often induced by similarity between studied targets and unstudied lures. Prior fMRI studies have linked perceptual features of faces to the occipital/fusiform face areas (OFA/FFA) and semantic features of faces to the anterior temporal lobe (ATL). However, it remains unclear how these neocortical systems interact with the medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions during false remembering of faces. We analyzed preliminary data from healthy young adults performing an old/new recognition test for faces. Retrieval trials were categorized as Targets, lures sharing both perceptual and semantic similarity with their corresponding targets (PS-lures), lures sharing perceptual similarity only (P-lures), and lures lacking both forms of similarity (N-lures). Univariate contrasts comparing “old” versus “new” responses were computed separately for each condition. Significant activation in MTL and FFA was observed across all four conditions. In contrast, ATL activation emerged selectively for Targets. These preliminary results suggest that FFA responses to perceptual features contribute to both veridical recognition and false recognition, whereas ATL responses to semantic features are more tightly coupled to veridical remembering. Ongoing analyses will test these hypotheses at the representational and network levels by (i) using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to quantify target–lure representational difference within FFA, ATL, and MTL, and (ii) using condition-specific functional connectivity to assess interactions among these regions. Taken together, this sketchpad report outlines a working model in which perceptual similarity engages FFA and MTL mechanisms that support both accurate and illusory remembering, while ATL-mediated semantic representations preferentially support veridical memory for faces.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Episodic