Face Recognition as a Tool in Neuropsychiatric Studies

Faces are capable of accurately indicating information not only about the identity, age, and sex of the individuals with whom they live, but also about their emotional state and intentions. Its recognition is essential in social animals, such as primates, which share the ability to express themselves and perceive emotions through this mechanism that has great adaptive importance. The human being is considered an expert in recognizing conspecific faces and can identify and differentiate innumerable faces throughout life in different contexts. Face recognition and discrimination are relevant skills among human beings. It is essential in multiple aspects of everyday life, such as socialization or when impaired by neurological and mental disorders (e.g., autism, prosopagnosia, and schizophrenia). The natural processing of faces occurs through an integrated analysis of facial features based on specific aspects of the face, such as eyes, nose, and mouth, and also in terms of spatial organization, which researchers name as holistic face processing. This chapter addresses the subject of face recognition from a neuropsychiatric perspective, its state of the art, and the areas of the brain involved in the processing paradigms used for research purposes, presenting itself together with results of studies carried out with humans and other species of nonhuman primates.