![]() Cognitive processes are activated by the "face-like" object which alerts the observer to both the emotional state and identity of the subject, even before the conscious mind begins to process or even receive the information. These studies help to explain why people generally identify a few lines and a circle as a "face" so quickly and without hesitation. ![]() These results indicate that the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli depends upon processes similar to those elicited by known objects. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in 2011 similarly showed that repeated presentation of novel visual shapes that were interpreted as meaningful led to decreased fMRI responses for real objects. The authors suggest that face perception evoked by face-like objects is a relatively early process, and not a late cognitive reinterpretation phenomenon. This activation is similar to a slightly faster time (130 ms) that is seen for images of real faces. A 2009 magnetoencephalography study found that objects perceived as faces evoke an early (165 ms) activation of the fusiform face area at a time and location similar to that evoked by faces, whereas other common objects do not evoke such activation. Pareidolia can cause people to interpret random images, or patterns of light and shadow, as faces. ![]() ![]() A simple collection of lines may be quickly perceived as a face, and even be interpreted as expressing a particular emotion
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