Human vision research

The human face conveys a wealth of complex information (e.g., identity, gaze, emotion, gender, etc.) critical for social interactions. Despite face information being conveyed via subtle luminance variations on the retina, its analysis by most human visual systems is fast and accurate.

Our goal is to understand how the human brain solves the complex task of face perception. By means of psychophysical, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging techniques, we explore what, when, and where face information is integrated in the brain to yield rich and complex face percepts.

The lab is part of two research institutes at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL, Belgium): the Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY) and the Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), located respectively in Louvain-la-Neuve and Brussels.

Valérie Goffaux (Principal Investigator)

Mrittika Dey (PhD student)

Marius Grandjean (PhD student)

Publications

2025
- Journal article
  
  Grandjean, Marius ; Louise Kauffmann ; Roux-Sibilon, Alexia ; Goffaux, Valérie. Does radial bias contribute to fast saccades toward faces in the periphery?. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 25, no.14, p. 16 (2025). doi:10.1167/jov.25.14.16.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/308597
- Conference paper
  
  Grandjean, Marius. Does the radial bias affect ultra rapid saccades towards faces in the periphery?. GDR Vision Forum 2025 (Louvain-la-Neuve, du 30/01/2025 au 31/01/2025).
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/298668
2024
- Journal article
  
  Dumont, Helene ; Roux-Sibilon, Alexia ; Goffaux, Valérie. Horizontal face information is the main gateway to the shape and surface cues to familiar face identity. In: PLOS ONE, Vol. 19, no.10, p. e0311225 (2024). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0311225.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/292393
- Conference paper
  
  Grandjean, Marius. Does the radial bias influence fast saccades towards faces in the periphery. European Conference for Visual Perception (ECVP) (Aberdeen, Scotland, du 25/08/2024 au 29/08/2024).
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/293373
2023
- Journal article
  
  Schuurmans, Jolien ; Bennett, Matthew ; Petras, Kirsten ; Goffaux, Valérie. Backward masking reveals coarse-to-fine dynamics in human V1. In: Neuroimage, Vol. 274, p. 120139 [1-17] (2023). doi:10.1101/2023.02.08.525486.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/273276
- Canoluk, Mehmet Umut ; Moors, Pieter ; Goffaux, Valérie. Contributions of low- and high-level contextual mechanisms to human face perception. In: PloS one, Vol. 18, no. 5, p. e0285255 [1-25] (2023). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0285255.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/272646
- Roux-Sibilon, Alexia ; Peyrin, Carole ; Greenwood, John ; Goffaux, Valérie. Radial Bias in Face Identification. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, (2022). doi:10.1098/rspb.2023.1118.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/268916
2022
- Journal article
  
  Yan, Xiaoqian ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Rossion, Bruno. Coarse-to-fine(r) automatic familiar face recognition in the human brain. In: Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 32, no.8, p. 1560-1573 (2022). doi:10.1093/cercor/bhab238.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/254941
- Lago, Federica ; Pasquini, Cecilia ; Böhme, Rainer ; Dumont, Hélène ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Boato, Giulia. More real than real: A study on human visual perception of synthetic faces [Applications Corner]. In: I E E E Signal Processing Magazine, Vol. 39, no. 1, p. 109-116 (2022). doi:10.1109/MSP.2021.3120982.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/254800
- Liu-Shuang, Joan ; Fang, Yu-Fang ; Rossion, Bruno ; Goffaux, Valérie. Natural contrast statistics facilitate human face categorization. In: eNeuro, (2022). doi:10.1523/ENEURO.0420-21.2022 (Accepté/Sous presse).
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/264211
- Conference paper
  
  Schuurmans, Jolien ; Bennett, Matthew ; Goffaux, Valérie. Coarse-to-fine processing of faces in the core face network and V1.. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 22, no.14, p. 4045 (2022). doi:10.1167/jov.22.14.4045.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/284786
- Canoluk, Mehmet Umut ; Moors, Pieter ; Goffaux, Valérie. V1 contribution to contextual modulation in simple and complex stimuli. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 22, no.14, p. 4173 (2022). doi:10.1167/jov.22.14.4173.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/284787
2021
- Journal article
  
  Petras, Kirsten ; ten Oever, Sanne ; Dalal, Sarang S. ; Goffaux, Valérie. Information redundancy across spatial scales modulates early visual cortical processing. In: NeuroImage, Vol. 244, p. 118613 (2021). doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118613.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/254808
- Conference paper
  
  Canoluk, Mehmet Umut ; Moors, Pieter ; Goffaux, Valérie. Contextual modulations in high-level vision are partly accounted for by low-level mechanisms. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 21, no.9, p. 2506 (2021). doi:10.1167/jov.21.9.2506.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/284784
- Kirsten, Petras ; Ten Oever, Sanne ; Dalal, Sarang S. ; Goffaux, Valérie. Information redundancy across spatial scales modulates early visual cortex responses. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 21, no.9, p. 2526 (2021). doi:10.1167/jov.21.9.2526.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/284785
- Bennett, Matthew ; Chauhan, Tushar ; Cottereau, Benoît ; Goffaux, Valérie. Investigating the role of orientation information in face processing within a spiking neural network. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 21, no.9, p. 2766 (2021). doi:10.1167/jov.21.9.2766.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/284782
2020
- Journal article
  
  Jacobs, Christianne ; Petras, Kirsten ; Moors, Pieter ; Goffaux, Valerie. Contrast versus identity encoding in the face image follow distinct orientation selectivity profiles. In: PLOS ONE, Vol. 15, no.3, p. e0229185 (2020). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0229185.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/235694
- Conference paper
  
  Morsi, Annie ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Greenwood, John, A.. Variations in the perception of facial gender across the visual field. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 20, no.11, p. 791 (2020). doi:10.1167/jov.20.11.791.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/284781
2019
- Journal article
  
  Petras, Kirsten ; ten Oever, Sanne ; Jacobs, Christianne ; Goffaux, Valérie. Coarse-to-fine information integration in human vision. In: NeuroImage, Vol. 186, p. 103-112 (2019). doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.10.086.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/210182
- Goffaux, Valérie. Fixed or flexible? Orientation preference in identity and gaze processing in humans. In: PLOS ONE, Vol. 14, no.1, p. e0210503 (2019). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0210503.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/212422
2018
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valerie ; Greenwood, John A. Corrigendum: The orientation selectivity of face identification.. In: Scientific reports, Vol. 8, p. 46992 (2018). doi:10.1038/srep46992.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/222111
- Kalpadakis-Smith, Alexandra V. ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Greenwood, John A.. Crowding for faces is determined by visual (not holistic) similarity: Evidence from judgements of eye position. In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, no.1, p. 12556 (2018). doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30900-0.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/210267
- Peters, Judith ; Goebel, Rainer ; Goffaux, Valérie. From coarse to fine: Interactive feature processing precedes local feature analysis in human face perception.. In: Biological psychology, Vol. 138, p. 1-10 (2018). doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.07.009.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/221952
- Quek, Genevieve ; Liu, Joan ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Rossion, Bruno. Ultra-coarse, single-glance human face detection in a dynamic visual stream.. In: NeuroImage, Vol. 176, p. 465-476 (2018). doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.04.034.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/200346
- Conference paper
  
  Goffaux, Valérie. Face gaze and identity are rooted in independent orientation ranges. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 18, no.10, p. 1330 (2018). doi:10.1167/18.10.1330.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/284771
- Kirsten, Petras ; Jacobs, Christianne ; Ten Oever, Sanne ; Goffaux, Valérie. Multivariate classification of EEG data reveals spatial frequency dominance patterns during broad band image processing. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 18, no.10, p. 1082 (2018). doi:10.1167/18.10.1082.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/284778
2016
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valérie. Book Review: Perception of Pixelated Images. In: Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 7, no.1151, p. 1151. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01151.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/176156
- Goffaux, Valérie ; Duecker, Felix ; Hausfeld, Lars ; Schiltz, Christine ; Goebel, Rainer. Horizontal tuning for faces originates in high-level Fusiform Face Area. In: Neuropsychologia, Vol. 81, no. 29, p. 1-11 (2016). doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.12.004.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/168306
- Hoffmann, Danielle ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Schuller, Anne-Marie ; Schiltz, Christine. Inhibition of return and attentional facilitation: Numbers can be counted in, letters tell a different story. In: Acta Psychologica, Vol. 163, p. 74-80 (2016). doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.11.007.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/168308
- Taubert, Jessica Anne ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Van Belle, Goedele ; Vanduffel, Wim ; Vogels, Rufin. The impact of orientation filtering on face-selective neurons in monkey inferior temporal cortex. In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 6, p. 21189 (2016). doi:10.1038/srep21189.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/172196
- Goffaux, Valérie ; Greenwood, John A.. The orientation selectivity of face identification. In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 6, no.34204, p. 34204 (2016). doi:10.1038/srep34204.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/176907
- de Heering, Adélaïde ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Dollion, Nicolas ; Godard, Ornella ; Durand, Karine ; Baudouin, Jean-Yves. Three-month-old infants’ sensitivity to horizontal information within faces. In: Developmental Psychobiology, Vol. 58, no. 4, p. 536-542 (2016). doi:10.1002/dev.21396.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/172197
2015
- Journal article
  
  Kreusch, Fanny ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Siep, Nicolette ; Houben, Katrijn ; Quertemont, Etienne ; Wiers, Reinout W.. Brain Activation Associated with Automatic Processing of Alcohol-Related Cues in Young Heavy Drinkers and Its Modulation by Alcohol Administration. In: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, Vol. 39, no. 10, p. 1957-1966 (2015). doi:10.1111/acer.12835.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/168734
- Goffaux, Valérie ; Poncin, Aude ; Schiltz, Christine. Selectivity of Face Perception to Horizontal Information over Lifespan (from 6 to 74 Year Old). In: PLoS One, Vol. 10, no. 9, p. e0138812 (2015). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138812.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/168309
2014
- Journal article
  
  Jacques, Corentin ; Schiltz, Christine ; Goffaux, Valérie. Face perception is tuned to horizontal orientation in the N170 time window.. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 14, no.2, p. 1-18 (7 février 2014). doi:10.1167/14.2.5.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/141006
- Schuller, Anne-Marie ; Hoffmann, Danielle ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Schiltz, Christine. Shifts of spatial attention cued by irrelevant numbers: Electrophysiological evidence from a target discrimination task.. In: Journal of Cognitive Psychology, Vol. 27, no. 4, p. 442-458 (2015). doi:10.1080/20445911.2014.946419.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/156690
2013
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valérie ; Schiltz, Christine ; Mur, Marieke ; Goebel, Rainer. Local discriminability determines the strength of holistic processing for faces in the fusiform face area. In: Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 3, no.604, p. 1-14 (8 janvier 2013). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00604.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/140292
2012
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valérie ; Martin, Romain ; Dormal, Giulia ; Goebel, Rainer ; Schiltz, Christine. Attentional shifts induced by uninformative number symbols modulate neural activity in human occipital cortex. In: Neuropsychologia, Vol. 50, no. 14, p. 3419-3428 (2012). doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.09.046.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/140290
- Goffaux, Valérie. The discriminability of local cues determines the strength of holistic face processing. In: Vision Research, Vol. 64, p. 17-22 (2012). doi:10.1016/j.visres.2012.04.022.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/140291
2011
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valérie ; Peters, Judith ; Haubrechts, Julie ; Schiltz, Christine ; Jansma, Bernadette ; Goebel, Rainer. From Coarse to Fine? Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Cortical Face Processing. In: Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 21, no. 2, p. 467-76 (2011). doi:10.1093/cercor/bhq112.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/140287
- Goffaux, Valérie ; van Zon, Jaap ; Schiltz, Christine. The horizontal tuning of face perception relies on the processing of intermediate and high spatial frequencies. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 11, no. 10, p. 1-9 (2011). doi:10.1167/11.10.1.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/140289
2010
- Journal article
  
  Jemel, Boutheina ; Schuller, Anne-Marie ; Goffaux, Valérie. Characterizing the spatio-temporal dynamics of the neural events occurring prior to and up to overt recognition of famous faces. In: Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Vol. 22, no. 10, p. 2289-2305 (2010). doi:10.1162/jocn.2009.21320.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/140293
- Goffaux, Valérie ; Dakin, Steven C.. Horizontal information drives the behavioral signatures of face processing. In: Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 1, no.143, p. 1-14 (28 septembre 2010). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00143.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/140283
2009
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valérie ; Rossion, Bruno ; Sorger, Bettina ; Schiltz, Christine ; Goebel, Rainer. Face inversion disrupts the perception of vertical relations between features in the right human occipito-temporal cortex. In: Journal of Neuropsychology, Vol. 3, no. Pt 1, p. 45-67 (2009). doi:10.1348/174866408X292670.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/28732
- Vlamings, Petra H. J. M. ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Kemner, chantal. Is the early modulation of brain activity by fearful facial expressions primarily mediated by coarse low spatial frequency information ?. In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 9(5), no.12, p. 1-13 (14 mai 2009). doi:10.1167/9.5.12.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/140278
- Goffaux, Valérie. Spatial interactions in upright and inverted faces : re-exploration of spatial scale influence. In: Vision Research, Vol. 49, no. 7, p. 774-781 (2009). doi:10.1016/j.visres.2009.02.009.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/140279
2008
- Journal article
  
  de Heering, Adélaïde ; Turati, Chiara ; Rossion, Bruno ; Bulf, Hermann ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Simion, Francesca. Newborns' face recognition is based on spatial frequencies below 0.5 cycles per degree. In: Cognition, Vol. 106, no. 1, p. 444-454 (2008). doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2006.12.012.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/10837
- Goffaux, Valérie. The horizontal and vertical relations in upright faces are transmitted by different spatial frequency ranges. In: Acta Psychologica, Vol. 128, no.1, p. 119-126 (2008). doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.11.005.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/140282
2007
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valérie ; Rossion, Bruno. Face inversion disproportionately impairs the perception of vertical but not horizontal relations between features. In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol. 33, no. 4, p. 995-1002 (2007). doi:10.1037/0096-1523.33.4.995.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/28735
- Rossion, Bruno ; Collins, Daniel ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Curran, Tim. Long-term expertise with artificial objects increases visual competition with early face categorization processes. In: Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Vol. 19, no. 3, p. 543-555 (2007). doi:10.1162/jocn.2007.19.3.543.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/10881
2006
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valérie ; Rossion, Bruno. Faces are "spatial"--holistic face perception is supported by low spatial frequencies. In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol. 32, no. 4, p. 1023-1039 (2006). doi:10.1037/0096-1523.32.4.1023.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/28738
2005
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valérie ; Jacques, Corentin ; Mouraux, André ; Oliva, Aude ; Schyns, Philippe G. ; Rossion, Bruno. Diagnostic colours contribute to the early stages of scene categorization : behavioural and neurophysiological evidence. In: Visual Cognition, Vol. 12, no. 6, p. 878-892 (2005). doi:10.1080/13506280444000562.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/110914
- Goffaux, Valérie ; Hault, Barbara ; Michel, Caroline ; Vuong, Quoc C ; Rossion, Bruno. The respective role of low and high spatial frequencies in supporting configural and featural processing of faces. In: Perception, Vol. 34, no. 1, p. 77-86 (2005). doi:10.1068/p5370.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/12811
2004
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valérie ; Mouraux, André ; Desmet, Sandra ; Rossion, Bruno. Human non-phase-locked gamma oscillations in experience-based perception of visual scenes. In: Neuroscience Letters, Vol. 354, no. 1, p. 14-17 (2004). doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2003.09.029.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/28745
2003
- Journal article
  
  Goffaux, Valérie ; Jemel, Bouheïna ; Jacques, Corentin ; Rossion, Bruno ; Schyns, Ph.. ERP evidence for task modulations on face perceptual processing at different spatial scales. In: Cognitive Science : a multidisciplinary journal, Vol. 27, no. 2, p. 313-325 (2003). doi:10.1207/s15516709cog2702_8.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/110913
- Goffaux, Valérie ; Gauthier, Isabel ; Rossion, Bruno. Spatial scale contribution to early visual differences between face and object processing.. In: Brain research. Cognitive brain research, Vol. 16, no. 3, p. 416-24 (2003). doi:10.1016/S0926-6410(03)00056-9.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/28746
- Jemel, Boutheina ; Schuller, Anne-Marie ; Cheref-Khan, Yasémine ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Crommelinck, Marc ; Bruyer, Raymond. Stepwise emergence of the face-sensitive N170 event-related potential component.. In: Neuroreport, Vol. 14, no. 16, p. 2035-9 (2003). doi:10.1097/01.wnr.0000092465.31470.2f.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/28147
2002
- Journal article
  
  Rossion, Bruno ; Gauthier, Isabel ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Tarr, Michael J ; Crommelinck, Marc. Expertise training with novel objects leads to left-lateralized facelike electrophysiological responses. In: Psychological Science, Vol. 13, no. 3, p. 250-257 (2002). doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00446.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/28150
2000
- Conference paper
  
  Goffaux, Valérie ; Desmet, S ; Rossion, Bruno ; Crommelinck, Marc. The time course of visual awareness.. In: Consciousness and Cognition, Vol. 9, no. 2, p. S66-S66 (2000). doi:10.1006/ccog.1999.0426.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/62199
1999
- Journal article
  
  Rossion, Bruno ; Delvenne, Jean-François ; Debatisse, D. ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Bruyer, Raymond ; Crommelinck, Marc ; Guerit, Jean-Michel. Spatio-temporal localization of the face inversion effect : an event-related potentials study. In: Biological Psychology, Vol. 50, no. 3, p. 173-189 (1999). doi:10.1016/S0301-0511(99)00013-7.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/8338
1998
- Journal article
  
  Quertemont, E. ; Goffaux, Valérie ; Vlaminck, A M ; Wolf, C. ; De Witte, Philippe. Oral taurine supplementation modulates ethanol-conditioned stimulus preference.. In: Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.), Vol. 16, no. 3, p. 201-6 (1998). doi:10.1016/S0741-8329(98)00002-0.
  
  http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/12472

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Human vision research

ions | Bruxelles Woluwe, Louvain-la-Neuve

Publications