摘要：In this paper it will be investigated the distinction – supported by experimental data – of two different
degrees within the so-called face perception: 1) The automatic perception/detection of faces; 2) The
recognition of a specific face, that concerns personal meanings association – a story, we could say – to
that first automatic perceptual configuration.
In general, the first degree is a basic perception process, a universal, innate and early capacity belonging
to all human beings. It includes three face-selective regions in the brain, with the OFA and the STS who
process the partial data of faces, and the FFA that “produces” the overall basic form.
The second degree consists in a complex recognition process, which implies the activation of many
cerebral areas with different functions such as, for example, the subcortical regions responsible for
emotions modulation (amygdala, insula), the intraparietal sulcus, the auditory cortex. It associates a given
perceptual pattern with specific semantic entities, which compose a qualitative complex of experience,
knowledge and subjective understanding.
