Early event-related potential components in face perception reflect the sequential neural activities.

Event-related potential (ERP) studies report that early components P120, N170 and VPP are associated with face processing. Several lines of evidence suggest that VPP is the positive counterpart of N170, and they are generated by the same brain sources. However, whether P120 has a negative counterpart and the relations among these early components (i.e. P120, N170, VPP) remain unclear. In this study, the scalp electroencephalogram was recorded when the subjects passively viewed different stimuli, and ERP was calculated. The synchronization of electroencephalography signals between fronto-central and bilateral occipitotemporal sites was evaluated, and independent component analysis was employed to seek the face-sensitive independent components and their corresponding sources. We found that P120 had the negative counterpart, i.e., VN120; moreover, VN120-VPP and P120-N170 complexes were generated by the same sources located in fusiform gyrus, which reflected the same sequential neural activities of face processing.