Representational dynamics of the main dimensions of object space: Face/body selectivity aligns temporally with animal taxonomy but not with animacy

Object representations are organized according to multiple dimensions, with an important role for the distinction between animate and inanimate objects and for selectivity for faces versus bodies. For other dimensions, questions remain how they stand relative to these two primary dimensions. One such dimension is a graded selectivity for the taxonomic level that an animal belongs to. Earlier research suggested that animacy can be understood as a graded selectivity for animal taxonomy, although a recent functional magnetic resonance imaging study suggested that taxonomic effects are instead due to face/body selectivity. Here we investigated the temporal profile at which these distinctions emerge with multivariate electroencephalography (N = 25), using a stimulus set that dissociates taxonomy from face/body selectivity and from animacy as a binary distinction. Our findings reveal a very similar temporal profile for taxonomy and face/body selectivity with a peak around 150 ms. The binary animacy distinction has a more continuous and delayed temporal profile. These findings strengthen the conclusion that effects of animal taxonomy are in large part due to face/body selectivity, whereas selectivity for animate versus inanimate objects is delayed when it is dissociated from these other dimensions.