scholarly journals The Ontogenetic Development of Hemispheric Lateralization During Face Processing: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Pilot Study in 7- to 9-Year-old Children

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska E. Hildesheim ◽  
Isabell Debus ◽  
Roman Kessler ◽  
Ina Thome ◽  
Kristin M. Zimmermann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Face Processing ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Core System ◽  
The Core ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
Face Area

ABSTRACTFace processing is mediated by a distributed neural network commonly divided into a “core system” and an “extended system”. The core system consists of several, typically right-lateralized brain regions in the occipito-temporal cortex, including the occipital face area (OFA), the fusiform face area (FFA) and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). It was recently proposed that the face processing network is initially bilateral and becomes right-specialized in the course of the development of reading abilities due to the competition between language-related regions in the left occipito-temporal cortex (e.g., the visual word form area) and the FFA for common neural resources.The goal of the present pilot study was to prepare the basis for a larger follow-up study assessing the ontogenetic development of the lateralization of the face processing network. More specifically, we aimed on the one hand to establish a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm suitable for assessing activation in the core system of face processing in young children at the single subject level, and on the other hand to calculate the necessary group size for the planned follow-up study.Twelve children aged 7-9 years, and ten adults were measured with a face localizer task that was specifically adapted for children. Our results showed that it is possible to localize the core system’s brain regions in children even at the single subject level. We further found a (albeit non-significant) trend for increased right-hemispheric lateralization of all three regions in adults compared to children, with the largest effect for the FFA (estimated effect size d=0.78, indicating medium to large effects). Using these results as basis for an informed power analysis, we estimated that an adequately powered (sensitivity 0.8) follow-up study testing developmental changes of FFA lateralization would require the inclusion of 18 children and 26 adults.

scholarly journals Functional MRI and the Study of Human Consciousness

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 818-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Response Competition ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Human Consciousness

Functional brain imaging offers new opportunities for the study of that most pervasive of cognitive conditions, human consciousness. Since consciousness is attendant to so much of human cognitive life, its study requires secondary analysis of multiple experimental datasets. Here, four preprocessed datasets from the National fMRI Data Center are considered: Hazeltine et al., Neural activation during response competition; Ishai et al., The representation of objects in the human occipital and temporal cortex; Mechelli et al., The effects of presentation rate during word and pseudoword reading; and Postle et al., Activity in human frontal cortex associated with spatial working memory and saccadic behavior. The study of consciousness also draws from multiple disciplines. In this article, the philosophical subdiscipline of phenomenology provides initial characterization of phenomenal structures conceptually necessary for an analysis of consciousness. These structures include phenomenal intentionality, phenomenal superposition, and experienced temporality. The empirical predictions arising from these structures require new interpretive methods for their confirmation. These methods begin with single-subject (preprocessed) scan series, and consider the patterns of all voxels as potential multivariate encodings of phenomenal information. Twenty-seven subjects from the four studies were analyzed with multivariate methods, revealing analogues of phenomenal structures, particularly the structures of temporality. In a second interpretive approach, artificial neural networks were used to detect a more explicit prediction from phenomenology, namely, that present experience contains and is inflected by past states of awareness and anticipated events. In all of 21 subjects in this analysis, nets were successfully trained to extract aspects of relative past and future brain states, in comparison with statistically similar controls. This exploratory study thus concludes that the proposed methods for “neurophenomenology” warrant further application, including the exploration of individual differences, multivariate differences between cognitive task conditions, and exploration of specific brain regions possibly contributing to the observations. All of these attractive questions, however, must be reserved for future research.

scholarly journals Awake fMRI reveals a specialized region in dog temporal cortex for face processing

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel D Dilks ◽  
Peter Cook ◽  
Samuel K Weiller ◽  
Helen P Berns ◽  
Mark H Spivak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Face Processing ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Everyday Objects ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Face Selectivity ◽  
Behavioral Evidence ◽  
Specialized Region ◽  
Human Faces

Recent behavioral evidence suggests that dogs, like humans and monkeys, are capable of visual face recognition. But do dogs also exhibit specialized cortical face regions similar to humans and monkeys? Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in six dogs trained to remain motionless during scanning without restraint or sedation, we found a region in the canine temporal lobe that responded significantly more to movies of human faces than to movies of everyday objects. Next, using a new stimulus set to investigate face selectivity in this predefined candidate dog face area, we found that this region responded similarly to images of human faces and dog faces, yet significantly more to both human and dog faces than to images of objects. Such face selectivity was not found in dog primary visual cortex. Taken together, these findings: 1) provide the first evidence for a face-selective region in the temporal cortex of dogs, which cannot be explained by simple low-level visual feature extraction; 2) reveal that neural machinery dedicated to face processing is not unique to primates; and 3) may help explain dogs’ exquisite sensitivity to human social cues.

Sensitivity to Faces with Typical and Atypical Part Configurations within Regions of the Face-processing Network: An fMRI Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 963-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Engell ◽  
Na Yeon Kim ◽  
Gregory McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Face Processing ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
The Face ◽  
Occipital Face Area ◽  
Typical Configuration ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Processing Network

Perception of faces has been shown to engage a domain-specific set of brain regions, including the occipital face area (OFA) and the fusiform face area (FFA). It is commonly held that the OFA is responsible for the detection of faces in the environment, whereas the FFA is responsible for processing the identity of the face. However, an alternative model posits that the FFA is responsible for face detection and subsequently recruits the OFA to analyze the face parts in the service of identification. An essential prediction of the former model is that the OFA is not sensitive to the arrangement of internal face parts. In the current fMRI study, we test the sensitivity of the OFA and FFA to the configuration of face parts. Participants were shown faces in which the internal parts were presented in a typical configuration (two eyes above a nose above a mouth) or in an atypical configuration (the locations of individual parts were shuffled within the face outline). Perception of the atypical faces evoked a significantly larger response than typical faces in the OFA and in a wide swath of the surrounding posterior occipitotemporal cortices. Surprisingly, typical faces did not evoke a significantly larger response than atypical faces anywhere in the brain, including the FFA (although some subthreshold differences were observed). We propose that face processing in the FFA results in inhibitory sculpting of activation in the OFA, which accounts for this region's weaker response to typical than to atypical configurations.

scholarly journals Joint encoding of facial identity, orientation, gaze, and expression in the middle dorsal face area

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (33) ◽  
pp. e2108283118
Author(s):  
Zetian Yang ◽  
Winrich A. Freiwald
Keyword(s):  
Face Processing ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Head Orientation ◽  
Core Network ◽  
Facial Identity ◽  
The Core ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Processing Network

The last two decades have established that a network of face-selective areas in the temporal lobe of macaque monkeys supports the visual processing of faces. Each area within the network contains a large fraction of face-selective cells. And each area encodes facial identity and head orientation differently. A recent brain-imaging study discovered an area outside of this network selective for naturalistic facial motion, the middle dorsal (MD) face area. This finding offers the opportunity to determine whether coding principles revealed inside the core network would generalize to face areas outside the core network. We investigated the encoding of static faces and objects, facial identity, and head orientation, dimensions which had been studied in multiple areas of the core face-processing network before, as well as facial expressions and gaze. We found that MD populations form a face-selective cluster with a degree of selectivity comparable to that of areas in the core face-processing network. MD encodes facial identity robustly across changes in head orientation and expression, it encodes head orientation robustly against changes in identity and expression, and it encodes expression robustly across changes in identity and head orientation. These three dimensions are encoded in a separable manner. Furthermore, MD also encodes the direction of gaze in addition to head orientation. Thus, MD encodes both structural properties (identity) and changeable ones (expression and gaze) and thus provides information about another animal’s direction of attention (head orientation and gaze). MD contains a heterogeneous population of cells that establish a multidimensional code for faces.

scholarly journals Theta-burst TMS of lateral occipital cortex reduces BOLD responses across category-selective areas in ventral temporal cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris I A Groen ◽  
Edward H Silson ◽  
David Pitcher ◽  
Chris I Baker
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Stimulus Category ◽  
Cortical Region ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Theta Burst ◽  
Lateral Occipital Cortex

AbstractHuman visual cortex contains three scene-selective regions in the lateral, medial and ventral cortex, termed the occipital place area (OPA), medial place area (MPA) and parahippocampal place area (PPA). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), all three regions respond more strongly when viewing visual scenes compared with isolated objects or faces. To determine how these regions are functionally and causally connected, we applied transcranial magnetic stimulation to OPA and measured fMRI responses before and after stimulation, using a theta-burst paradigm (TBS). To test for stimulus category-selectivity, we presented a range of visual categories (scenes, buildings, objects, faces). To test for specificity of any effects to TBS of OPA we employed two control conditions: Sham, with no TBS stimulation, and an active TBS-control with TBS to a proximal face-selective cortical region (occipital face area, or OFA). We predicted that TBS to OPA (but not OFA) would lead to decreased responses to scenes and buildings (but not other categories) in other scene-selective cortical regions. Across both ROI and whole-volume analyses, we observed decreased responses to scenes in PPA as a result of TBS. However, these effects were neither category specific, with decreased responses to all stimulus categories, nor limited to scene-selective regions, with decreases also observed in face-selective fusiform face area (FFA). Furthermore, similar effects were observed with TBS to OFA, thus effects were not specific to the stimulation site in the lateral occipital cortex. Whilst these data are suggestive of a causal, but non-specific relationship between lateral occipital and ventral temporal cortex, we discuss several factors that could have underpinned this result, such as the differences between TBS and online TMS, the role of anatomical distance between stimulated regions and how TMS effects are operationalised. Furthermore, our findings highlight the importance of active control conditions in brain stimulation experiments to accurately assess functional and causal connectivity between specific brain regions.

scholarly journals Stable habituation deficits in the early stage of psychosis: a 2-year follow-up study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne N. Avery ◽  
Maureen McHugo ◽  
Kristan Armstrong ◽  
Jennifer Urbano Blackford ◽  
Neil D. Woodward ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Model ◽  
Linear Mixed Model ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Early Psychosis ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Healthy Control

AbstractNeural habituation, the decrease in brain response to repeated stimuli, is a fundamental, highly conserved mechanism that acts as an essential filter for our complex sensory environment. Convergent evidence indicates neural habituation is disrupted in both early and chronic stages of schizophrenia, with deficits co-occurring in brain regions that show inhibitory dysfunction. As inhibitory deficits have been proposed to contribute to the onset and progression of illness, habituation may be an important treatment target. However, a crucial first step is clarifying whether habituation deficits progress with illness. In the present study, we measured neural habituation in 138 participants (70 early psychosis patients (<2 years of illness), 68 healthy controls), with 108 participants assessed longitudinally at both baseline and 2-year follow-up. At follow-up, all early psychosis patients met criteria for a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (i.e., schizophreniform disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder). Habituation slopes (i.e., rate of fMRI signal change) to repeated images were computed for the anterior hippocampus, occipital cortex, and the fusiform face area. Habituation slopes were entered into a linear mixed model to test for effects of group and time by region. We found that early psychosis patients showed habituation deficits relative to healthy control participants across brain regions, and that these deficits were maintained, but did not worsen, over two years. These results suggest a stable period of habituation deficits in the early stage of schizophrenia.

scholarly journals Musicians and non-musicians consonant/dissonant perception investigated by EEG and fMRI

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
HanShin Jo ◽  
Tsung-Hao Hsieh ◽  
Wei-Che Chhien ◽  
Fu-Zen Shaw ◽  
Sheng-Fu Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Ratio ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Pitch Interval ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
Representational Space ◽  
Spatio Temporal

The perception of two (or more) simultaneous musical notes, depending on their pitch interval(s), could be broadly categorized as consonant or dissonant. Previous studies have suggested that musicians and non-musicians adopt different strategies when discerning music intervals: the frequency ratio (perfect fifth or tritone) for the former, and frequency differences (e.g., roughness vs. non-roughness) for the latter. To extend and replicate this previous finding, in this follow-up study we reran the ElectroEncephaloGraphy (EEG) experiment, and separately collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of the same protocol. The behavioral results replicated our previous findings that musicians used pitch intervals and nonmusicians roughness for consonant judgments. And the ERP amplitude differences between groups in both frequency ratio and frequency differences were primarily around N1 and P2 periods along the midline channels. The fMRI results, with the joint analyses by univariate, multivariate, and connectivity approaches, further reinforce the involvement of midline and related-brain regions in consonant/dissonance judgments. Additional representational similarity analysis (or RSA), and the final spatio-temporal searchlight RSA (or ss-RSA), jointly combined the fMRI-EEG into the same representational space, providing final support on the neural substrates of neurophysiological signatures. Together, these analyses not just exemplify the importance of replication, that musicians rely more on top-down knowledge for consonance/dissonance perception; but also demonstrate the advantages of multiple analyses in constraining the findings from both EEG and fMRI.

scholarly journals In Chronic Nephropathies Prolonged ACE Inhibition Can Induce Remission

1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 997-1006
Author(s):  
PIERO RUGGENENTI ◽  
ANNALISA PERNA ◽  
ROBERTO BENINI ◽  
TULLIO BERTANI ◽  
CARMINE ZOCCALI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conventional Therapy ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Ace Inhibition ◽  
Intention To Treat ◽  
The Core ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
The Individual ◽  
End Stage

Abstract. The Ramipril Efficacy in Nephropathy Core and Follow-Up Study found that ≥36 mo of continued ramipril therapy decreased substantially the risk of end-stage renal failure (ESRF) in patients with chronic nephropathies and a urinary protein excretion rate ≥3 g/24 h. This study investigates the time-dependent changes in GFR in these patients and in control subjects who were randomized to conventional therapy during the Core period and switched to ramipril during the Follow-Up study. Analyses included 150 patients (continued ramipril:n= 74; switched to ramipril:n= 76) who had at least three GFR measurements (including baseline) during the whole observation period and a subgroup of 43 patients (continued ramipril:n= 26; switched to ramipril:n= 17) who had at least six GFR measurements, including at least three on the Core and at least three on the Follow-Up study. Ramipril (1.25 to 5 mg/d) and conventional therapy were targeted at achieving a diastolic BP below 90 mmHg. The main efficacy variables were GFR and ESRF (need for dialysis). Analysis was by intention to treat. Throughout the study, the mean ± SEM rate of GFR decline (ΔGFR) was significantly lower in patients continued on ramipril compared to those switched to ramipril (0.51 ± 0.09versus0.76 ± 0.10 ml/min per 1.73 m2per mo,P< 0.03). In patients on continued ramipril who had at least six GFR measured—but not in control subjects—ΔGFR progressively improved with time and, in the cohort with the longest follow-up, decreased from (in ml/min per 1.73 m2per mo): 0.16 ± 0.12 (at 18 mo) to 0.10 ± 0.05 (at 60 mo). This rate was about 10-fold slower compared to patients on conventional therapy during the REIN Core study. Analyses of the individual slopes found that at the end of the follow-up, 10 of 26 patients on continued ramipril therapy had a positive ΔGFR and another 10 patients had an improvement of ΔGFR while on ramipril therapy. ΔGFR significantly improved in parallel with a significant reduction in proteinuria. Changes in ΔGFR (P= 0.0001) and proteinuria (P= 0.04) were significantly different in the two groups. Baseline characteristics and changes in systolic and diastolic BP and 24-h urine urea and sodium excretion were comparable. The present results offer evidence that in chronic nephropathies, the tendency of GFR to decline with time can be effectively halted, even in patients with remarkably severe disease.

What Evidence Supports Special Processing for Faces? A Cautionary Tale for fMRI Interpretation

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 1777-1793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary A. Cowell ◽  
Garrison W. Cottrell
Keyword(s):  
Face Processing ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Cautionary Tale ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Topography Model ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Object Form ◽  
Multivariate Pattern ◽  
Processing Mechanisms

We trained a neurocomputational model on six categories of photographic images that were used in a previous fMRI study of object and face processing. Multivariate pattern analyses of the activations elicited in the object-encoding layer of the model yielded results consistent with two previous, contradictory fMRI studies. Findings from one of the studies [Haxby, J. V., Gobbini, M. I., Furey, M. L., Ishai, A., Schouten, J. L., & Pietrini, P. Distributed and overlapping representations of faces and objects in ventral temporal cortex. Science, 293, 2425–2430, 2001] were interpreted as evidence for the object-form topography model. Findings from the other study [Spiridon, M., & Kanwisher, N. How distributed is visual category information in human occipito-temporal cortex? An fMRI study. Neuron, 35, 1157–1165, 2002] were interpreted as evidence for neural processing mechanisms in the fusiform face area that are specialized for faces. Because the model contains no special processing mechanism or specialized architecture for faces and yet it can reproduce the fMRI findings used to support the claim that there are specialized face-processing neurons, we argue that these fMRI results do not actually support that claim. Results from our neurocomputational model therefore constitute a cautionary tale for the interpretation of fMRI data.

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