Patchy organization and asymmetric distribution of the neural correlates of face processing in monkey inferotemporal cortex - PubMed (original) (raw)

Comparative Study

. 2005 Jun 7;15(11):993-1005.

doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2005.04.031.

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Comparative Study

Patchy organization and asymmetric distribution of the neural correlates of face processing in monkey inferotemporal cortex

Shahin Zangenehpour et al. Curr Biol. 2005.

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Abstract

Background: It is believed that a face-specific system exists within the primate ventral visual pathway that is separate from a domain-general nonface object coding system. In addition, it is believed that hemispheric asymmetry, which was long held to be a distinct feature of the human brain, can be found in the brains of other primates as well. We show here for the first time by way of a functional imaging technique that face- and object-selective neurons form spatially distinct clusters at the cellular level in monkey inferotemporal cortex. We have used a novel functional mapping technique that simultaneously generates two separate activity profiles by exploiting the differential time course of zif268 mRNA and protein expression.

Results: We show that neurons activated by face stimulation can be visualized at cellular resolution and distinguished from those activated by nonface complex objects. Our dual-activity maps of face and object selectivity show that face-selective patches of various sizes (mean, 22.30 mm2; std, 32.76 mm2) exist throughout the IT cortex in the context of a large expanse of cortical territory that is responsive to visual objects.

Conclusions: These results add to recent findings that face-selective patches of various sizes exist throughout area IT and provide the first direct anatomical evidence at cellular resolution for a hemispheric asymmetry in favor of the right hemisphere. Together, our results support the notion that human and monkey brains share a similarity in both anatomical organization and distribution of function with respect to high-level visual processing.

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