Patches of face-selective cortex in the macaque frontal lobe

Abstract

Although the existence of face-selective processing in the temporal lobes is well-accepted, the existence of similar patches in frontal cortex is debated, with contradictory evidence. This study used fMRI in alert macaques to identify three face-selective regions in ventral prefrontal cortex, one of which was strongly lateralized to the right hemisphere. In primates, specialized occipital-temporal face areas support the visual analysis of faces, but it is unclear whether similarly specialized areas exist in the frontal lobe. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in alert macaques, we identified three discrete regions of highly face-selective cortex in ventral prefrontal cortex, one of which was strongly lateralized to the right hemisphere. These prefrontal face patches may constitute dedicated modules for retrieving and responding to facial information.