Face-Identity Change Activation Outside the Face System: “Release from Adaptation” May Not Always Indicate Neuronal Selectivity
Open Access
- 5 January 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Cerebral Cortex
- Vol. 20 (9), 2027-2042
- https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhp272
Abstract
Face recognition is a complex cognitive process that requires distinguishable neuronal representations of individual faces. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies using the “fMRI-adaptation” technique have suggested the existence of face-identity representations in face-selective regions, including the fusiform face area (FFA). Here, we present face-identity adaptation findings that are not well explained in terms of face-identity representations. We performed blood-oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) fMRI measurements, while participants viewed familiar faces that were shown repeatedly throughout the experiment. We found decreased activation for repeated faces in face-selective regions, as expected based on previous studies. However, we found similar effects in regions that are not face-selective, including the parahippocampal place area (PPA) and early visual cortex (EVC). These effects were present for exact-image (same view and lighting) as well as different-image (different view and/or lighting) repetition, but more widespread for exact-image repetition. Given the known functional properties of PPA and EVC, it appears unlikely that they contain domain-specific face-identity representations. Alternative interpretations include general attentional effects and carryover of activation from connected regions. These results remind us that fMRI stimulus-change effects can have a range of causes and do not provide conclusive evidence for a neuronal representation of the changed stimulus property.Keywords
This publication has 76 references indexed in Scilit:
- Feedback of visual object information to foveal retinotopic cortexNature Neuroscience, 2008
- Neural repetition suppression reflects fulfilled perceptual expectationsNature Neuroscience, 2008
- Individual faces elicit distinct response patterns in human anterior temporal cortexProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- Abnormal fMRI Adaptation to Unfamiliar Faces in a Case of Developmental ProsopamnesiaCurrent Biology, 2007
- Continuous carry-over designs for fMRINeuroImage, 2007
- Mapping the MRI voxel volume in which thermal noise matches physiological noise—Implications for fMRINeuroImage, 2007
- Selectivity for the configural cues that identify the gender, ethnicity, and identity of faces in human cortexProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Primary Visual Cortex Activity along the Apparent-Motion Trace Reflects Illusory PerceptionPLoS Biology, 2005
- Transient Attention Enhances Perceptual Performance and fMRI Response in Human Visual CortexNeuron, 2005
- The hippocampal region is involved in successful recognition of both remote and recent famous facesNeuroImage, 2004