Cortical Region Consisting Entirely of Face-Selective Cells

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 311; no. 5761; pp. 670 - 674
• Main Authors: Tsao, Doris Y, Freiwald, Winrich A, Tootell, Roger B. H, Livingstone, Margaret S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 03.02.2006; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; blood flow; Brain; Brain Mapping; Cerebral hemispheres; Cognition & reasoning; Electrophysiology; Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision; Face; Form Perception; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Identity; Lesions; Macaca; Macaca mulatta; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Monkeys; Monkeys & apes; Neurology; Neurons; Neurons - physiology; Neuroscience; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Photic Stimulation; Synaptic Transmission; Temporal lobe; Temporal Lobe - physiology; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Human; Monkey; Selectivity; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Blood flow; Vertebrata; Visual stimulus; Mammalia; Neuron; Vision; Primates; Perception; Hemodynamics; Face; Functional imaging
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1119983

Face perception is a skill crucial to primates. In both humans and macaque monkeys, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reveals a system of cortical regions that show increased blood flow when the subject views images of faces, compared with images of objects. However, the stimulus selectivity of single neurons within these fMRI-identified regions has not been studied. We used fMRI to identify and target the largest face-selective region in two macaques for single-unit recording. Almost all (97%) of the visually responsive neurons in this region were strongly face selective, indicating that a dedicated cortical area exists to support face processing in the macaque.