Researchers Find Multiple Cortical Areas Work Together in the Brain to Identify Faces

Posted on May 31, 2011

Carnegie Mellon University's Marlene Behrmann, David Plaut and Adrian Nestor have discovered that an entire network of cortical areas work together to identify faces. Previously, scientists believed that only a couple of brain areas mediate facial recognition.

Participants in the experiment were shown images of faces (like those above) while in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. Their task was to recognize different people's faces with varying facial expressions. Using dynamic multivariate mapping, the researchers examined the functional MRI data and found a network of fusiform and anterior temporal regions that respond with distinct patterns to different identities. The researchers also found that the information is evenly distributed among the anterior regions and that the right fusiform region plays a central role within the network.

The researchers say the findings could be used to develop targeted remedies for disorders such as prosopagnosia (face blindness).

Carnegie Mellon's Marlene Behrmann says, "Faces are among the most compelling visual stimulation that we encounter, and recognizing faces taxes our visual perception system to the hilt. Carnegie Mellon has a longstanding history for embracing a full-system account of the brain. We have the computational tools and technology to push further into looking past one single brain region. And, that is what we did here to discover that there are multiple cortical areas working together to recognize faces."

The research was published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). It was funded by National Science Foundation, and Behrmann received additional support from the Weston Visiting Professorship at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

THE MIND