1
|
Robotham RJ, Starrfelt R. Comparing word and face recognition - An insoluble conundrum? Cortex 2024; 176:237-241. [PMID: 38760242 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Ro J Robotham
- Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Randi Starrfelt
- Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Kosakowski HL, Cohen MA, Herrera L, Nichoson I, Kanwisher N, Saxe R. Cortical Face-Selective Responses Emerge Early in Human Infancy. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0117-24.2024. [PMID: 38871455 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0117-24.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2024] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024] Open
Abstract
In human adults, multiple cortical regions respond robustly to faces, including the occipital face area (OFA) and fusiform face area (FFA), implicated in face perception, and the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), implicated in higher-level social functions. When in development, does face selectivity arise in each of these regions? Here, we combined two awake infant functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets to create a sample size twice the size of previous reports (n = 65 infants; 2.6-9.6 months). Infants watched movies of faces, bodies, objects, and scenes, while fMRI data were collected. Despite variable amounts of data from each infant, individual subject whole-brain activation maps revealed responses to faces compared to nonface visual categories in the approximate location of OFA, FFA, STS, and MPFC. To determine the strength and nature of face selectivity in these regions, we used cross-validated functional region of interest analyses. Across this larger sample size, face responses in OFA, FFA, STS, and MPFC were significantly greater than responses to bodies, objects, and scenes. Even the youngest infants (2-5 months) showed significantly face-selective responses in FFA, STS, and MPFC, but not OFA. These results demonstrate that face selectivity is present in multiple cortical regions within months of birth, providing powerful constraints on theories of cortical development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Heather L Kosakowski
- Department of Psychology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
| | - Michael A Cohen
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
- Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002
| | - Lyneé Herrera
- Psychology Department, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado 80210
| | - Isabel Nichoson
- Tulane Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118
| | - Nancy Kanwisher
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
| | - Rebecca Saxe
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Wu W, Hoffman P. Verbal semantic expertise is associated with reduced functional connectivity between left and right anterior temporal lobes. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae256. [PMID: 38897815 PMCID: PMC11186671 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2024] [Revised: 05/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The left and right anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) encode semantic representations. They show graded hemispheric specialization in function, with the left ATL contributing preferentially to verbal semantic processing. We investigated the cognitive correlates of this organization, using resting-state functional connectivity as a measure of functional segregation between ATLs. We analyzed two independent resting-state fMRI datasets (n = 86 and n = 642) in which participants' verbal semantic expertise was measured using vocabulary tests. In both datasets, people with more advanced verbal semantic knowledge showed weaker functional connectivity between left and right ventral ATLs. This effect was highly specific. It was not observed for within-hemisphere connections between semantic regions (ventral ATL and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), though it was found for left-right IFG connectivity in one dataset). Effects were not found for tasks probing semantic control, nonsemantic cognition, or face recognition. Our results suggest that hemispheric specialization in the ATLs is not an innate property but rather emerges as people develop highly detailed verbal semantic representations. We speculate that this effect is a consequence of the left ATL's greater connectivity with left-lateralized written word recognition regions, which causes it to preferentially represent meaning for advanced vocabulary acquired primarily through reading.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Wu
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
- Department of Music, Durham University, Palace Green, Durham DH1 3RL, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Hoffman
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Granovetter MC, Maallo AMS, Ling S, Robert S, Freud E, Patterson C, Behrmann M. Functional Resilience of the Neural Visual Recognition System Post-Pediatric Occipitotemporal Resection. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.08.592792. [PMID: 38766137 PMCID: PMC11100714 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.08.592792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
In the typically developing (TD) brain, neural representations for visual stimulus categories (e.g., faces, objects, and words) emerge in bilateral occipitotemporal cortex (OTC), albeit with weighted asymmetry; in parallel, recognition behavior continues to be refined. A fundamental question is whether two hemispheres are necessary or redundant for the emergence of neural representations and recognition behavior typically distributed across both hemispheres. The rare population of patients undergoing unilateral OTC resection in childhood offers a unique opportunity to evaluate whether neural computations for visual stimulus individuation suffice for recognition with only a single developing OTC. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we mapped category selectivity (CS) and neural representations for individual stimulus exemplars using repetition suppression (RS) in the non-resected hemisphere of pediatric OTC resection patients (n = 9) and control patients with resection outside of OTC (n = 12), as well as in both hemispheres of TD controls (n = 21). There were no univariate group differences in the magnitude of CS or RS or any multivariate differences (per representational similarity analysis) in neural activation to faces, objects, or words across groups. Notwithstanding their comparable neural profiles, accuracy of OTC resection patients on face and object recognition, but not word recognition, was statistically inferior to that of controls. The comparable neural signature of the OTC resection patients' preserved hemisphere and the other two groups highlights the resilience of the system following damage to the contralateral homologue. Critically, however, a single OTC does not suffice for normal behavior, and, thereby, implicates the necessity for two hemispheres.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael C. Granovetter
- School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Anne Margarette S. Maallo
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Shouyu Ling
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Sophia Robert
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Erez Freud
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, CA
| | | | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Walsh E, Moreira C, Longo MR. Opposite size illusions for inverted faces and letters. Cognition 2024; 245:105733. [PMID: 38281395 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/21/2024] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Words are the primary means by which we communicate meaning and ideas, while faces provide important social cues. Studying visual illusions involving faces and words can elucidate the hierarchical processing of information as different regions of the brain are specialised for face recognition and word processing. A size illusion has previously been demonstrated for faces, whereby an inverted face is perceived as larger than the same stimulus upright. Here, two experiments replicate the face size illusion, and investigate whether the illusion is also present for individual letters (Experiment 1), and visual words and pseudowords (Experiment 2). Results confirm a robust size Illusion for faces. Letters, words and pseudowords and unfamiliar letters all show a reverse size illusion, as we previously demonstrated for human bodies. Overall, results indicate the illusion occurs in early perceptual stages upstream of semantic processing. Results are consistent with the idea of a general-purpose mechanism that encodes curvilinear shapes found in both scripts and our environment. Word and face perception rely on specialised, independent cognitive processes. The underestimation of the size of upright stimuli is specific to faces. Opposite size illusions may reflect differences in how size information is encoded and represented in stimulus-specialised neural networks, resulting in contrasting perceptual effects. Though words and faces differ visually, there is both symmetry and asymmetry in how the brain 'reads' them.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eamonn Walsh
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK; Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
| | - Carolina Moreira
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
| | - Matthew R Longo
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Kim S, Nam K, Lee EH. The interplay of semantic and syntactic processing across hemispheres. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5262. [PMID: 38438403 PMCID: PMC10912646 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-51793-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024] Open
Abstract
The current study investigated the hemispheric dynamics underlying semantic and syntactic priming in lexical decision tasks. Utilizing primed-lateralized paradigms, we observed a distinct pattern of semantic priming contingent on the priming hemisphere. The right hemisphere (RH) exhibited robust semantic priming irrespective of syntactic congruency between prime and target, underscoring its proclivity for semantic processing. Conversely, the left hemisphere (LH) demonstrated slower response times for semantically congruent yet syntactically incongruent word pairs, highlighting its syntactic processing specialization. Additionally, nonword data revealed a hemispheric divergence in syntactic processing, with the LH showing significant intrahemispheric syntactic priming. These findings illuminate the intrinsic hemispheric specializations for semantic and syntactic processing, offering empirical support for serial processing models. The study advances our understanding of the complex interplay between semantic and syntactic factors in hemispheric interactions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sangyub Kim
- Department of Psychology, Chonnam National University, 77, Yongbong-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 61217, Republic of Korea
| | - Kichun Nam
- Department of Psychology, Korea University, 145, Anam-ro, Seoungbuk-gu, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea
| | - Eun-Ha Lee
- Wisdom Science Center, Korea University, 145, Anam-ro, Seoungbuk-gu, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Ventura P, Pascual M, Cruz F, Araújo S. From Perugino to Picasso revisited: Electrophysiological responses to faces in paintings from different art styles. Neuropsychologia 2024; 193:108742. [PMID: 38056623 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral research (Ventura, et al., 2023) suggested that pictorial representations of faces varying along a realism-distortion spectrum elicit holistic processing as natural faces. Whether holistic face neural responses are engaged similarly remains, however, underexplored. In the present study, we evaluated the neural correlates of naturalist and artistic face processing, by exploring electrophysiological responses to faces in photographs versus in four major painting styles. The N170 response to faces in photographs was indistinguishable from that elicited by faces in the renaissance art style (depicting the most realistic faces), whilst both categories elicited larger N170 than faces in other art styles (post-impressionism, expressionism, and cubism), with a gradation in brain activity. The present evidence suggest that visual processing may become finer grained the more the realistic nature of the face. Despite behavioral equivalence, the neural mechanisms for holistic processing of natural faces and faces in diverse art styles are not equivalent.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paulo Ventura
- Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1649-013, Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Mariona Pascual
- Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1649-013, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Francisco Cruz
- Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1649-013, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Susana Araújo
- Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1649-013, Lisboa, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Kubota E, Grill-Spector K, Nordt M. Rethinking cortical recycling in ventral temporal cortex. Trends Cogn Sci 2024; 28:8-17. [PMID: 37858388 PMCID: PMC10841108 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
High-level visual areas in ventral temporal cortex (VTC) support recognition of important categories, such as faces and words. Word-selective regions are left lateralized and emerge at the onset of reading instruction. Face-selective regions are right lateralized and have been documented in infancy. Prevailing theories suggest that face-selective regions become right lateralized due to competition with word-selective regions in the left hemisphere. However, recent longitudinal studies examining face- and word-selective responses in childhood do not provide support for this theory. Instead, there is evidence that word representations recycle cortex previously involved in processing other stimuli, such as limbs. These findings call for more longitudinal investigations of cortical recycling and a new era of work that links visual experience and behavior with neural responses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emily Kubota
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Marisa Nordt
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; JARA-Brain Institute II, Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, RWTH Aachen and Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Ayzenberg V, Granovetter MC, Robert S, Patterson C, Behrmann M. Differential functional reorganization of ventral and dorsal visual pathways following childhood hemispherectomy. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 64:101323. [PMID: 37976921 PMCID: PMC10682827 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Hemispherectomy is a surgical procedure in which an entire hemisphere of a patient's brain is resected or functionally disconnected to manage seizures in individuals with drug-resistant epilepsy. Despite the extensive loss of both ventral and dorsal visual pathways in one hemisphere, pediatric patients who have undergone hemispherectomy show a remarkably high degree of perceptual function across many domains. In the current study, we sought to understand the extent to which functions of the ventral and dorsal visual pathways reorganize to the contralateral hemisphere following childhood hemispherectomy. To this end, we collected fMRI data from an equal number of left and right hemispherectomy patients who completed tasks that typically elicit lateralized responses from the ventral or the dorsal pathway, namely, word (left ventral), face (right ventral), tool (left dorsal), and global form (right dorsal) perception. Overall, there was greater evidence of functional reorganization in the ventral pathway than in the dorsal pathway. Importantly, because ventral and dorsal reorganization was tested within the very same patients, these results cannot be explained by idiosyncratic factors such as disease etiology, age at the time of surgery, or age at testing. These findings suggest that because the dorsal pathway may mature earlier, it may have a shorter developmental window of plasticity than the ventral pathway and, hence, be less malleable after perturbation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vladislav Ayzenberg
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, PA, USA.
| | - Michael C Granovetter
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, PA, USA; School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Sophia Robert
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, PA, USA
| | - Christina Patterson
- School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, PA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Gerlach C. Interdependency in lateralization of written word and face processing in right-handed individuals. Cortex 2023; 169:146-160. [PMID: 37913672 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
It has been suggested that the right hemisphere lateralization typically observed for face processing may depend on lateralization of written word processing to the left hemisphere; a pattern referred to as the causal complementary principle of lateralization. According to a strong version of this principle, a correlation should be found between the degree of left and right hemisphere lateralization for word and face processing respectively. This has been observed in two studies, but only for left-handed individuals. The present study tested whether a similar lateralization pattern could be found in a relatively large sample of right-handed individuals (N = 210) using behavioral measures (divided visual field paradigms). It was also tested whether the degree of right hemisphere lateralization for face and global shape processing would correlate positively, as predicted by a strong version of the input asymmetry principle of lateralization. This was tested in a subsample (n = 189). Bayesian analyses found no evidence for lateralization interdependency as the observed data were 4-17 times more likely under the null hypothesis. Unfortunately, the reliabilities of the lateralization measures were found to be poor. While this dampens the firmness of the conclusions that can be drawn, it is argued that at present there is no positive evidence for strong interdependency between written word and face processing in right-handed individuals.
Collapse
|
11
|
Lingelbach K, Gado S, Wirzberger M, Vukelić M. Workload-dependent hemispheric asymmetries during the emotion-cognition interaction: a close-to-naturalistic fNIRS study. FRONTIERS IN NEUROERGONOMICS 2023; 4:1273810. [PMID: 38234490 PMCID: PMC10790862 DOI: 10.3389/fnrgo.2023.1273810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Introduction We investigated brain activation patterns of interacting emotional distractions and cognitive processes in a close-to-naturalistic functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study. Methods Eighteen participants engaged in a monitoring-control task, mimicking common air traffic controller requirements. The scenario entailed experiencing both low and high workload, while concurrently being exposed to emotional speech distractions of positive, negative, and neutral valence. Results Our investigation identified hemispheric asymmetries in prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity during the presentation of negative and positive emotional speech distractions at different workload levels. Thereby, in particular, activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) seems to play a crucial role. Brain activation patterns revealed a cross-over interaction indicating workload-dependent left hemispheric inhibition processes during negative distractions and high workload. For positive emotional distractions under low workload, we observed left-hemispheric PFC recruitment potentially associated with speech-related processes. Furthermore, we found a workload-independent negativity bias for neutral distractions, showing brain activation patterns similar to those of negative distractions. Discussion In conclusion, lateralized hemispheric processing, regulating emotional speech distractions and integrating emotional and cognitive processes, is influenced by workload levels and stimulus characteristics. These findings advance our understanding of the factors modulating hemispheric asymmetries during the processing and inhibition of emotional distractions, as well as the interplay between emotion and cognition. Moreover, they emphasize the significance of exploring emotion-cognition interactions in more naturalistic settings to gain a deeper understanding of their implications in real-world application scenarios (e.g., working and learning environments).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Lingelbach
- Applied Neurocognitive Systems, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, Stuttgart, Germany
- Applied Neurocognitive Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Sabrina Gado
- Experimental Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Maria Wirzberger
- Department of Teaching and Learning with Intelligent Systems, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Mathias Vukelić
- Applied Neurocognitive Systems, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, Stuttgart, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Jozranjbar B, Kristjánsson Á, Starrfelt R, Gerlach C, Sigurdardottir HM. Using representational similarity analysis to reveal category and process specificity in visual object recognition. Cortex 2023; 166:172-187. [PMID: 37390594 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Revised: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/02/2023]
Abstract
Cross-condition comparisons on neurodevelopmental conditions are central in neurodiversity research. In the realm of visual perception, the performance of participants with different category-specific disorders such as developmental prosopagnosia (problems with faces) and dyslexia (problems with words) have contributed to understanding of perceptual processes involved in word and face recognition. Alterations in face and word recognition are present in several neurodiverse populations, and improved knowledge about their relationship may increase our understanding of this variability of impairment. The present study investigates organizing principles of visual object processing and their implications for developmental disorders of recognition. Some accounts suggest that distinct mechanisms are responsible for recognizing objects of different categories, while others propose that categories share or even compete for cortical resources. We took an individual differences approach to estimate the relationship between abilities in recognition. Neurotypical participants (N = 97 after outlier exclusion) performed a match-to-sample task with faces, houses, and pseudowords. Either individual features or feature configurations were manipulated. To estimate the separability of visual recognition mechanisms, we used representational similarity analysis (RSA) where correlational matrices for accuracy were compared to predicted data patterns. Recognition abilities separated into face recognition on one hand and house/pseudoword recognition on the other, indicating that face recognition may rely on relatively selective mechanisms in neurotypicals. We also found evidence for a general visual object recognition mechanism, while some combinations of category (faces, houses, words) and processing type (featural, configural) likely rely on additional mechanisms. Developmental conditions may therefore reflect combinations of impaired and intact aspects of specific and general visual object recognition mechanisms, where featural and configural processes for one object category separate from the featural or configural processing of another. More generally, RSA is a promising approach for advancing understanding of neurodiversity, including shared aspects and distinctions between neurodevelopmental conditions of visual recognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bahareh Jozranjbar
- Icelandic Vision Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Iceland, Iceland.
| | - Árni Kristjánsson
- Icelandic Vision Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Iceland, Iceland
| | - Randi Starrfelt
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Christian Gerlach
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Ayzenberg V, Granovetter MC, Robert S, Patterson C, Behrmann M. Differential functional reorganization of ventral and dorsal visual pathways following childhood hemispherectomy. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.08.03.551494. [PMID: 37577633 PMCID: PMC10418255 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.03.551494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Hemispherectomy is a surgical procedure in which an entire hemisphere of a patient's brain is resected or functionally disconnected to manage seizures in individuals with drug-resistant epilepsy. Despite the extensive loss of input from both ventral and dorsal visual pathways of one hemisphere, pediatric patients who have undergone hemispherectomy show a remarkably high degree of perceptual function across many domains. In the current study, we sought to understand the extent to which functions of the ventral and dorsal visual pathways reorganize to the contralateral hemisphere following childhood hemispherectomy. To this end, we collected fMRI data from an equal number of left and right hemispherectomy patients who completed tasks that typically elicit lateralized responses from the ventral or the dorsal pathway, namely, word (left ventral), face (right ventral), tool (left dorsal), and global form (right dorsal) perception. Overall, there was greater evidence of functional reorganization in the ventral pathway than in the dorsal pathway. Importantly, because ventral and dorsal reorganization was tested in the very same patients, these results cannot be explained by idiosyncratic factors such as disease etiology, age at the time of surgery, or age at testing. These findings suggest that because the dorsal pathway may mature earlier, it may have a shorter developmental window of plasticity than the ventral pathway and, hence, be less malleable.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vladislav Ayzenberg
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
| | - Michael C Granovetter
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
- School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
| | - Sophia Robert
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
| | - Christina Patterson
- School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Nischal RP, Behrmann M. Developmental emergence of holistic processing in word recognition. Dev Sci 2023; 26:e13372. [PMID: 36715650 PMCID: PMC10293114 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Holistic processing (HP) of faces refers to the obligatory, simultaneous processing of the parts and their relations, and it emerges over the course of development. HP is manifest in a decrement in the perception of inverted versus upright faces and a reduction in face processing ability when the relations between parts are perturbed. Here, adopting the HP framework for faces, we examined the developmental emergence of HP in another domain for which human adults have expertise, namely, visual word processing. Children, adolescents, and adults performed a lexical decision task and we used two established signatures of HP for faces: the advantage in perception of upright over inverted words and nonwords and the reduced sensitivity to increasing parts (word length). Relative to the other groups, children showed less of an advantage for upright versus inverted trials and lexical decision was more affected by increasing word length. Performance on these HP indices was strongly associated with age and with reading proficiency. Also, the emergence of HP for word perception was not simply a result of improved visual perception over the course of development as no group differences were observed on an object decision task. These results reveal the developmental emergence of HP for orthographic input, and reflect a further instance of experience-dependent tuning of visual perception. These results also add to existing findings on the commonalities of mechanisms of word and face recognition. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Children showed less of an advantage for upright versus inverted trials compared to adolescents and adults. Relative to the other groups, lexical decision in children was more affected by increasing word length. Performance on holistic processing (HP) indices was strongly associated with age and with reading proficiency. HP emergence for word perception was not due to improved visual perception over development as there were no group differences on an object decision task.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Tansey R, Graff K, Rohr CS, Dimond D, Ip A, Yin S, Dewey D, Bray S. Functional MRI responses to naturalistic stimuli are increasingly typical across early childhood. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 62:101268. [PMID: 37327695 PMCID: PMC10275704 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023] Open
Abstract
While findings show that throughout development, there are child- and age-specific patterns of brain functioning, there is also evidence for significantly greater inter-individual response variability in young children relative to adults. It is currently unclear whether this increase in functional "typicality" (i.e., inter-individual similarity) is a developmental process that occurs across early childhood, and what changes in BOLD response may be driving changes in typicality. We collected fMRI data from 81 typically developing 4-8-year-old children during passive viewing of age-appropriate television clips and asked whether there is increasing typicality of brain response across this age range. We found that the "increasing typicality" hypothesis was supported across many regions engaged by passive viewing. Post hoc analyses showed that in a priori ROIs related to language and face processing, the strength of the group-average shared component of activity increased with age, with no concomitant decline in residual signal or change in spatial extent or variability. Together, this suggests that increasing inter-individual similarity of functional responses to audiovisual stimuli is an important feature of early childhood functional brain development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ryann Tansey
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
| | - Kirk Graff
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Christiane S Rohr
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Dennis Dimond
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Amanda Ip
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Shelly Yin
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Deborah Dewey
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Signe Bray
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Yang Q, Zhang L, Chen C, Cao X. Literacy acquisition facilitates inversion effects for faces with full-, low-, and high-spatial frequency: evidence from illiterate and literate adults. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1061232. [PMID: 37168431 PMCID: PMC10164973 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1061232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have found that literacy acquisition modulates configural face processing (i.e., holistic and second-order configural processing). However, it remains unclear how literacy acquisition impacts the configural processing indexed by the inversion effect of normal or filtered faces. We asked Chinese illiterate and literate adults to judge whether two sequentially-presented stimuli, including faces, houses (experiment 1), and high- or low-pass filtered faces (experiment 2) were identical. Literate adults outperformed illiterate controls in the upright face and house conditions (experiment 1) and the upright high- and low-pass filtered conditions (experiment 2) but not in the inverted conditions. Notably, the size of an inversion effect (i.e., subtracting inverted accuracy from upright accuracy) was greater among literate adults than that among illiterate adults in both experiments. These findings support that literacy acquisition promotes configural face processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qi Yang
- School of Humanities, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Lina Zhang
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Changming Chen
- School of Educational Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xiaohua Cao
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory for the Mental Health and Crisis Intervention of Children and Adolescents, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Frisby SL, Halai AD, Cox CR, Lambon Ralph MA, Rogers TT. Decoding semantic representations in mind and brain. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27:258-281. [PMID: 36631371 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
A key goal for cognitive neuroscience is to understand the neurocognitive systems that support semantic memory. Recent multivariate analyses of neuroimaging data have contributed greatly to this effort, but the rapid development of these novel approaches has made it difficult to track the diversity of findings and to understand how and why they sometimes lead to contradictory conclusions. We address this challenge by reviewing cognitive theories of semantic representation and their neural instantiation. We then consider contemporary approaches to neural decoding and assess which types of representation each can possibly detect. The analysis suggests why the results are heterogeneous and identifies crucial links between cognitive theory, data collection, and analysis that can help to better connect neuroimaging to mechanistic theories of semantic cognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Saskia L Frisby
- Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK.
| | - Ajay D Halai
- Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK
| | - Christopher R Cox
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
| | - Matthew A Lambon Ralph
- Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK
| | - Timothy T Rogers
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1202 West Johnson Street, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Tablante J, Krossa L, Azimi T, Chen L. Dysfunctions associated with the intraparietal sulcus and a distributed network in individuals with math learning difficulties: An ALE meta-analysis. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:2726-2740. [PMID: 36807960 PMCID: PMC10089103 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Math learning difficulty (MLD) is a learning disorder characterized by persistent impairments in the understanding and application of numbers independent of intelligence or schooling. The current study aims to review existing neuroimaging studies to characterize the neurobiological basis in MLD for their quantity and arithmetic dysfunctions. We identified a total of 24 studies with 728 participants through the literature. Using the activation likelihood estimate (ALE) method, we found that the most consistent neurobiological dysfunction in MLD was observed in the right intraparietal sulcus (IPS) with distinct patterns of the anterior and posterior aspects. Meanwhile, neurobiological dysfunctions were also observed in a distributed network including the fusiform gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, insula, prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and claustrum. Our results suggest a core dysfunction in the right anterior IPS and left fusiform gyrus with atypically upregulated functions in brain regions for attention, working memory, visual processing, and motivation, serving as the neurobiological basis of MLD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Tablante
- Neuroscience Program, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, USA
| | - Lani Krossa
- Neuroscience Program, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, USA
| | - Tannaz Azimi
- Neuroscience Program, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, USA
| | - Lang Chen
- Neuroscience Program, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, USA.,Department of Psychology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, USA
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Maratos FA, Chu K, Lipka S, Stupple EJN, Parente F. Exploring pattern recognition: what is the relationship between the recognition of words, faces and other objects? Cogn Process 2023; 24:59-70. [PMID: 36376612 PMCID: PMC9898371 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-022-01111-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Debate surrounds processes of visual recognition, with no consensus as to whether recognition of distinct object categories (faces, bodies, cars, and words) is domain specific or subserved by domain-general visual recognition mechanisms. Here, we investigated correlations between the performance of 74 participants on recognition tasks for words, faces and other object categories. Participants completed a counter-balanced test battery of the Cambridge Face, Car and Body Parts Memory tests, as well as a standard four category lexical decision task, with response time and recognition accuracy as dependent variables. Results revealed significant correlations across domains for both recognition accuracy and response time, providing some support for domain-general pattern recognition. Further exploration of the data using principal component analysis (PCA) revealed a two-component model for both the response time and accuracy data. However, how the various word and object recognition tasks fitted these components varied considerably but did hint at familiarity/expertise as a common factor. In sum, we argue a complex relationship exists between domain-specific processing and domain-general processing, but that this is shaped by expertise. To further our understanding of pattern recognition, research investigating the recognition of words, faces and other objects in dyslexic individuals is recommended, as is research exploiting neuroimaging methodologies, with excellent temporal resolution, to chart the temporal specifics of different forms of visual pattern recognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- F. A. Maratos
- School of Psychology, College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby, UK
| | - K. Chu
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - S. Lipka
- School of Psychology, College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby, UK
| | - E. J. N. Stupple
- School of Psychology, College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby, UK
| | - F. Parente
- School of Psychology, College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby, UK
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
The mechanisms supporting holistic perception of words and faces are not independent. Mem Cognit 2022; 51:966-981. [PMID: 36376620 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-022-01369-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The question of whether word and face recognition rely on overlapping or dissociable neural and cognitive mechanisms received considerable attention in the literature. In the present work, we presented words (aligned or misaligned) superimposed on faces (aligned or misaligned) and tested the interference from the unattended stimulus category on holistic processing of the attended category. In Experiment 1, we found that holistic face processing is reduced when a face was overlaid with an unattended, aligned word (processed holistically). In Experiment 2, we found a similar reduction of holistic processing for words when a word was superimposed on an unattended, aligned face (processed holistically). This reciprocal interference effect indicates a trade-off in holistic processing of the two stimuli, consistent with the idea that word and face recognition may rely on non-independent, overlapping mechanisms.
Collapse
|
21
|
With childhood hemispherectomy, one hemisphere can support—but is suboptimal for—word and face recognition. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2212936119. [PMID: 36282918 PMCID: PMC9636967 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2212936119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The right and left cerebral hemispheres are important for face and word recognition, respectively—a specialization that emerges over human development. The question is whether this bilateral distribution is necessary or whether a single hemisphere, be it left or right, can support both face and word recognition. Here, face and word recognition accuracy in patients (median age 16.7 y) with a single hemisphere following childhood hemispherectomy was compared against matched typical controls. In experiment 1, participants viewed stimuli in central vision. Across both face and word tasks, accuracy of both left and right hemispherectomy patients, while significantly lower than controls' accuracy, averaged above 80% and did not differ from each other. To compare patients' single hemisphere more directly to one hemisphere of controls, in experiment 2, participants viewed stimuli in one visual field to constrain initial processing chiefly to a single (contralateral) hemisphere. Whereas controls had higher word accuracy when words were presented to the right than to the left visual field, there was no field/hemispheric difference for faces. In contrast, left and right hemispherectomy patients, again, showed comparable performance to one another on both face and word recognition, albeit significantly lower than controls. Altogether, the findings indicate that a single developing hemisphere, either left or right, may be sufficiently plastic for comparable representation of faces and words. However, perhaps due to increased competition or “neural crowding,” constraining cortical representations to one hemisphere may collectively hamper face and word recognition, relative to that observed in typical development with two hemispheres.
Collapse
|
22
|
Åsberg Johnels J, Galazka MA, Sundqvist M, Hadjikhani N. Left visual field bias during face perception aligns with individual differences in reading skills and is absent in dyslexia. BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [PMID: 36317253 DOI: 10.1111/bjep.12559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND When looking at faces, we tend to attend more to the left visual field (corresponding to the right side of the person's face). This phenomenon is called the left visual field bias (LVF) and is presumed to reflect the brain's right-sided dominance for face processing. Whether alterations in hemispheric dominance are present in dyslexia, and are linked with individual differences in word reading development more generally, is still unclear, and no prior research has utilized gaze-based LVF bias to explore these topics. AIMS The aim of the study was to examine whether the LVF bias differs in dyslexia and to examine the association with word-reading skills assessed dimensionally. SAMPLE Forty-six 9-13 year-old children with dyslexia and community control children, matched on age and listening comprehension. METHODS Participants were presented with a recorded face on a screen while their gaze patterns were collected with an eye tracker. Fixations to the left versus the right side of the face stimuli were compared. RESULTS Results showed a clear LVF bias in community controls, while no such bias was seen in the dyslexic group. Moreover, the strength of the LVF bias was correlated with better word reading in the controls. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest a link between weakened hemispheric dominance for face processing in dyslexia and in poor word reading, at least to the extent that the LVF bias actually mirrors underlying physiology. We discuss the implications of these novel findings, highlighting the need for future research to determine the specificity and developmental sources of LVF bias alterations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Åsberg Johnels
- Section of Speech and Language Pathology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Martyna A Galazka
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Maria Sundqvist
- Department of Education and Special Education, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Nouchine Hadjikhani
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Center, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Harvard Medical School/MGH/MIT, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Young children with autism show atypical prefrontal cortical responses to humanoid robots: An fNIRS study. Int J Psychophysiol 2022; 181:23-32. [PMID: 36037937 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Revised: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous behavioral studies have found that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show greater interest in humanoid robots than in humans. However, the neural mechanism underlying this is not clear. This study compared brain activation patterns between children with ASD and neurotypical children while they watched videos with robots and humans. METHOD We recruited 45 children with ASD and 53 neurotypical children aged 4-6 years and recorded their neural activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) using a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device when the two groups interacted with a robot or a human in a video. RESULTS First, neural activity in the right DLPFC in children with ASD was significantly lower in the robot condition than in the human condition. Neural activity in the right DLPFC in children with ASD was also significantly lower than that of neurotypical children in the robot condition. Second, the neural activity in the left DLPFC between the human and robot conditions was negatively correlated in children with ASD, while it was positively correlated in neurotypical children. Moreover, neural activity in the left DLPFC in children with ASD was significantly correlated with the ADOS scores in both conditions. CONCLUSIONS While neurotypical children showed comparable neural activity to humanoid robots and human beings, the children with ASD showed significantly different neural activity under those two conditions. Children with ASD may need more selective attention resources for human interaction than for robot interaction. It is also much more difficult for children with ASD to neglect the attraction of robots. Neural activity of the left DLPFC of children with ASD is correlated with their symptoms, which maybe a possible indicator for early diagnosis. Neural activity of the right DLPFC guided their atypical reactions and engagements with robots. Our study contributes to the current understanding of the neural mechanisms responsible for the different behavioral reactions in children with ASD toward robots and humans.
Collapse
|
24
|
Feng X, Monzalvo K, Dehaene S, Dehaene-Lambertz G. Evolution of reading and face circuits during the first three years of reading acquisition. Neuroimage 2022; 259:119394. [PMID: 35718022 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Revised: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Although words and faces activate neighboring regions in the fusiform gyrus, we lack an understanding of how such category selectivity emerges during development. To investigate the organization of reading and face circuits at the earliest stage of reading acquisition, we measured the fMRI responses to words, faces, houses, and checkerboards in three groups of 60 French children: 6-year-old pre-readers, 6-year-old beginning readers and 9-year-old advanced readers. The results showed that specific responses to written words were absent prior to reading, but emerged in beginning readers, irrespective of age. Likewise, specific responses to faces were barely visible in pre-readers and continued to evolve in the 9-year-olds, yet primarily driven by age rather than by schooling. Crucially, the sectors of ventral visual cortex that become specialized for words and faces harbored their own functional connectivity prior to reading acquisition: the VWFA with left-hemispheric spoken language areas, and the FFA with the contralateral region and the amygdalae. The results support the view that reading acquisition occurs through the recycling of a pre-existing but plastic circuit which, in pre-readers, already connects the VWFA site to other distant language areas. We argue that reading acquisition does not compete with the face system directly, through a pruning of preexisting face responses, but indirectly, by hindering the slow growth of face responses in the left hemisphere, thus increasing a pre-existing right hemispheric bias.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxia Feng
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CNRS ERL 9003, INSERM U992, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France
| | - Karla Monzalvo
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CNRS ERL 9003, INSERM U992, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France
| | - Stanislas Dehaene
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CNRS ERL 9003, INSERM U992, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Collège de France, Université PSL Paris Sciences Lettres, Paris, France
| | - Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CNRS ERL 9003, INSERM U992, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Lateralization of word and face processing in developmental dyslexia and developmental prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia 2022; 170:108208. [PMID: 35278463 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
In right-handed adults, face processing is lateralized to the right hemisphere and visual word processing to the left hemisphere. According to the many-to-many account (MTMA) of functional cerebral organization this lateralization pattern is partly dependent on the acquisition of literacy. Hence, the MTMA predicts that: (i) processing of both words and faces should show no or at least less lateralization in individuals with developmental dyslexia compared with controls, and (ii) lateralization in word processing should be normal in individuals with developmental prosopagnosia whereas lateralization in face processing should be absent. To test these hypotheses, 21 right-handed adults with developmental dyslexia and 21 right-handed adults with developmental prosopagnosia performed a divided visual field paradigm with delayed matching of faces, words and cars. Contrary to the predictions, we find that lateralization effects in face processing are within the normal range for both developmental dyslexics and prosopagnosics. Moreover, the group with developmental dyslexia showed right hemisphere lateralization for word processing. We argue that these findings are incompatible with the specific predictions of the MTMA.
Collapse
|
26
|
Mahon BZ. Domain-specific connectivity drives the organization of object knowledge in the brain. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2022; 187:221-244. [PMID: 35964974 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-823493-8.00028-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The goal of this chapter is to review neuropsychological and functional MRI findings that inform a theory of the causes of functional specialization for semantic categories within occipito-temporal cortex-the ventral visual processing pathway. The occipito-temporal pathway supports visual object processing and recognition. The theoretical framework that drives this review considers visual object recognition through the lens of how "downstream" systems interact with the outputs of visual recognition processes. Those downstream processes include conceptual interpretation, grasping and object use, navigating and orienting in an environment, physical reasoning about the world, and inferring future actions and the inner mental states of agents. The core argument of this chapter is that innately constrained connectivity between occipito-temporal areas and other regions of the brain is the basis for the emergence of neural specificity for a limited number of semantic domains in the brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bradford Z Mahon
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Ferrara K, Seydell-Greenwald A, Chambers CE, Newport EL, Landau B. Developmental changes in neural lateralization for visual-spatial function: Evidence from a line-bisection task. Dev Sci 2021; 25:e13217. [PMID: 34913543 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Studies of hemispheric specialization have traditionally cast the left hemisphere as specialized for language and the right hemisphere for spatial function. Much of the supporting evidence for this separation of function comes from studies of healthy adults and those who have sustained lesions to the right or left hemisphere. However, we know little about the developmental origins of lateralization. Recent evidence suggests that the young brain represents language bilaterally, with 4-6-year-olds activating the left-hemisphere regions known to support language in adults as well as homotopic regions in the right hemisphere. This bilateral pattern changes over development, converging on left-hemispheric activation in late childhood. In the present study, we ask whether this same developmental trajectory is observed in a spatial task that is strongly right-lateralized in adults-the line bisection (or "Landmark") task. We examined fMRI activation among children ages 5-11 years as they were asked to judge which end of a bisected vertical line was longer. We found that young children showed bilateral activation, with activation in the same areas of the right hemisphere as has been shown among adults, as well as in the left hemisphere homotopic regions. By age 10, activation was right-lateralized. This strongly resembles the developmental trajectory for language, moving from bilateral to lateralized activation. We discuss potential underlying mechanisms and suggest that understanding the development of lateralization for a range of cognitive functions can play a crucial role in understanding general principles of how and why the brain comes to lateralize certain functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katrina Ferrara
- Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.,Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Children's National Health System, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Anna Seydell-Greenwald
- Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Catherine E Chambers
- Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Elissa L Newport
- Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Barbara Landau
- Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.,Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Friedrich P, Patil KR, Mochalski LN, Li X, Camilleri JA, Kröll JP, Wiersch L, Eickhoff SB, Weis S. Is it left or is it right? A classification approach for investigating hemispheric differences in low and high dimensionality. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 227:425-440. [PMID: 34882263 PMCID: PMC8844166 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02418-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Hemispheric asymmetries, i.e., differences between the two halves of the brain, have extensively been studied with respect to both structure and function. Commonly employed pairwise comparisons between left and right are suitable for finding differences between the hemispheres, but they come with several caveats when assessing multiple asymmetries. What is more, they are not designed for identifying the characterizing features of each hemisphere. Here, we present a novel data-driven framework—based on machine learning-based classification—for identifying the characterizing features that underlie hemispheric differences. Using voxel-based morphometry data from two different samples (n = 226, n = 216), we separated the hemispheres along the midline and used two different pipelines: First, for investigating global differences, we embedded the hemispheres into a two-dimensional space and applied a classifier to assess if the hemispheres are distinguishable in their low-dimensional representation. Second, to investigate which voxels show systematic hemispheric differences, we employed two classification approaches promoting feature selection in high dimensions. The two hemispheres were accurately classifiable in both their low-dimensional (accuracies: dataset 1 = 0.838; dataset 2 = 0.850) and high-dimensional (accuracies: dataset 1 = 0.966; dataset 2 = 0.959) representations. In low dimensions, classification of the right hemisphere showed higher precision (dataset 1 = 0.862; dataset 2 = 0.894) compared to the left hemisphere (dataset 1 = 0.818; dataset 2 = 0.816). A feature selection algorithm in the high-dimensional analysis identified voxels that most contribute to accurate classification. In addition, the map of contributing voxels showed a better overlap with moderate to highly lateralized voxels, whereas conventional t test with threshold-free cluster enhancement best resembled the LQ map at lower thresholds. Both the low- and high-dimensional classifiers were capable of identifying the hemispheres in subsamples of the datasets, such as males, females, right-handed, or non-right-handed participants. Our study indicates that hemisphere classification is capable of identifying the hemisphere in their low- and high-dimensional representation as well as delineating brain asymmetries. The concept of hemisphere classifiability thus allows a change in perspective, from asking what differs between the hemispheres towards focusing on the features needed to identify the left and right hemispheres. Taking this perspective on hemispheric differences may contribute to our understanding of what makes each hemisphere special.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Friedrich
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52428, Jülich, Germany.
| | - Kaustubh R Patil
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52428, Jülich, Germany.,Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Lisa N Mochalski
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52428, Jülich, Germany.,Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Xuan Li
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52428, Jülich, Germany.,Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Julia A Camilleri
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52428, Jülich, Germany.,Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Jean-Philippe Kröll
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52428, Jülich, Germany.,Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Lisa Wiersch
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52428, Jülich, Germany.,Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52428, Jülich, Germany.,Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Susanne Weis
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52428, Jülich, Germany.,Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Sigurdardottir HM, Arnardottir A, Halldorsdottir ET. Faces and words are both associated and dissociated as evidenced by visual problems in dyslexia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23000. [PMID: 34837013 PMCID: PMC8626489 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02440-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Faces and words are traditionally assumed to be independently processed. Dyslexia is also traditionally thought to be a non-visual deficit. Counter to both ideas, face perception deficits in dyslexia have been reported. Others report no such deficits. We sought to resolve this discrepancy. 60 adults participated in the study (24 dyslexic, 36 typical readers). Feature-based processing and configural or global form processing of faces was measured with a face matching task. Opposite laterality effects in these tasks, dependent on left-right orientation of faces, supported that they tapped into separable visual mechanisms. Dyslexic readers tended to be poorer than typical readers at feature-based face matching while no differences were found for global form face matching. We conclude that word and face perception are associated when the latter requires the processing of visual features of a face, while processing the global form of faces apparently shares minimal-if any-resources with visual word processing. The current results indicate that visual word and face processing are both associated and dissociated-but this depends on what visual mechanisms are task-relevant. We suggest that reading deficits could stem from multiple factors, and that one such factor is a problem with feature-based processing of visual objects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Heida Maria Sigurdardottir
- Icelandic Vision Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Iceland, Saemundargata 12, 102, Reykjavik, Iceland.
| | - Alexandra Arnardottir
- Icelandic Vision Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Iceland, Saemundargata 12, 102, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | | |
Collapse
|
30
|
Is human face recognition lateralized to the right hemisphere due to neural competition with left-lateralized visual word recognition? A critical review. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 227:599-629. [PMID: 34731327 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02370-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The right hemispheric lateralization of face recognition, which is well documented and appears to be specific to the human species, remains a scientific mystery. According to a long-standing view, the evolution of language, which is typically substantiated in the left hemisphere, competes with the cortical space in that hemisphere available for visuospatial processes, including face recognition. Over the last decade, a specific hypothesis derived from this view according to which neural competition in the left ventral occipito-temporal cortex with selective representations of letter strings causes right hemispheric lateralization of face recognition, has generated considerable interest and research in the scientific community. Here, a systematic review of studies performed in various populations (infants, children, literate and illiterate adults, left-handed adults) and methodologies (behavior, lesion studies, (intra)electroencephalography, neuroimaging) offers little if any support for this reading lateralized neural competition hypothesis. Specifically, right-lateralized face-selective neural activity already emerges at a few months of age, well before reading acquisition. Moreover, consistent evidence of face recognition performance and its right hemispheric lateralization being modulated by literacy level during development or at adulthood is lacking. Given the absence of solid alternative hypotheses and the key role of neural competition in the sensory-motor cortices for selectivity of representations, learning, and plasticity, a revised language-related neural competition hypothesis for the right hemispheric lateralization of face recognition should be further explored in future research, albeit with substantial conceptual clarification and advances in methodological rigor.
Collapse
|
31
|
Chen J, Yuan P, Li H, Chen C, Jiang Y, Lee K. Music-reading expertise associates with face but not Chinese character processing ability. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 75:854-868. [PMID: 34609210 DOI: 10.1177/17470218211053144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
A growing number of behavioural and neuroimaging studies have investigated the cognitive mechanisms and neural substrates underlying various forms of visual expertise, such as face and word processing. However, it remains poorly understood whether and to what extent the acquisition of one form of expertise would be associated with that of another. The current study examined the relationship between music-reading expertise and face and Chinese character processing abilities. In a series of experiments, music experts and novices performed discrimination and recognition tasks of musical notations, faces, and words. Results consistently showed that musical experts responded more accurately to musical notations and faces, but not to words, than did musical novices. More intriguingly, the music expert's age of training onset could well predict their face but not word processing performance: the earlier musical experts began musical notation reading, the better their face processing performance. Taken together, our findings provide preliminary and converging evidence that music-reading expertise links with face, but not word, processing, and lend support to the notion that the development of different types of visual expertise may not be independent, but rather interact with each other during their acquisition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jie Chen
- School of Educational Science, Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Panpan Yuan
- School of Educational Science, Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Hong Li
- School of Educational Science, Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Changming Chen
- Department of Psychology, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang, China
| | - Yi Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Kang Lee
- Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Words as Visual Objects: Neural and Behavioral Evidence for High-Level Visual Impairments in Dyslexia. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11111427. [PMID: 34827427 PMCID: PMC8615820 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11111427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2021] [Revised: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia is defined by reading impairments that are disproportionate to intelligence, motivation, and the educational opportunities considered necessary for reading. Its cause has traditionally been considered to be a phonological deficit, where people have difficulties with differentiating the sounds of spoken language. However, reading is a multidimensional skill and relies on various cognitive abilities. These may include high-level vision—the processes that support visual recognition despite innumerable image variations, such as in viewpoint, position, or size. According to our high-level visual dysfunction hypothesis, reading problems of some people with dyslexia can be a salient manifestation of a more general deficit of high-level vision. This paper provides a perspective on how such non-phonological impairments could, in some cases, cause dyslexia. To argue in favor of this hypothesis, we will discuss work on functional neuroimaging, structural imaging, electrophysiology, and behavior that provides evidence for a link between high-level visual impairment and dyslexia.
Collapse
|
33
|
Feizabadi M, Albonico A, Starrfelt R, Barton JJS. Whole-object effects in visual word processing: Parallels with and differences from face recognition. Cogn Neuropsychol 2021; 38:231-257. [PMID: 34529548 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2021.1974369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Visual words and faces differ in their structural properties, but both are objects of high expertise. Holistic processing is said to characterize expert face recognition, but the extent to which whole-word processes contribute to word recognition is unclear, particularly as word recognition is thought to proceed by a component-based process. We review the evidence for experimental effects in word recognition that parallel those used to support holistic face processing, namely inversion effects, the part-whole task, and composite effects, as well as the status of whole-word processing in pure alexia and developmental dyslexia, contrasts between familiar and unfamiliar languages, and the differences between handwriting and typeset font. The observations support some parallels in whole-object influences between face and visual word recognition, but do not necessarily imply similar expert mechanisms. It remains to be determined whether and how the relative balance between part-based and whole-object processing differs for visual words and faces.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Monireh Feizabadi
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Andrea Albonico
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Randi Starrfelt
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jason J S Barton
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Acquired visual agnosia as an uncommon presentation of epileptic encephalopathy in a 6-year-old boy with CSWS. Epilepsy Behav Rep 2021; 16:100465. [PMID: 34258574 PMCID: PMC8253950 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebr.2021.100465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2021] [Revised: 06/05/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Acquired visual agnosia is an underrecognized and rare manifestation of CSWS. Highly specific spared and affected areas of visual performance may be seen. Methylprednisolone was found most effective to treat cognitive symptoms. Recovery on EEG (SWI) and neuropsychological results showed partial synchronicity. SWI is likely not the only neurophysiological marker of epileptic encephalopathy.
Background Acquired visual agnosia in the context of continuous spikes and waves during slow sleep (CSWS) is rarely described. We present a case of an almost 7-year-old boy who lost his ability to name pictures and recognize familiar faces. Initial encephalography (EEG) revealed sleep induced epileptiform activity with a spike-wave index (SWI) of 100%, predominanting in the left posterior head region. Methods Serial neuropsychological testing with concomitant EEG was done during the first 18 months of treatment with intravenous methylprednisolone. We administered intelligence scales, verbal tasks (memory, fluency), visual tasks (drawings, search, face recognition), and tasks requiring visual-verbal integration (picture naming, visual closure). Analyses Neuropsychological recovery studied with reliable cognitive change cut-offs and 95% confidence intervals. Results With treatment, there was an improvement of the EEG pattern (SWI reduction to 45%), followed by a relapse (SWI 82%). Neuropsychological measures in part synchronized with improvement, stability, and fluctuating values. Significant increases were seen on Verbal Comprehension Index and semantic memory. Visual Spatial Index remained unchanged (67 to 73). Naming pictures showed only limited change. Interpreting degraded pictures remained extremely difficult. Discussion Acquired visual agnosia may be seen in children with CSWS. Early recognition, prompt accurate treatment and tailored neuropsychological assessment remain crucial.
Collapse
|
35
|
Harrison MT, Strother L. Does face-selective cortex show a left visual field bias for centrally-viewed faces? Neuropsychologia 2021; 159:107956. [PMID: 34265343 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The left half of a centrally-viewed face contributes more strongly to recognition performance than the right. This left visual field (LVF) advantage is typically attributed to an untested assumption that face-selective cortex in the right hemisphere (RH) exhibits a contralateral bias, even for centrally-viewed faces. We tested the validity of this assumption using a behavioral measure of the LVF advantage and an fMRI experiment that measured laterality of face-selective cortex and neural contralateral bias. In the behavioral experiment, participants performed a chimeric face-matching task (Harrison and Strother, 2019). In the fMRI experiment, participants viewed chimeric faces comprised of face halves that either repeated or changed simultaneously in both hemifields, or repeated in one hemifield and changed in the other. This enabled us to measure lateralization of fMRI face-repetition suppression and hemifield-specific half-face sensitivity in face-selective cortex. We found that LVF bias in the fusiform face area (FFA) and right-lateralization of the FFA for changing versus repeated faces were both positively correlated with a behavioral measure of the LVF advantage for upright (but not inverted) faces. Results from regression analyses showed that LVF bias in the right FFA and FFA laterality make separable contributions to the prediction of our behavioral measure of the LVF bias for upright faces. Our results confirm a ubiquitous but previously untested assumption that RH superiority combined with contralateral bias in face-selective cortex explains the LVF advantage in face recognition. Specifically, our results show that neural LVF bias in the right FFA is sufficient to explain the relationship between FFA laterality and the perceptual LVF bias for centrally-viewed faces.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew T Harrison
- University of Nevada Reno Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, MS0296 1664 N. Virginia Street Reno, NV, 89557, USA.
| | - Lars Strother
- University of Nevada Reno Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, MS0296 1664 N. Virginia Street Reno, NV, 89557, USA
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Abstract
Understanding how the young infant brain starts to categorize the flurry of ambiguous sensory inputs coming in from its complex environment is of primary scientific interest. Here, we test the hypothesis that senses other than vision play a key role in initiating complex visual categorizations in 20 4-mo-old infants exposed either to a baseline odor or to their mother's odor while their electroencephalogram (EEG) is recorded. Various natural images of objects are presented at a 6-Hz rate (six images/second), with face-like object configurations of the same object categories (i.e., eliciting face pareidolia in adults) interleaved every sixth stimulus (i.e., 1 Hz). In the baseline odor context, a weak neural categorization response to face-like stimuli appears at 1 Hz in the EEG frequency spectrum over bilateral occipitotemporal regions. Critically, this face-like-selective response is magnified and becomes right lateralized in the presence of maternal body odor. This reveals that nonvisual cues systematically associated with human faces in the infant's experience shape the interpretation of face-like configurations as faces in the right hemisphere, dominant for face categorization. At the individual level, this intersensory influence is particularly effective when there is no trace of face-like categorization in the baseline odor context. These observations provide evidence for the early tuning of face-(like)-selective activity from multisensory inputs in the developing brain, suggesting that perceptual development integrates information across the senses for efficient category acquisition, with early maturing systems such as olfaction driving the acquisition of categories in later-developing systems such as vision.
Collapse
|
37
|
Lee KR, Groesbeck E, Gwinn OS, Webster MA, Jiang F. ENHANCED PERIPHERAL FACE PROCESSING IN DEAF INDIVIDUALS. JOURNAL OF PERCEPTUAL IMAGING 2021; 5:jpi0140. [PMID: 35434528 PMCID: PMC9007248 DOI: 10.2352/j.percept.imaging.2022.5.000401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Studies of compensatory changes in visual functions in response to auditory loss have shown that enhancements tend to be restricted to the processing of specific visual features, such as motion in the periphery. Previous studies have also shown that deaf individuals can show greater face processing abilities in the central visual field. Enhancements in the processing of peripheral stimuli are thought to arise from a lack of auditory input and a subsequent increase in the allocation of attentional resources to peripheral locations, while enhancements in face processing abilities are thought to be driven by experience with ASL and not necessarily hearing loss. This combined with the fact that face processing abilities typically decline with eccentricity suggests that face processing enhancements may not extend to the periphery for deaf individuals. Using a face matching task, we examined whether deaf individuals' enhanced ability to discriminate between faces extends to the peripheral visual field. Deaf participants were more accurate than hearing participants in discriminating faces presented both centrally and in the periphery. Our results support earlier findings that deaf individuals possess enhanced face discrimination abilities in the central visual field and further extend them by showing that these enhancements also occur in the periphery for more complex stimuli.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - O Scott Gwinn
- College of Education, Psychology, and Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
| | | | - Fang Jiang
- Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Blom JD, Ter Meulen BC, Dool J, Ffytche DH. A century of prosopometamorphopsia studies. Cortex 2021; 139:298-308. [PMID: 33865569 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Revised: 01/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Prosopometamorphopsia is an extremely rare disorder of visual perception characterised by facial distortions. We here review 81 cases (eight new ones and 73 cases published over the past century) to shed light on the perception of face gestalts. Our analysis indicates that the brain systems underlying the perception of face gestalts have genuine network properties, in the sense that they are widely disseminated and built such that spatially normal perception of faces can be maintained even when large parts of the network are compromised. We found that bilateral facial distortions were primarily associated with right-sided and bilateral occipital lesions, and unilateral facial distortions with lesions ipsilateral to the distorted hemifield and with the splenium of the corpus callosum. We also found tentative evidence for the involvement of the left frontal regions in the fusing of vertical hemi-images of faces, and of right parietal regions in the fusing of horizontal hemi-images. Evidence supporting the remarkable adaptability of the network comes from the relatively high recovery rates that we found, from the ipsilateral hemifield predominance of hemi-prosopometamorphopsia, and from a phenomenon called cerebral asthenopia (heightened visual fatigability) which points to the dynamic nature of compensatory mechanisms maintaining normal face perception, even in chronic cases of prosopometamorphopsia. Finally, our analysis suggests that specialised networks for the representation of face gestalts in familiar-versus-unfamiliar faces and for own-versus-other face may be present, although this is in need of further study.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jan Dirk Blom
- Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, the Netherlands; Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
| | | | - Jitze Dool
- Department of Neurology, Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Dominic H Ffytche
- Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Camberwell, London, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Kühn CD, Wilms IL, Dalrymple KA, Gerlach C, Starrfelt R. Face recognition in beginning readers: Investigating the potential relationship between reading and face recognition during the first year of school. VISUAL COGNITION 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2021.1884151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Christina D. Kühn
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Inge L. Wilms
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Kirsten A. Dalrymple
- Institute of Child Development, institution>University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Christian Gerlach
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Randi Starrfelt
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Chen Y, Slinger M, Edgar JC, Bloy L, Kuschner ES, Kim M, Green HL, Chiang T, Yount T, Liu S, Lebus J, Lam S, Stephen JM, Huang H, Roberts TPL. Maturation of hemispheric specialization for face encoding during infancy and toddlerhood. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2021; 48:100918. [PMID: 33571846 PMCID: PMC7876542 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Revised: 12/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Using infant magnetoencephalography (MEG), study findings show maturational changes to fusiform gyrus (FFG) activity when viewing faces. Earlier right FFG activity to face stimuli is associated with better social and cognitive ability. Stronger right- than left-hemisphere FFG responses to face stimuli are most evident after 1 year of age.
Little is known about the neural processes associated with attending to social stimuli during infancy and toddlerhood. Using infant magnetoencephalography (MEG), fusiform gyrus (FFG) activity while processing Face and Non-Face stimuli was examined in 46 typically developing infants 3 to 24 months old (28 males). Several findings indicated FFG maturation throughout the first two years of life. First, right FFG responses to Face stimuli decreased as a function of age. Second, hemispheric specialization to the face stimuli developed somewhat slowly, with earlier right than left FFG peak activity most evident after 1 year of age. Right FFG activity to Face stimuli was of clinical interest, with an earlier right FFG response associated with better performance on tests assessing social and cognitive ability. Building on the above, clinical studies examining maturational change in FFG activity (e.g., lateralization and speed) in infants at-risk for childhood disorders associated with social deficits are of interest to identify atypical FFG maturation before a formal diagnosis is possible.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yuhan Chen
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Michelle Slinger
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - J Christopher Edgar
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Luke Bloy
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Emily S Kuschner
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Mina Kim
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Heather L Green
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Taylor Chiang
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Tess Yount
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Song Liu
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Jill Lebus
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Samantha Lam
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Julia M Stephen
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM, 87106, USA
| | - Hao Huang
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Timothy P L Roberts
- Lurie Family Foundations MEG Imaging Center, Dept. of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Unified Visual Working Memory without the Anterior Corpus Callosum. Symmetry (Basel) 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/sym12122106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the most fundamental, and most studied, human cognitive functions is working memory. Yet, it is currently unknown how working memory is unified. In other words, why does a healthy human brain have one integrated capacity of working memory, rather than one capacity per visual hemifield, for instance. Thus, healthy subjects can memorize roughly as many items, regardless of whether all items are presented in one hemifield, rather than throughout two visual hemifields. In this current research, we investigated two patients in whom either most, or the entire, corpus callosum has been cut to alleviate otherwise untreatable epilepsy. Crucially, in both patients the anterior parts connecting the frontal and most of the parietal cortices, are entirely removed. This is essential, since it is often posited that working memory resides in these areas of the cortex. We found that despite the lack of direct connections between the frontal cortices in these patients, working memory capacity is similar regardless of whether stimuli are all presented in one visual hemifield or across two visual hemifields. This indicates that in the absence of the anterior parts of the corpus callosum working memory remains unified. Moreover, it is important to note that memory performance was not similar across visual fields. In fact, capacity was higher when items appeared in the left visual hemifield than when they appeared in the right visual hemifield. Visual information in the left hemifield is processed by the right hemisphere and vice versa. Therefore, this indicates that visual working memory is not symmetric, with the right hemisphere having a superior visual working memory. Nonetheless, a (subcortical) bottleneck apparently causes visual working memory to be integrated, such that capacity does not increase when items are presented in two, rather than one, visual hemifield.
Collapse
|
42
|
Yates TS, Ellis CT, Turk-Browne NB. Emergence and organization of adult brain function throughout child development. Neuroimage 2020; 226:117606. [PMID: 33271266 PMCID: PMC8323508 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2020] [Revised: 11/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Adult cognitive neuroscience has guided the study of human brain development by identifying regions associated with cognitive functions at maturity. The activity, connectivity, and structure of a region can be compared across ages to characterize the developmental trajectory of the corresponding function. However, developmental differences may reflect both the maturation of the function and also its organization across the brain. That is, a function may be present in children but supported by different brain regions, leading its maturity to be underestimated. Here we test the presence, maturity, and localization of adult functions in children using shared response modeling, a machine learning approach for functional alignment. After learning a lower-dimensional feature space from fMRI activity as adults watched a movie, we translated these shared features into the anatomical brain space of children 3–12 years old. To evaluate functional maturity, we correlated this reconstructed activity with children’s actual fMRI activity as they watched the same movie. We found reliable correlations throughout cortex, even in the youngest children. The strength of the correlation in the precuneus, inferior frontal gyrus, and lateral occipital cortex predicted chronological age. These age-related changes were driven by three types of developmental trajectories: emergence from absence to presence, consistency in anatomical expression, and reorganization from one anatomical region to another. We also found evidence that the processing of pain-related events in the movie underwent reorganization across childhood. This data-driven, naturalistic approach provides a new perspective on the development of functional neuroanatomy throughout childhood.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tristan S Yates
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
| | - Cameron T Ellis
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
43
|
Kühn CD, Gerlach C, Andersen KB, Poulsen M, Starrfelt R. Face recognition in developmental dyslexia: evidence for dissociation between faces and words. Cogn Neuropsychol 2020; 38:107-115. [PMID: 33241970 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2020.1847060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia is primarily a reading disorder, but recent studies have indicated that face processing problems may also be present. Using a case-series approach, we tested face recognition and visual word recognition in 24 high school students diagnosed with developmental dyslexia. Contrary to previous findings, no face recognition problems were found on the group-level. Rather, a significant classical dissociation with impaired word reading and normal face recognition was demonstrated on a group-level and for six individuals with developmental dyslexia. However, four individuals with dyslexia did show face recognition problems. Thus, while problems in face recognition can be present in developmental dyslexia, the dissociation strongly suggests that face recognition can also be preserved. Combined with previously reported dissociations between face and word recognition in developmental prosopagnosia, this constitutes a double dissociation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christina D Kühn
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Christian Gerlach
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | | | - Mads Poulsen
- Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Randi Starrfelt
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Furubacke A, Albonico A, Barton JJS. Alternating dual-task interference between visual words and faces. Brain Res 2020; 1746:147004. [PMID: 32615082 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2020.147004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Revised: 02/12/2020] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The many-to-many hypothesis proposes that face and visual word recognition share and even compete for high-level perceptual resources in both hemispheres. However, it is still not clear whether the processing performed by the two hemispheres on faces and visual words is equivalent or complementary. We performed an alternating dual-task experiment to determine if the processing of visual words and faces interfered with each other, and if such interference depended upon the stimulus attribute being processed. Subjects saw a series of alternating stimuli and made same-different judgments comparing the current stimulus with the one two trials before. In some blocks faces or visual words alternated with colored gratings, in other blocks they alternated between different sets of words or different sets of faces. In the key experimental blocks they alternated between visual words and faces. Subjects were also asked to focus on different properties of the stimuli (identity or speech sounds for faces, handwriting or word content for visual words, color or orientation for gratings). There was no evidence of specific interference when subjects alternated between face and word attributes thought to be processed by opposite hemispheres (e.g. face identity and word identity, facial speech and handwriting). Rather interference occurred when subjects alternated between attributes that may be processed by the same hemisphere. The results support a modified version of the many-to-many hypothesis which takes into account complementary functions of the left and the right hemispheres in the processing of faces and visual words.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Furubacke
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Faculty of Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Andrea Albonico
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Jason J S Barton
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Li J, Osher DE, Hansen HA, Saygin ZM. Innate connectivity patterns drive the development of the visual word form area. Sci Rep 2020; 10:18039. [PMID: 33093478 PMCID: PMC7582172 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75015-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
What determines the functional organization of cortex? One hypothesis is that innate connectivity patterns, either structural or functional connectivity, set up a scaffold upon which functional specialization can later take place. We tested this hypothesis by asking whether the visual word form area (VWFA), an experience-driven region, was already functionally connected to proto language networks in neonates scanned within one week of birth. Using the data from the Human Connectone Project (HCP) and the Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP), we calculated intrinsic functional connectivity during resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and found that neonates showed similar functional connectivity patterns to adults. We observed that (1) language regions connected more strongly with the putative VWFA than other adjacent ventral visual regions that also show foveal bias, and (2) the VWFA connected more strongly with frontotemporal language regions than with regions adjacent to these language regions. These data suggest that the location of the VWFA is earmarked at birth due to its connectivity with the language network, providing evidence that innate connectivity instructs the later refinement of cortex.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jin Li
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
| | - David E Osher
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Heather A Hansen
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Zeynep M Saygin
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Hildesheim FE, Debus I, Kessler R, Thome I, Zimmermann KM, Steinsträter O, Sommer J, Kamp-Becker I, Stark R, Jansen A. The Trajectory of Hemispheric Lateralization in the Core System of Face Processing: A Cross-Sectional Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Pilot Study. Front Psychol 2020; 11:507199. [PMID: 33123034 PMCID: PMC7566903 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.507199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Face processing is mediated by a distributed neural network commonly divided into a “core system” and an “extended system.” The core system consists of several, typically right-lateralized brain regions in the occipito-temporal cortex, including the occipital face area (OFA), the fusiform face area (FFA) and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). It was recently proposed that the face processing network is initially bilateral and becomes right-specialized in the course of the development of reading abilities due to the competition between language-related regions in the left occipito-temporal cortex (e.g., the visual word form area, VWFA) and the FFA for common neural resources. In the present pilot study, we assessed the neural face processing network in 12 children (aged 7–9 years) and 10 adults with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The hemispheric lateralization of the core face regions was compared between both groups. The study had two goals: First, we aimed to establish an fMRI paradigm suitable for assessing activation in the core system of face processing in young children at the single subject level. Second, we planned to collect data for a power analysis to calculate the necessary group size for a large-scale cross-sectional imaging study assessing the ontogenetic development of the lateralization of the face processing network, with focus on the FFA. It was possible to detect brain activity in the core system of 75% of children at the single subject level. The average scan-to-scan motion of the included children was comparable to adults, ruling out that potential activation differences between groups are caused by unequal motion artifacts. Hemispheric lateralization of the FFA was 0.07 ± 0.48 in children (indicating bilateral activation) and −0.32 ± 0.52 in adults (indicating right-hemispheric dominance). These results thus showed, as expected, a trend for increased lateralization in adults. The estimated effect size for the FFA lateralization difference was d = 0.78 (indicating medium to large effects). An adequately powered follow-up study (sensitivity 0.8) testing developmental changes of FFA lateralization would therefore require the inclusion of 18 children and 26 adults.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Franziska E Hildesheim
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.,Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Isabell Debus
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.,Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Roman Kessler
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.,Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Ina Thome
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.,Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Kristin M Zimmermann
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.,Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Olaf Steinsträter
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,Core-Facility Brainimaging, Faculty of Medicine, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Jens Sommer
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,Core-Facility Brainimaging, Faculty of Medicine, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Inge Kamp-Becker
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Rudolf Stark
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Andreas Jansen
- Laboratory for Multimodal Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.,Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg and Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,Core-Facility Brainimaging, Faculty of Medicine, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Lochy A, Schiltz C, Rossion B. The right hemispheric dominance for face perception in preschool children depends on the visual discrimination level. Dev Sci 2020; 23:e12914. [PMID: 31618490 PMCID: PMC7379294 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 10/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The developmental origin of human adults' right hemispheric dominance in response to face stimuli remains unclear, in particular because young infants' right hemispheric advantage in face-selective response is no longer present in preschool children, before written language acquisition. Here we used fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) with scalp electroencephalography (EEG) to test 52 preschool children (5.5 years old) at two different levels of face discrimination: discrimination of faces against objects, measuring face-selectivity, or discrimination between individual faces. While the contrast between faces and nonface objects elicits strictly bilateral occipital responses in children, strengthening previous observations, discrimination of individual faces in the same children reveals a strong right hemispheric lateralization over the occipitotemporal cortex. Picture-plane inversion of the face stimuli significantly decreases the individual discrimination response, although to a much smaller extent than in older children and adults tested with the same paradigm. However, there is only a nonsignificant trend for a decrease in right hemispheric lateralization with inversion. There is no relationship between the right hemispheric lateralization in individual face discrimination and preschool levels of readings abilities. The observed difference in the right hemispheric lateralization obtained in the same population of children with two different paradigms measuring neural responses to faces indicates that the level of visual discrimination is a key factor to consider when making inferences about the development of hemispheric lateralization of face perception in the human brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aliette Lochy
- Cognitive Science and Assessment InstituteEducation, Culture, Cognition, and Society Research UnitUniversity of LuxemburgEsch‐sur AlzetteLuxembourg
| | - Christine Schiltz
- Cognitive Science and Assessment InstituteEducation, Culture, Cognition, and Society Research UnitUniversity of LuxemburgEsch‐sur AlzetteLuxembourg
| | - Bruno Rossion
- IPSYUniversité Catholique de LouvainLouvain‐La‐NeuveBelgium
- CNRSCRANUniversité de LorraineNancyFrance
- CHRU‐NancyUniversité de LorraineNancyFrance
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Behrmann M, Plaut DC. Hemispheric Organization for Visual Object Recognition: A Theoretical Account and Empirical Evidence. Perception 2020; 49:373-404. [PMID: 31980013 PMCID: PMC9944149 DOI: 10.1177/0301006619899049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Despite the similarity in structure, the hemispheres of the human brain have somewhat different functions. A traditional view of hemispheric organization asserts that there are independent and largely lateralized domain-specific regions in ventral occipitotemporal (VOTC), specialized for the recognition of distinct classes of objects. Here, we offer an alternative account of the organization of the hemispheres, with a specific focus on face and word recognition. This alternative account relies on three computational principles: distributed representations and knowledge, cooperation and competition between representations, and topography and proximity. The crux is that visual recognition results from a network of regions with graded functional specialization that is distributed across both hemispheres. Specifically, the claim is that face recognition, which is acquired relatively early in life, is processed by VOTC regions in both hemispheres. Once literacy is acquired, word recognition, which is co-lateralized with language areas, primarily engages the left VOTC and, consequently, face recognition is primarily, albeit not exclusively, mediated by the right VOTC. We review psychological and neural evidence from a range of studies conducted with normal and brain-damaged adults and children and consider findings which challenge this account. Last, we offer suggestions for future investigations whose findings may further refine this account.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - David C. Plaut
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Sehyr ZS, Midgley KJ, Holcomb PJ, Emmorey K, Plaut DC, Behrmann M. Unique N170 signatures to words and faces in deaf ASL signers reflect experience-specific adaptations during early visual processing. Neuropsychologia 2020; 141:107414. [PMID: 32142729 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2019] [Revised: 02/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies with deaf adults reported reduced N170 waveform asymmetry to visual words, a finding attributed to reduced phonological mapping in left-hemisphere temporal regions compared to hearing adults. An open question remains whether this pattern indeed results from reduced phonological processing or from general neurobiological adaptations in visual processing of deaf individuals. Deaf ASL signers and hearing nonsigners performed a same-different discrimination task with visually presented words, faces, or cars, while scalp EEG time-locked to the onset of the first item in each pair was recorded. For word recognition, the typical left-lateralized N170 in hearing participants and reduced left-sided asymmetry in deaf participants were replicated. The groups did not differ on word discrimination but better orthographic skill was associated with larger N170 in the right hemisphere only for deaf participants. Face recognition was characterized by unique N170 signatures for both groups, and deaf individuals exhibited superior face discrimination performance. Laterality or discrimination performance effects did not generalize to the N170 responses to cars, confirming that deaf signers are not inherently less lateralized in their electrophysiological responses to words and critically, giving support to the phonological mapping hypothesis. P1 was attenuated for deaf participants compared to the hearing, but in both groups, P1 selectively discriminated between highly learned familiar objects - words and faces versus less familiar objects - cars. The distinct electrophysiological signatures to words and faces reflected experience-driven adaptations to words and faces that do not generalize to object recognition.
Collapse
|
50
|
Does right hemisphere superiority sufficiently explain the left visual field advantage in face recognition? Atten Percept Psychophys 2019; 82:1205-1220. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-019-01896-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
|