1
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Nørkær E, Gobbo S, Roald T, Starrfelt R. Disentangling developmental prosopagnosia: A scoping review of terms, tools and topics. Cortex 2024; 176:161-193. [PMID: 38795651 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.04.011] [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: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/28/2024]
Abstract
The goal of this preregistered scoping review is to create an overview of the research on developmental prosopagnosia (DP). Through analysis of all empirical studies of DP in adults, we investigate 1) how DP is conceptualized and defined, 2) how individuals are classified with DP and 3) which aspects of DP are investigated in the literature. We reviewed 224 peer-reviewed studies of DP. Our analysis of the literature reveals that while DP is predominantly defined as a lifelong face recognition impairment in the absence of acquired brain injury and intellectual/cognitive problems, there is far from consensus on the specifics of the definition with some studies emphasizing e.g., deficits in face perception, discrimination and/or matching as core characteristics of DP. These differences in DP definitions is further reflected in the vast heterogeneity in classification procedures. Only about half of the included studies explicitly state how they classify individuals with DP, and these studies adopt 40 different assessment tools. The two most frequently studied aspects of DP are the role of holistic processing and the specificity of face processing, and alongside a substantial body of neuroimaging studies of DP, this paints a picture of a research field whose scientific interests and aims are rooted in cognitive neuropsychology and neuroscience. We argue that these roots - alongside the heterogeneity in DP definition and classification - may have limited the scope and interest of DP research unnecessarily, and we point to new avenues of research for the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erling Nørkær
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Silvia Gobbo
- Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy
| | - Tone Roald
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
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2
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Reinke P, Deneke L, Ocklenburg S. Asymmetries in event-related potentials part 1: A systematic review of face processing studies. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 202:112386. [PMID: 38914138 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112386] [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: 03/08/2024] [Revised: 06/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
The human brain shows distinct lateralized activation patterns for a range of cognitive processes. One such function, which is thought to be lateralized to the right hemisphere (RH), is human face processing. Its importance for social communication and interaction has led to a plethora of studies investigating face processing in health and disease. Temporally highly resolved methods, like event-related potentials (ERPs), allow for a detailed characterization of different processing stages and their specific lateralization patterns. This systematic review aimed at disentangling some of the contradictory findings regarding the RH specialization in face processing focusing on ERP research in healthy participants. Two databases were searched for studies that investigated left and right electrodes while participants viewed (mostly neutral) facial stimuli. The included studies used a variety of different tasks, which ranged from passive viewing to memorizing faces. The final data selection highlights, that strongest lateralization to the RH was found for the N170, especially for right-handed young male participants. Left-handed, female, and older participants showed less consistent lateralization patterns. Other ERP components like the P1, P2, N2, P3, and the N400 were overall less clearly lateralized. The current review highlights that many of the assumed lateralization patterns are less clear than previously thought and that the variety of stimuli, tasks, and EEG setups used, might contribute to the ambiguous findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petunia Reinke
- Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Lisa Deneke
- Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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3
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Bogler C, Zangrossi A, Miller C, Sartori G, Haynes J. Have you been there before? Decoding recognition of spatial scenes from fMRI signals in precuneus. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26690. [PMID: 38703117 PMCID: PMC11069338 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26690] [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: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024] Open
Abstract
One potential application of forensic "brain reading" is to test whether a suspect has previously experienced a crime scene. Here, we investigated whether it is possible to decode real life autobiographic exposure to spatial locations using fMRI. In the first session, participants visited four out of eight possible rooms on a university campus. During a subsequent scanning session, subjects passively viewed pictures and videos from these eight possible rooms (four old, four novel) without giving any responses. A multivariate searchlight analysis was employed that trained a classifier to distinguish between "seen" versus "unseen" stimuli from a subset of six rooms. We found that bilateral precuneus encoded information that can be used to distinguish between previously seen and unseen rooms and that also generalized to the two stimuli left out from training. We conclude that activity in bilateral precuneus is associated with the memory of previously visited rooms, irrespective of the identity of the room, thus supporting a parietal contribution to episodic memory for spatial locations. Importantly, we could decode whether a room was visited in real life without the need of explicit judgments about the rooms. This suggests that recognition is an automatic response that can be decoded from fMRI data, thus potentially supporting forensic applications of concealed information tests for crime scene recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carsten Bogler
- Bernstein Center for Computational NeuroscienceCharité‐Universitätsmedizin BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Andrea Zangrossi
- Department of General PsychologyUniversity of PadovaPadovaItaly
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC)University of PadovaPadovaItaly
| | - Chantal Miller
- Berlin School of Mind and BrainHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
| | | | - John‐Dylan Haynes
- Bernstein Center for Computational NeuroscienceCharité‐Universitätsmedizin BerlinBerlinGermany
- Berlin School of Mind and BrainHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Max Planck School of CognitionLeipzigGermany
- Berlin Center for Advanced NeuroimagingCharité‐Universitätsmedizin BerlinBerlinGermany
- Clinic of NeurologyCharité‐Universitätsmedizin BerlinBerlinGermany
- Institute of PsychologyHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
- Cluster of Excellence “Science of Intelligence”Berlin Institute of TechnologyBerlinGermany
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4
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Epihova G, Astle DE. What is developmental about developmental prosopagnosia? Cortex 2024; 173:333-338. [PMID: 38460488 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.02.006] [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: 09/04/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/11/2024]
Abstract
Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is characterised by difficulties recognising face identities and is associated with diverse co-occurring object recognition difficulties. The high co-occurrence rate and heterogeneity of associated difficulties in DP is an intrinsic feature of developmental conditions, where co-occurrence of difficulties is the rule, rather than the exception. However, despite its name, cognitive and neural theories of DP rarely consider the developmental context in which these difficulties occur. This leaves a large gap in our understanding of how DP emerges in light of the developmental trajectory of face recognition. Here, we argue that progress in the field requires re-considering the developmental origins of differences in face recognition abilities, rather than studying the end-state alone. In practice, considering development in DP necessitates a re-evaluation of current approaches in recruitment, design, and analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Epihova
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Duncan E Astle
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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5
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Manippa V, Palmisano A, Ventura M, Rivolta D. The Neural Correlates of Developmental Prosopagnosia: Twenty-Five Years on. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1399. [PMID: 37891769 PMCID: PMC10605188 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13101399] [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: 08/08/2023] [Revised: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Faces play a crucial role in social interactions. Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) refers to the lifelong difficulty in recognizing faces despite the absence of obvious signs of brain lesions. In recent decades, the neural substrate of this condition has been extensively investigated. While early neuroimaging studies did not reveal significant functional and structural abnormalities in the brains of individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DPs), recent evidence identifies abnormalities at multiple levels within DPs' face-processing networks. The current work aims to provide an overview of the convergent and contrasting findings by examining twenty-five years of neuroimaging literature on the anatomo-functional correlates of DP. We included 55 original papers, including 63 studies that compared the brain structure (MRI) and activity (fMRI, EEG, MEG) of healthy control participants and DPs. Despite variations in methods, procedures, outcomes, sample selection, and study design, this scoping review suggests that morphological, functional, and electrophysiological features characterize DPs' brains, primarily within the ventral visual stream. Particularly, the functional and anatomical connectivity between the Fusiform Face Area and the other face-sensitive regions seems strongly impaired. The cognitive and clinical implications as well as the limitations of these findings are discussed in light of the available knowledge and challenges in the context of DP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerio Manippa
- Department of Education, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70122 Bari, Italy; (V.M.); (A.P.); (M.V.)
| | - Annalisa Palmisano
- Department of Education, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70122 Bari, Italy; (V.M.); (A.P.); (M.V.)
- Chair of Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, TUD Dresden University of Technology, 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Martina Ventura
- Department of Education, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70122 Bari, Italy; (V.M.); (A.P.); (M.V.)
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour, and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney 2145, Australia
| | - Davide Rivolta
- Department of Education, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70122 Bari, Italy; (V.M.); (A.P.); (M.V.)
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Schroeger A, Kaufmann JM, Zäske R, Kovács G, Klos T, Schweinberger SR. Atypical prosopagnosia following right hemispheric stroke: A 23-year follow-up study with M.T. Cogn Neuropsychol 2022; 39:196-207. [PMID: 36202621 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2022.2119838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Most findings on prosopagnosia to date suggest preserved voice recognition in prosopagnosia (except in cases with bilateral lesions). Here we report a follow-up examination on M.T., suffering from acquired prosopagnosia following a large unilateral right-hemispheric lesion in frontal, parietal, and anterior temporal areas excluding core ventral occipitotemporal face areas. Twenty-three years after initial testing we reassessed face and object recognition skills [Henke, K., Schweinberger, S. R., Grigo, A., Klos, T., & Sommer, W. (1998). Specificity of face recognition: Recognition of exemplars of non-face objects in prosopagnosia. Cortex, 34(2), 289-296]; [Schweinberger, S. R., Klos, T., & Sommer, W. (1995). Covert face recognition in prosopagnosia - A dissociable function? Cortex, 31(3), 517-529] and additionally studied voice recognition. Confirming the persistence of deficits, M.T. exhibited substantial impairments in famous face recognition and memory for learned faces, but preserved face matching and object recognition skills. Critically, he showed substantially impaired voice recognition skills. These findings are congruent with the ideas that (i) prosopagnosia after right anterior temporal lesions can persist over long periods > 20 years, and that (ii) such lesions can be associated with both facial and vocal deficits in person recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Schroeger
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.,Department for General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.,Department for the Psychology of Human Movement and Sport, Institute of Sport Science, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Jürgen M Kaufmann
- Department for General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.,DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Romi Zäske
- Department for General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.,DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Gyula Kovács
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.,Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neurosciences, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | | | - Stefan R Schweinberger
- Department for General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.,DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
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7
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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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradford Z Mahon
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
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8
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Gobbo S, Calati R, Silveri MC, Pini E, Daini R. The rehabilitation of object agnosia and prosopagnosia: A systematic review. Restor Neurol Neurosci 2022; 40:217-240. [PMID: 36155537 DOI: 10.3233/rnn-211234] [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
BACKGROUND Agnosia for objects is often overlooked in neuropsychology, especially with respect to rehabilitation. Prosopagnosia has been studied more extensively, yet there have been few attempts at training it. The lack of training protocols may partially be accounted for by their relatively low incidence and specificity to sensory modality. However, finding effective rehabilitations for such deficits may help to reduce their impact on the social and psychological functioning of individuals. OBJECTIVE Our aim in this study was to provide clinicians and researchers with useful information with which to conduct new studies on the rehabilitation of object agnosia and prosopagnosia. To accomplish this, we performed a systematic and comprehensive review of the effect of neuropsychological rehabilitation on visual object and prosopagnosia. METHODS The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed. In addition, the Single-Case Experimental Design (SCED) and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) scales were used to assess the quality of reporting. RESULTS Seven articles regarding object agnosia, eight articles describing treatments for prosopagnosia, and two articles describing treatments for both deficits were included. CONCLUSIONS In the light of the studies reviewed, treatments based on analysis of parts seem effective for object agnosia, while prosopagnosia appears to benefit most from treatments relying on holistic/configural processing. However, more attempts at rehabilitation of face and object agnosia are needed to clarify the mechanisms of these processes and possible rehabilitations. Moreover, a publication bias could mask a broader attempt to find effective treatments for visual agnosia and leaving out studies that are potentially more informative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Gobbo
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Raffaella Calati
- Department of Adult Psychiatry, Nîmes University Hospital, Nîmes, France
| | | | - Elisa Pini
- Neuroscience Department "Fondazione Poliambulanza" Hospital, Brescia, Italy
| | - Roberta Daini
- Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- Milan Center for Neuroscience (Neuromi)
- University Research Center in Opticsand Optometry, Università di Milano-Bicocca (Comib), Milano, Italy
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9
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Abstract
The Benton Facial Recognition Test (BFRT) is a paper-and-pen task that is traditionally used to assess face perception skills in neurological, clinical and psychiatric conditions. Despite criticisms of its stimuli, the task enjoys a simple procedure and is rapid to administer. Further, it has recently been computerised (BFRT-c), allowing reliable measurement of completion times and the need for online testing. Here, in response to calls for repeat screening for the accurate detection of face processing deficits, we present the BFRT-Revised (BFRT-r): a new version of the BFRT-c that maintains the task's basic paradigm, but employs new, higher-quality stimuli that reflect recent theoretical advances in the field. An initial validation study with typical participants indicated that the BFRT-r has good internal reliability and content validity. A second investigation indicated that while younger and older participants had comparable accuracy, completion times were longer in the latter, highlighting the need for age-matched norms. Administration of the BFRT-r and BFRT-c to 32 individuals with developmental prosopagnosia resulted in improved sensitivity in diagnostic screening for the BFRT-r compared to the BFRT-c. These findings are discussed in relation to current diagnostic screening protocols for face perception deficits. The BFRT-r is stored in an open repository and is freely available to other researchers.
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10
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Liu X, Li X, Song Y, Liu J. Separate and Shared Neural Basis of Face Memory and Face Perception in Developmental Prosopagnosia. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:668174. [PMID: 34248516 PMCID: PMC8267096 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.668174] [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: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental prosopagnosia (DP), also known as face blindness, is a cognitive disorder with a severe deficit in recognizing faces. However, the heterogeneous nature of DP leads to a longstanding debate on which stages the deficit occurs, face perception (e.g., matching two consecutively presented faces) or face memory (e.g., matching a face to memorized faces). Here, we used the individual difference approach with functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore the neural substrates of DPs' face perception and face memory that may illuminate DPs' heterogeneity. Specifically, we measured the behavioral performance of face perception and face memory in a large sample of individuals suffering DP (N = 64) and then associated the behavioral performance with their face-selective neural responses in the core face network (CFN) and the extended face network (EFN), respectively. Behaviorally, we found that DP individuals were impaired in both face perception and face memory; however, there was only a weak correlation between the performances of two tasks. Consistent with this observation, the neural correlate of DPs' performance in face memory task was localized in the bilateral fusiform face area, whereas DPs' performance in face perception task was correlated with the face selectivity in the right posterior superior temporal sulcus, suggesting that the neural substrates in the CFN for face memory and face perception were separate in DP. In contrast, shared neural substrates of deficits in face perception and face memory tasks were identified in the EFN, including the right precuneus and the right orbitofrontal cortex. In summary, our study provides one of the first empirical evidence that the separate and shared neural substrates of face perception and face memory were identified in the CFN and EFN, respectively, which may help illuminating DP's heterogeneous nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiqin Liu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xueting Li
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Yiying Song
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jia Liu
- Tsinghua Laboratory of Brain and Intelligence, Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
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11
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Avidan G, Behrmann M. Spatial Integration in Normal Face Processing and Its Breakdown in Congenital Prosopagnosia. Annu Rev Vis Sci 2021; 7:301-321. [PMID: 34014762 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-vision-113020-012740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Congenital prosopagnosia (CP), a life-long impairment in face processing that occurs in the absence of any apparent brain damage, provides a unique model in which to explore the psychological and neural bases of normal face processing. The goal of this review is to offer a theoretical and conceptual framework that may account for the underlying cognitive and neural deficits in CP. This framework may also provide a novel perspective in which to reconcile some conflicting results that permits the expansion of the research in this field in new directions. The crux of this framework lies in linking the known behavioral and neural underpinnings of face processing and their impairments in CP to a model incorporating grid cell-like activity in the entorhinal cortex. Moreover, it stresses the involvement of active, spatial scanning of the environment with eye movements and implicates their critical role in face encoding and recognition. To begin with, we describe the main behavioral and neural characteristics of CP, and then lay down the building blocks of our proposed model, referring to the existing literature supporting this new framework. We then propose testable predictions and conclude with open questions for future research stemming from this model. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Vision Science, Volume 7 is September 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Galia Avidan
- Department of Psychology and Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel;
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA
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12
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Barton JJS, Davies-Thompson J, Corrow SL. Prosopagnosia and disorders of face processing. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2021; 178:175-193. [PMID: 33832676 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-821377-3.00006-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Face recognition is a form of expert visual processing. Acquired prosopagnosia is the loss of familiarity for facial identity and has several functional variants, namely apperceptive, amnestic, and associative forms. Acquired forms are usually caused by either occipitotemporal or anterior temporal lesions, right or bilateral in most cases. In addition, there is a developmental form, whose functional and structural origins are still being elucidated. Despite their difficulties with recognizing faces, some of these subjects still show signs of covert recognition, which may have a number of explanations. Other aspects of face perception can be spared in prosopagnosic subjects. Patients with other types of face processing difficulties have been described, including impaired expression processing, impaired lip-reading, false familiarity for faces, and a people-specific amnesia. Recent rehabilitative studies have shown some modest ability to improve face perception in prosopagnosic subjects through perceptual training protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason J S Barton
- Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
| | - Jodie Davies-Thompson
- Face Research Swansea, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Sketty, United Kingdom
| | - Sherryse L Corrow
- Visual Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN, United States
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13
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Elimari N, Lafargue G. Network Neuroscience and the Adapted Mind: Rethinking the Role of Network Theories in Evolutionary Psychology. Front Psychol 2020; 11:545632. [PMID: 33101120 PMCID: PMC7545950 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.545632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary psychology is the comprehensive study of cognition and behavior in the light of evolutionary theory, a unifying paradigm integrating a huge diversity of findings across different levels of analysis. Since natural selection shaped the brain into a functionally organized system of interconnected neural structures rather than an aggregate of separate neural organs, the network-based account of anatomo-functional architecture is bound to yield the best mechanistic explanation for how the brain mediates the onset of evolved cognition and adaptive behaviors. While this view of a flexible and highly distributed organization of the brain is more than a century old, it was largely ignored up until recently. Technological advances are only now allowing this approach to find its rightful place in the scientific landscape. Historically, early network theories mostly relied on lesion studies and investigations on white matter circuitry, subject areas that still provide great empirical findings to this day. Thanks to new neuroimaging techniques, the traditional localizationist framework, in which any given cognitive process is thought to be carried out by its dedicated brain structure, is slowly being abandoned in favor of a network-based approach. We argue that there is a special place for network neuroscience in the upcoming quest for the biological basis of information-processing systems identified by evolutionary psychologists. By reviewing history of network theories, and by addressing several theoretical and methodological implications of this view for evolutionary psychologists, we describe the current state of knowledge about human neuroanatomy for those who wish to be mindful of both evolutionary and network neuroscience paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gilles Lafargue
- Department of Psychology, Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, C2S EA 6291, Reims, France
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14
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Gerlach C, Klargaard SK, Alnæs D, Kolskår KK, Karstoft J, Westlye LT, Starrfelt R. Left hemisphere abnormalities in developmental prosopagnosia when looking at faces but not words. Brain Commun 2019; 1:fcz034. [PMID: 32954273 PMCID: PMC7425287 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcz034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Revised: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 10/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental prosopagnosia is a disorder characterized by profound and lifelong difficulties with face recognition in the absence of sensory or intellectual deficits or known brain injury. While there has been a surge in research on developmental prosopagnosia over the last decade and a half, the cognitive mechanisms behind the disorder and its neural underpinnings remain elusive. Most recently it has been proposed that developmental prosopagnosia may be a manifestation of widespread disturbance in neural migration which affects both face responsive brain regions as well as other category-sensitive visual areas. We present a combined behavioural and functional MRI study of face, object and word processing in a group of developmental prosopagnosics (N = 15). We show that developmental prosopagnosia is associated with reduced activation of core ventral face areas during perception of faces. The reductions were bilateral but tended to be more pronounced in the left hemisphere. As the first study to address category selectivity for word processing in developmental prosopagnosia, we do not, however, find evidence for reduced activation of the visual word form area during perception of orthographic material. We also find no evidence for reduced activation of the lateral occipital complex during perception of objects. These imaging findings correspond well with the behavioural performance of the developmental prosopagnosics, who show severe impairment for faces but normal reading and recognition of line drawings. Our findings suggest that a general deficit in neural migration across ventral occipito-temporal cortex is not a viable explanation for developmental prosopagnosia. The finding of left hemisphere involvement in our group of developmental prosopagnosics was at first surprising. However, a closer look at existing studies shows similar, but hitherto undiscussed, findings. These left hemisphere abnormalities seen in developmental prosopagnosia contrasts with lesion and imaging studies suggesting primarily right hemisphere involvement in acquired prosopagnosia, and this may reflect that the left hemisphere is important for the development of a normal face recognition network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Gerlach
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense, Denmark.,BRIDGE, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense, Denmark
| | - Solja K Klargaard
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense, Denmark
| | - Dag Alnæs
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo 0424, Norway
| | - Knut K Kolskår
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo 0424, Norway.,Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
| | - Jens Karstoft
- BRIDGE, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense, Denmark.,Department of Radiology, Odense University Hospital, Odense DK-5230, Denmark
| | - Lars T Westlye
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo 0424, Norway.,Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
| | - Randi Starrfelt
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-1353, Denmark
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15
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Peterson MF, Zaun I, Hoke H, Jiahui G, Duchaine B, Kanwisher N. Eye movements and retinotopic tuning in developmental prosopagnosia. J Vis 2019; 19:7. [PMID: 31426085 DOI: 10.1167/19.9.7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite extensive investigation, the causes and nature of developmental prosopagnosia (DP)-a severe face identification impairment in the absence of acquired brain injury-remain poorly understood. Drawing on previous work showing that individuals identified as being neurotypical (NT) show robust individual differences in where they fixate on faces, and recognize faces best when the faces are presented at this location, we defined and tested four novel hypotheses for how atypical face-looking behavior and/or retinotopic face encoding could impair face recognition in DP: (a) fixating regions of poor information, (b) inconsistent saccadic targeting, (c) weak retinotopic tuning, and (d) fixating locations not matched to the individual's own face tuning. We found no support for the first three hypotheses, with NTs and DPs consistently fixating similar locations and showing similar retinotopic tuning of their face perception performance. However, in testing the fourth hypothesis, we found preliminary evidence for two distinct phenotypes of DP: (a) Subjects characterized by impaired face memory, typical face perception, and a preference to look high on the face, and (b) Subjects characterized by profound impairments to both face memory and perception and a preference to look very low on the face. Further, while all NTs and upper-looking DPs performed best when faces were presented near their preferred fixation location, this was not true for lower-looking DPs. These results suggest that face recognition deficits in a substantial proportion of people with DP may arise not from aberrant face gaze or compromised retinotopic tuning, but from the suboptimal matching of gaze to tuning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew F Peterson
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Ian Zaun
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Harris Hoke
- Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Guo Jiahui
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Brad Duchaine
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Nancy Kanwisher
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
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16
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Wu T, Wang X, Wu Q, Spagna A, Yang J, Yuan C, Wu Y, Gao Z, Hof PR, Fan J. Anterior insular cortex is a bottleneck of cognitive control. Neuroimage 2019; 195:490-504. [PMID: 30798012 PMCID: PMC6550348 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.02.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2018] [Revised: 02/01/2019] [Accepted: 02/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive control, with a limited capacity, is a core process in human cognition for the coordination of thoughts and actions. Although the regions involved in cognitive control have been identified as the cognitive control network (CCN), it is still unclear whether a specific region of the CCN serves as a bottleneck limiting the capacity of cognitive control (CCC). Here, we used a perceptual decision-making task with conditions of high cognitive load to challenge the CCN and to assess the CCC in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. We found that the activation of the right anterior insular cortex (AIC) of the CCN increased monotonically as a function of cognitive load, reached its plateau early, and showed a significant correlation to the CCC. In a subsequent study of patients with unilateral lesions of the AIC, we found that lesions of the AIC were associated with a significant impairment of the CCC. Simulated lesions of the AIC resulted in a reduction of the global efficiency of the CCN in a network analysis. These findings suggest that the AIC, as a critical hub in the CCN, is a bottleneck of cognitive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Wu
- Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Queens, NY, USA
| | - Xingchao Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing, China
| | - Qiong Wu
- School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Alfredo Spagna
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University in the City of New York, USA; Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, INSERM U-1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Jiaqi Yang
- Department of Computer Science, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Changhe Yuan
- Department of Computer Science, Queens College, The City University of New York, Queens, NY, USA
| | - Yanhong Wu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Zhixian Gao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing, China.
| | - Patrick R Hof
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jin Fan
- Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Queens, NY, USA; Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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17
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Abstract
Prosopagnosia is an impairment in the ability to recognize faces and can be acquired after a brain lesion or occur as a developmental variant. Studies of prosopagnosia make important contributions to our understanding of face processing and object recognition in the human visual system. We review four areas of advances in the study of this condition in recent years. First are issues surrounding the diagnosis of prosopagnosia, including the development and evaluation of newer tests and proposals for diagnostic criteria, especially for the developmental variant. Second are studies of the structural basis of prosopagnosia, including the application of more advanced neuroimaging techniques in studies of the developmental variant. Third are issues concerning the face specificity of the defect in prosopagnosia, namely whether other object processing is affected to some degree and in particular the status of visual word processing in light of recent predictions from the "many-to-many hypothesis". Finally, there have been recent rehabilitative trials of perceptual learning applied to larger groups of prosopagnosic subjects that show that face impairments are not immutable in this condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Albonico
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Jason Barton
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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18
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Wang X, Wu Q, Egan L, Gu X, Liu P, Gu H, Yang Y, Luo J, Wu Y, Gao Z, Fan J. Anterior insular cortex plays a critical role in interoceptive attention. eLife 2019; 8:e42265. [PMID: 30985277 PMCID: PMC6488299 DOI: 10.7554/elife.42265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2018] [Accepted: 04/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Accumulating evidence indicates that the anterior insular cortex (AIC) mediates interoceptive attention which refers to attention towards physiological signals arising from the body. However, the necessity of the AIC in this process has not been demonstrated. Using a novel task that directs attention toward breathing rhythm, we assessed the involvement of the AIC in interoceptive attention in healthy participants using functional magnetic resonance imaging and examined the necessity of the AIC in interoceptive attention in patients with AIC lesions. Results showed that interoceptive attention was associated with increased AIC activation, as well as enhanced coupling between the AIC and somatosensory areas along with reduced coupling between the AIC and visual sensory areas. In addition, AIC activation was predictive of individual differences in interoceptive accuracy. Importantly, AIC lesion patients showed disrupted interoceptive discrimination accuracy and sensitivity. These results provide compelling evidence that the AIC plays a critical role in interoceptive attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xingchao Wang
- Department of NeurosurgeryBeijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological DiseasesBeijingChina
| | - Qiong Wu
- Beijing Key Lab of Learning and Cognition, School of PsychologyCapital Normal UniversityBeijingChina
- School of Psychological and Cognitive SciencesPeking UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Laura Egan
- Department of Psychology, Queens CollegeThe City University of New YorkNew YorkUnited States
| | - Xiaosi Gu
- Department of PsychiatryIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew YorkUnited States
- Nash Family Department of NeuroscienceIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew YorkUnited States
- The Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical CenterThe James J. Peter Veterans Affairs Medical CenterNew YorkUnited States
| | - Pinan Liu
- Department of NeurosurgeryBeijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological DiseasesBeijingChina
| | - Hong Gu
- Neuroimaging Research Branch, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug AbuseBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Yihong Yang
- Neuroimaging Research Branch, Intramural Research ProgramNational Institute on Drug AbuseBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Jing Luo
- Beijing Key Lab of Learning and Cognition, School of PsychologyCapital Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Yanhong Wu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive SciencesPeking UniversityBeijingChina
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental HealthPeking UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Zhixian Gao
- Department of NeurosurgeryBeijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological DiseasesBeijingChina
| | - Jin Fan
- Department of Psychology, Queens CollegeThe City University of New YorkNew YorkUnited States
- Department of PsychiatryIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew YorkUnited States
- Nash Family Department of NeuroscienceIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew YorkUnited States
- Friedman Brain InstituteIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew YorkUnited States
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19
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Wegrzyn M, Garlichs A, Heß RWK, Woermann FG, Labudda K. The hidden identity of faces: a case of lifelong prosopagnosia. BMC Psychol 2019; 7:4. [PMID: 30670082 PMCID: PMC6343346 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-019-0278-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Not being able to recognize a person's face is a highly debilitating condition from which people with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) suffer their entire life. Here we describe the case of J, a 30 year old woman who reports being unable to recognize her parents, her husband, or herself in the mirror. CASE PRESENTATION We set out to assess the severity of J's prosopagnosia using tests with unfamiliar as well as familiar faces and investigated whether impaired configural processing explains her deficit. To assess the specificity of the impairment, we tested J's performance when evaluating emotions, intentions, and the attractiveness and likability of faces. Detailed testing revealed typical brain activity patterns for faces and normal object recognition skills, and no evidence of any brain injury. However, compared to a group of matched controls, J showed severe deficits in learning new faces, and in recognizing familiar faces when only inner features were available. Her recognition of uncropped faces with blurred features was within the normal range, indicating preserved configural processing when peripheral features are available. J was also unimpaired when evaluating intentions and emotions in faces. In line with healthy controls, J rated more average faces as more attractive. However, she was the only one to rate them as less likable, indicating a preference for more distinctive and easier to recognize faces. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, the results illustrate both the severity and the specificity of DP in a single case. While DP is a heterogeneous disorder, an inability to integrate the inner features of the face into a whole might be the best explanation for the difficulties many individuals with prosopagnosia experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Wegrzyn
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Annika Garlichs
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | | | | | - Kirsten Labudda
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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20
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Cygan HB, Okuniewska H, Jednoróg K, Marchewka A, Wypych M, Nowicka A. Face processing in a case of high functioning autism with developmental prosopagnosia. Acta Neurobiol Exp (Wars) 2018. [DOI: 10.21307/ane-2018-011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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21
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Abstract
A longstanding controversy concerns the functional organization of high-level vision, and the extent to which the recognition of different classes of visual stimuli engages a single system or multiple independent systems. We examine this in the context of congenital prosopagnosia (CP), a neurodevelopmental disorder in which individuals, without a history of brain damage, are impaired at face recognition. This paper reviews all CP cases from 1976 to 2016, and explores the evidence for the association or dissociation of face and object recognition. Of the 238 CP cases with data permitting a satisfactory evaluation, 80.3% evinced an association between impaired face and object recognition whereas 19.7% evinced a dissociation. We evaluate the strength of the evidence and correlate the face and object recognition behaviour. We consider the implications for theories of functional organization of the visual system, and offer suggestions for further adjudication of the relationship between face and object recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob Geskin
- a Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition , Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh , PA , USA
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- a Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition , Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh , PA , USA
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22
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Rosenthal G, Tanzer M, Simony E, Hasson U, Behrmann M, Avidan G. Altered topology of neural circuits in congenital prosopagnosia. eLife 2017; 6. [PMID: 28825896 PMCID: PMC5565317 DOI: 10.7554/elife.25069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2017] [Accepted: 07/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Using a novel, fMRI-based inter-subject functional correlation (ISFC) approach, which isolates stimulus-locked inter-regional correlation patterns, we compared the cortical topology of the neural circuit for face processing in participants with an impairment in face recognition, congenital prosopagnosia (CP), and matched controls. Whereas the anterior temporal lobe served as the major network hub for face processing in controls, this was not the case for the CPs. Instead, this group evinced hyper-connectivity in posterior regions of the visual cortex, mostly associated with the lateral occipital and the inferior temporal cortices. Moreover, the extent of this hyper-connectivity was correlated with the face recognition deficit. These results offer new insights into the perturbed cortical topology in CP, which may serve as the underlying neural basis of the behavioral deficits typical of this disorder. The approach adopted here has the potential to uncover altered topologies in other neurodevelopmental disorders, as well. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.25069.001 Human babies prefer to look at faces and pictures of faces over any other object or pattern. A recent study found that even fetuses in the womb will turn their heads towards dots of light shone through the mother’s skin if the dots broadly resemble a face. Brain imaging studies show that face recognition depends on the coordinated activity of multiple brain regions. A core set of areas towards the back of the brain processes the visual features of faces, while regions elsewhere process more variable features such as emotional expressions. Around 2% of people are born with difficulties in recognizing faces, a condition known as congenital prosopagnosia. These individuals have no obvious anatomical abnormalities in the brain, and brain scans reveal normal activity in core regions of the face processing network. So why do these people have difficulty with face recognition? One possibility is that the condition reflects differences in the number of connections (or “connectivity”) between brain regions within the face processing network. To test this idea, Rosenthal et al. compared connectivity in individuals with congenital prosopagnosia with that in healthy volunteers. In the healthy volunteers, an area of the network called the anterior temporal cortex was highly connected to many other face processing regions: that is, it acted as a face processing hub. In individuals with congenital prosopagnosia, this hub-like connectivity was missing. Instead, a number of core regions involved in processing the basic visual features of faces, were more highly connected to one another. The greater this “hyperconnectivity”, the better the individual’s face processing abilities. The findings of Rosenthal et al. pave the way for developing imaging-based tools to diagnose congenital prosopagnosia. The same approach could then be used to investigate the basis of other neurodevelopmental disorders that are thought to involve abnormal communication within brain networks, such as developmental dyslexia. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.25069.002
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Affiliation(s)
- Gideon Rosenthal
- Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.,The Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Michal Tanzer
- The Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.,Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Erez Simony
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, Israel.,Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Uri Hasson
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, United States
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, United States
| | - Galia Avidan
- Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.,The Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.,Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
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23
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Roswandowitz C, Schelinski S, von Kriegstein K. Developmental phonagnosia: Linking neural mechanisms with the behavioural phenotype. Neuroimage 2017; 155:97-112. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.02.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2016] [Revised: 12/16/2016] [Accepted: 02/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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24
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Fisher K, Towler J, Eimer M. Face identity matching is selectively impaired in developmental prosopagnosia. Cortex 2017; 89:11-27. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2016] [Revised: 11/09/2016] [Accepted: 01/04/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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25
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Towler J, Fisher K, Eimer M. The Cognitive and Neural Basis of Developmental Prosopagnosia. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2017; 70:316-344. [DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2016.1165263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is a severe impairment of visual face recognition in the absence of any apparent brain damage. The factors responsible for DP have not yet been fully identified. This article provides a selective review of recent studies investigating cognitive and neural processes that may contribute to the face recognition deficits in DP, focusing primarily on event-related brain potential (ERP) measures of face perception and recognition. Studies that measured the face-sensitive N170 component as a marker of perceptual face processing have shown that the perceptual discrimination between faces and non-face objects is intact in DP. Other N170 studies suggest that faces are not represented in the typical fashion in DP. Individuals with DP appear to have specific difficulties in processing spatial and contrast deviations from canonical upright visual–perceptual face templates. The rapid detection of emotional facial expressions appears to be unaffected in DP. ERP studies of the activation of visual memory for individual faces and of the explicit identification of particular individuals have revealed differences between DPs and controls in the timing of these processes and in the links between visual face memory and explicit face recognition. These observations suggest that the speed and efficiency of information propagation through the cortical face network is altered in DP. The nature of the perceptual impairments in DP suggests that atypical visual experience with the eye region of faces over development may be an important contributing factor to DP.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Towler
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK
| | - Katie Fisher
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK
| | - Martin Eimer
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK
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26
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Dalrymple KA, Elison JT, Duchaine B. Face-specific and domain-general visual processing deficits in children with developmental prosopagnosia. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2017; 70:259-275. [PMID: 27144387 PMCID: PMC7439757 DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2015.1122642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Evidence suggests that face and object recognition depend on distinct neural circuitry within the visual system. Work with adults with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) demonstrates that some individuals have preserved object recognition despite severe face recognition deficits. This face selectivity in adults with DP indicates that face- and object-processing systems can develop independently, but it is unclear at what point in development these mechanisms are separable. Determining when individuals with DP first show dissociations between faces and objects is one means to address this question. In the current study, we investigated face and object processing in six children with DP (5-12-years-old). Each child was assessed with one face perception test, two different face memory tests, and two object memory tests that were matched to the face memory tests in format and difficulty. Scores from the DP children on the matched face and object tasks were compared to within-subject data from age-matched controls. Four of the six DP children, including the 5-year-old, showed evidence of face-specific deficits, while one child appeared to have more general visual-processing deficits. The remaining child had inconsistent results. The presence of face-specific deficits in children with DP suggests that face and object perception depend on dissociable processes in childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten A. Dalrymple
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
| | - Jed T. Elison
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Brad Duchaine
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
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27
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Brunyé TT, Moran JM, Holmes A, Mahoney CR, Taylor HA. Non-invasive brain stimulation targeting the right fusiform gyrus selectively increases working memory for faces. Brain Cogn 2017; 113:32-39. [PMID: 28107684 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2017.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2016] [Revised: 10/19/2016] [Accepted: 01/10/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The human extrastriate cortex contains a region critically involved in face detection and memory, the right fusiform gyrus. The present study evaluated whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting this anatomical region would selectively influence memory for faces versus non-face objects (houses). Anodal tDCS targeted the right fusiform gyrus (Brodmann's Area 37), with the anode at electrode site PO10, and cathode at FP2. Two stimulation conditions were compared in a repeated-measures design: 0.5mA versus 1.5mA intensity; a separate control group received no stimulation. Participants completed a working memory task for face and house stimuli, varying in memory load from 1 to 4 items. Individual differences measures assessed trait-based differences in facial recognition skills. Results showed 1.5mA intensity stimulation (versus 0.5mA and control) increased performance at high memory loads, but only with faces. Lower overall working memory capacity predicted a positive impact of tDCS. Results provide support for the notion of functional specialization of the right fusiform regions for maintaining face (but not non-face object) stimuli in working memory, and further suggest that low intensity electrical stimulation of this region may enhance demanding face working memory performance particularly in those with relatively poor baseline working memory skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tad T Brunyé
- Center for Applied Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Tufts University, 200 Boston Ave., Suite 3000, Medford, MA 02155, USA; U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center, RDNS-SEW-THC, 15 General Greene Ave, Natick, MA, USA; Tufts University, Department of Psychology, 490 Boston Ave., Medford, MA, USA.
| | - Joseph M Moran
- Center for Applied Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Tufts University, 200 Boston Ave., Suite 3000, Medford, MA 02155, USA; U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center, RDNS-SEW-THC, 15 General Greene Ave, Natick, MA, USA
| | - Amanda Holmes
- Center for Applied Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Tufts University, 200 Boston Ave., Suite 3000, Medford, MA 02155, USA; U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center, RDNS-SEW-THC, 15 General Greene Ave, Natick, MA, USA
| | - Caroline R Mahoney
- Center for Applied Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Tufts University, 200 Boston Ave., Suite 3000, Medford, MA 02155, USA; U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center, RDNS-SEW-THC, 15 General Greene Ave, Natick, MA, USA
| | - Holly A Taylor
- Center for Applied Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Tufts University, 200 Boston Ave., Suite 3000, Medford, MA 02155, USA; Tufts University, Department of Psychology, 490 Boston Ave., Medford, MA, USA
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28
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Abstract
Prosopagnosia is a selective visual agnosia characterized by the inability to recognize the identity of faces. There are both acquired forms secondary to brain damage and developmental forms without obvious structural lesions. In this review, we first discuss the diagnosis of acquired and developmental prosopagnosia, and the challenges present in the latter case. Second, we discuss the evidence regarding the selectivity of the prosopagnosic defect, particularly in relation to the recognition of other objects, written words (another visual object category requiring high expertise), and voices. Third, we summarize recent findings about the structural and functional basis of prosopagnosia from studies using magnetic resonance imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and event-related potentials. Finally, we discuss recent attempts at rehabilitation of face recognition in prosopagnosia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sherryse L Corrow
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Neurology Division, Department of Medicine
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Kirsten A Dalrymple
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Jason JS Barton
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Neurology Division, Department of Medicine
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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29
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Behrmann M, Lee A, Geskin J, Graham K, Barense M. Temporal lobe contribution to perceptual function: A tale of three patient groups. Neuropsychologia 2016; 90:33-45. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2016] [Revised: 04/08/2016] [Accepted: 05/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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30
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Zhao Y, Li J, Liu X, Song Y, Wang R, Yang Z, Liu J. Altered spontaneous neural activity in the occipital face area reflects behavioral deficits in developmental prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia 2016; 89:344-355. [PMID: 27475965 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.05.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2015] [Revised: 05/04/2016] [Accepted: 05/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) exhibit severe difficulties in recognizing faces and to a lesser extent, also exhibit difficulties in recognizing non-face objects. We used fMRI to investigate whether these behavioral deficits could be accounted for by altered spontaneous neural activity. Two aspects of spontaneous neural activity were measured: the intensity of neural activity in a voxel indexed by the fractional amplitude of spontaneous low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), and the connectivity of a voxel to neighboring voxels indexed by regional homogeneity (ReHo). Compared with normal adults, both the fALFF and ReHo values within the right occipital face area (rOFA) were significantly reduced in DP subjects. Follow-up studies on the normal adults revealed that these two measures indicated further functional division of labor within the rOFA. The fALFF in the rOFA was positively correlated with behavioral performance in recognition of non-face objects, whereas ReHo in the rOFA was positively correlated with processing of faces. When considered together, the altered fALFF and ReHo within the same region (rOFA) may account for the comorbid deficits in both face and object recognition in DPs, whereas the functional division of labor in these two measures helps to explain the relative independency of deficits in face recognition and object recognition in DP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanfang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Jingguang Li
- College of Education, Dali University, Dali 671003, China
| | - Xiqin Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yiying Song
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Ruosi Wang
- Psychology Department, Harvard University, 02138 USA
| | - Zetian Yang
- The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Jia Liu
- Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
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31
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Abstract
Congenital amusia is a lifelong deficit in music perception thought to reflect an underlying impairment in the perception and memory of pitch. The neural basis of amusic impairments is actively debated. Some prior studies have suggested that amusia stems from impaired connectivity between auditory and frontal cortex. However, it remains possible that impairments in pitch coding within auditory cortex also contribute to the disorder, in part because prior studies have not measured responses from the cortical regions most implicated in pitch perception in normal individuals. We addressed this question by measuring fMRI responses in 11 subjects with amusia and 11 age- and education-matched controls to a stimulus contrast that reliably identifies pitch-responsive regions in normal individuals: harmonic tones versus frequency-matched noise. Our findings demonstrate that amusic individuals with a substantial pitch perception deficit exhibit clusters of pitch-responsive voxels that are comparable in extent, selectivity, and anatomical location to those of control participants. We discuss possible explanations for why amusics might be impaired at perceiving pitch relations despite exhibiting normal fMRI responses to pitch in their auditory cortex: (1) individual neurons within the pitch-responsive region might exhibit abnormal tuning or temporal coding not detectable with fMRI, (2) anatomical tracts that link pitch-responsive regions to other brain areas (e.g., frontal cortex) might be altered, and (3) cortical regions outside of pitch-responsive cortex might be abnormal. The ability to identify pitch-responsive regions in individual amusic subjects will make it possible to ask more precise questions about their role in amusia in future work.
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32
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Behrmann M, Scherf KS, Avidan G. Neural mechanisms of face perception, their emergence over development, and their breakdown. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2016; 7:247-63. [PMID: 27196333 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2015] [Revised: 03/17/2016] [Accepted: 03/27/2016] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Face perception is probably the most developed visual perceptual skill in humans, most likely as a result of its unique evolutionary and social significance. Much recent research has converged to identify a host of relevant psychological mechanisms that support face recognition. In parallel, there has been substantial progress in uncovering the neural mechanisms that mediate rapid and accurate face perception, with specific emphasis on a broadly distributed neural circuit, comprised of multiple nodes whose joint activity supports face perception. This article focuses specifically on the neural underpinnings of face recognition, and reviews recent structural and functional imaging studies that elucidate the neural basis of this ability. In addition, the article covers some of the recent investigations that characterize the emergence of the neural basis of face recognition over the course of development, and explores the relationship between these changes and increasing behavioural competence. This paper also describes studies that characterize the nature of the breakdown of face recognition in individuals who are impaired in face recognition, either as a result of brain damage acquired at some point or as a result of the failure to master face recognition over the course of development. Finally, information regarding similarities between the neural circuits for face perception in humans and in nonhuman primates is briefly covered, as is the contribution of subcortical regions to face perception. WIREs Cogn Sci 2016, 7:247-263. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1388 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - K Suzanne Scherf
- Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Galia Avidan
- Department of Psychology, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
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33
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Towler J, Parketny J, Eimer M. Perceptual face processing in developmental prosopagnosia is not sensitive to the canonical location of face parts. Cortex 2015; 74:53-66. [PMID: 26649913 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.10.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2015] [Revised: 09/13/2015] [Accepted: 10/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) are strongly impaired in recognizing faces, but it is controversial whether this deficit is linked to atypical visual-perceptual face processing mechanisms. Previous behavioural studies have suggested that face perception in DP might be less sensitive to the canonical spatial configuration of face parts in upright faces. To test this prediction, we recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to intact upright faces and to faces with spatially scrambled parts (eyes, nose, and mouth) in a group of ten participants with DP and a group of ten age-matched control participants with normal face recognition abilities. The face-sensitive N170 component and the vertex positive potential (VPP) were both enhanced and delayed for scrambled as compared to intact faces in the control group. In contrast, N170 and VPP amplitude enhancements to scrambled faces were absent in the DP group. For control participants, the N170 to scrambled faces was also sensitive to feature locations, with larger and delayed N170 components contralateral to the side where all features appeared in a non-canonical position. No such differences were present in the DP group. These findings suggest that spatial templates of the prototypical feature locations within an upright face are selectively impaired in DP.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Towler
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK.
| | - Joanna Parketny
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK
| | - Martin Eimer
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK
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34
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Song S, Garrido L, Nagy Z, Mohammadi S, Steel A, Driver J, Dolan RJ, Duchaine B, Furl N. Local but not long-range microstructural differences of the ventral temporal cortex in developmental prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia 2015; 78:195-206. [PMID: 26456436 PMCID: PMC4640146 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2014] [Revised: 10/05/2015] [Accepted: 10/07/2015] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) experience face recognition impairments despite normal intellect and low-level vision and no history of brain damage. Prior studies using diffusion tensor imaging in small samples of subjects with DP (n=6 or n=8) offer conflicting views on the neurobiological bases for DP, with one suggesting white matter differences in two major long-range tracts running through the temporal cortex, and another suggesting white matter differences confined to fibers local to ventral temporal face-specific functional regions of interest (fROIs) in the fusiform gyrus. Here, we address these inconsistent findings using a comprehensive set of analyzes in a sample of DP subjects larger than both prior studies combined (n=16). While we found no microstructural differences in long-range tracts between DP and age-matched control participants, we found differences local to face-specific fROIs, and relationships between these microstructural measures with face recognition ability. We conclude that subtle differences in local rather than long-range tracts in the ventral temporal lobe are more likely associated with developmental prosopagnosia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunbin Song
- Human Cortical Physiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
| | - Lúcia Garrido
- Division of Psychology, Department of Life Sciences, Brunel University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, United Kingdom
| | - Zoltan Nagy
- Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research (SNS Lab), University of Zurich, Rämistr. 100, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland; Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom
| | - Siawoosh Mohammadi
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom; Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Adam Steel
- Human Cortical Physiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Jon Driver
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
| | - Ray J Dolan
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom
| | - Bradley Duchaine
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Nicholas Furl
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom
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35
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Lueschow A, Weber JE, Carbon CC, Deffke I, Sander T, Grüter T, Grüter M, Trahms L, Curio G. The 170ms Response to Faces as Measured by MEG (M170) Is Consistently Altered in Congenital Prosopagnosia. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0137624. [PMID: 26393348 PMCID: PMC4579010 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2014] [Accepted: 08/20/2015] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Modularity of face processing is still a controversial issue. Congenital prosopagnosia (cPA), a selective and lifelong impairment in familiar face recognition without evidence of an acquired cerebral lesion, offers a unique opportunity to support this fundamental hypothesis. However, in spite of the pronounced behavioural impairment, identification of a functionally relevant neural alteration in congenital prosopagnosia by electrophysiogical methods has not been achieved so far. Here we show that persons with congenital prosopagnosia can be distinguished as a group from unimpaired persons using magnetoencephalography. Early face-selective MEG-responses in the range of 140 to 200ms (the M170) showed prolonged latency and decreased amplitude whereas responses to another category (houses) were indistinguishable between subjects with congenital prosopagnosia and unimpaired controls. Latency and amplitude of face-selective EEG responses (the N170) which were simultaneously recorded were statistically indistinguishable between subjects with cPA and healthy controls which resolves heterogeneous and partly conflicting results from existing studies. The complementary analysis of categorical differences (evoked activity to faces minus evoked activity to houses) revealed that the early part of the 170ms response to faces is altered in subjects with cPA. This finding can be adequately explained in a common framework of holistic and part-based face processing. Whereas a significant brain-behaviour correlation of face recognition performance and the size of the M170 amplitude is found in controls a corresponding correlation is not seen in subjects with cPA. This indicates functional relevance of the alteration found for the 170ms response to faces in cPA and pinpoints the impairment of face processing to early perceptual stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Lueschow
- Dept. of Neurology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail: (AL); (JEW)
| | - Joachim E. Weber
- Dept. of Neurology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail: (AL); (JEW)
| | - Claus-Christian Carbon
- Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
| | - Iris Deffke
- Dept. of Neurology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Thomas Grüter
- Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
| | - Martina Grüter
- Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
| | - Lutz Trahms
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gabriel Curio
- Dept. of Neurology, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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36
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Parketny J, Towler J, Eimer M. The activation of visual face memory and explicit face recognition are delayed in developmental prosopagnosia. Neuropsychologia 2015; 75:538-47. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2015] [Revised: 05/04/2015] [Accepted: 07/08/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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37
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Gu X, Eilam-Stock T, Zhou T, Anagnostou E, Kolevzon A, Soorya L, Hof PR, Friston KJ, Fan J. Autonomic and brain responses associated with empathy deficits in autism spectrum disorder. Hum Brain Mapp 2015; 36:3323-38. [PMID: 25995134 PMCID: PMC4545680 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2015] [Revised: 04/08/2015] [Accepted: 05/03/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that autonomic signals and their cortical representations are closely linked to emotional processes, and that related abnormalities could lead to social deficits. Although socio‐emotional impairments are a defining feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), empirical evidence directly supporting the link between autonomic, cortical, and socio‐emotional abnormalities in ASD is still lacking. In this study, we examined autonomic arousal indexed by skin conductance responses (SCR), concurrent cortical responses measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging, and effective brain connectivity estimated by dynamic causal modeling in seventeen unmedicated high‐functioning adults with ASD and seventeen matched controls while they performed an empathy‐for‐pain task. Compared to controls, adults with ASD showed enhanced SCR related to empathetic pain, along with increased neural activity in the anterior insular cortex, although their behavioral empathetic pain discriminability was reduced and overall SCR was decreased. ASD individuals also showed enhanced correlation between SCR and neural activities in the anterior insular cortex. Importantly, significant group differences in effective brain connectivity were limited to greater reduction in the negative intrinsic connectivity of the anterior insular cortex in the ASD group, indicating a failure in attenuating anterior insular responses to empathetic pain. These results suggest that aberrant interoceptive precision, as indexed by abnormalities in autonomic activity and its central representations, may underlie empathy deficits in ASD. Hum Brain Mapp 36:3323–3338, 2015. © 2015 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published byWiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaosi Gu
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Virignia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Roanoke, Virignia
| | - Tehila Eilam-Stock
- Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Flushing, New York.,The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, New York.,Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Thomas Zhou
- Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Flushing, New York
| | | | - Alexander Kolevzon
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.,Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | | | - Patrick R Hof
- Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.,Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.,Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Karl J Friston
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jin Fan
- Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Flushing, New York.,The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, New York.,Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.,Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.,Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.,Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
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38
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Silver H, Bilker WB. Social cognition in schizophrenia and healthy aging: differences and similarities. Schizophr Res 2014; 160:157-62. [PMID: 25468185 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2014] [Revised: 11/02/2014] [Accepted: 11/02/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Social cognition is impaired in schizophrenia but it is not clear whether this is specific for the illness and whether emotion perception is selectively affected. To study this we examined the perception of emotional and non-emotional clues in facial expressions, a key social cognitive skill, in schizophrenia patients and old healthy individuals using young healthy individuals as reference. Tests of object recognition, visual orientation, psychomotor speed, and working memory were included to allow multivariate analysis taking into account other cognitive functions RESULTS Schizophrenia patients showed impairments in recognition of identity and emotional facial clues compared to young and old healthy groups. Severity was similar to that for object recognition and visuospatial processing. Older and younger healthy groups did not differ from each other on these tests. Schizophrenia patients and old healthy individuals were similarly impaired in the ability to automatically learn new faces during the testing procedure (measured by the CSTFAC index) compared to young healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS Social cognition is distinctly impaired in schizophrenia compared to healthy aging. Further study is needed to identify the mechanisms of automatic social cognitive learning impairment in schizophrenia patients and healthy aging individuals and determine whether similar neural systems are affected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry Silver
- Brain Behavior Laboratory, Sha'ar Menashe Mental Health Center, Mobile Post Hefer 37806, Israel; Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
| | - Warren B Bilker
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
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39
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Rivolta D, Woolgar A, Palermo R, Butko M, Schmalzl L, Williams MA. Multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) reveals abnormal fMRI activity in both the "core" and "extended" face network in congenital prosopagnosia. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:925. [PMID: 25431556 PMCID: PMC4230164 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2014] [Accepted: 10/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to identify faces is mediated by a network of cortical and subcortical brain regions in humans. It is still a matter of debate which regions represent the functional substrate of congenital prosopagnosia (CP), a condition characterized by a lifelong impairment in face recognition, and affecting around 2.5% of the general population. Here, we used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to measure neural responses to faces, objects, bodies, and body-parts in a group of seven CPs and ten healthy control participants. Using multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) of the fMRI data we demonstrate that neural activity within the “core” (i.e., occipital face area and fusiform face area) and “extended” (i.e., anterior temporal cortex) face regions in CPs showed reduced discriminability between faces and objects. Reduced differentiation between faces and objects in CP was also seen in the right parahippocampal cortex. In contrast, discriminability between faces and bodies/body-parts and objects and bodies/body-parts across the ventral visual system was typical in CPs. In addition to MVPA analysis, we also ran traditional mass-univariate analysis, which failed to show any group differences in face and object discriminability. In sum, these findings demonstrate (i) face-object representations impairments in CP which encompass both the “core” and “extended” face regions, and (ii) superior power of MVPA in detecting group differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Rivolta
- School of Psychology, University of East London London, UK ; Perception in Action Research Centre, and ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Alexandra Woolgar
- Perception in Action Research Centre, and ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Romina Palermo
- School of Psychology, and ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, University of Western Australia Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Marina Butko
- Perception in Action Research Centre, and ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Laura Schmalzl
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Mark A Williams
- Perception in Action Research Centre, and ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University Sydney, NSW, Australia
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40
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Person recognition and the brain: Merging evidence from patients and healthy individuals. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014; 47:717-34. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.10.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2014] [Revised: 09/19/2014] [Accepted: 10/27/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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41
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Liu TT, Behrmann M. Impaired holistic processing of left-right composite faces in congenital prosopagnosia. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:750. [PMID: 25324755 PMCID: PMC4179530 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2014] [Accepted: 09/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Congenital prosopagnosia (CP) refers to a lifelong impairment in face processing despite normal visual and intellectual skills. Many studies have suggested that the key underlying deficit in CP is one of a failure to engage holistic processing. Moreover, there has been some suggestion that, in normal observers, there may be greater involvement of the right than left hemisphere in holistic processing. To examine the proposed deficit in holistic processing and its potential hemispheric atypicality in CP, we compared the performance of 8 CP individuals with both matched controls and a large group of non-matched controls on a novel, vertical composite task. In this task, participants judged whether a cued half of a face (either left or right half) was the same or different at study and test, and the two face halves could be either aligned or misaligned. The standard index of holistic processing is one in which the unattended face half influences performance on the cued half and this influence is greater in the aligned than in the misaligned condition. Relative to controls, the CP participants, both at a group and at an individual level, did not show holistic processing in the vertical composite task. There was also no difference in performance as a function of hemifield of the cued face half in the CP individuals, and this was true in the control participants, as well. The findings clearly confirm the deficit in holistic processing in CP and reveal the useful application of this novel experimental paradigm to this population and potentially to others as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tina T Liu
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA, USA ; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA, USA ; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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42
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Huang L, Song Y, Li J, Zhen Z, Yang Z, Liu J. Individual differences in cortical face selectivity predict behavioral performance in face recognition. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:483. [PMID: 25071513 PMCID: PMC4078911 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2014] [Accepted: 06/15/2014] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, object selectivity is defined as a higher neural response to an object category than other object categories. Importantly, object selectivity is widely considered as a neural signature of a functionally-specialized area in processing its preferred object category in the human brain. However, the behavioral significance of the object selectivity remains unclear. In the present study, we used the individual differences approach to correlate participants' face selectivity in the face-selective regions with their behavioral performance in face recognition measured outside the scanner in a large sample of healthy adults. Face selectivity was defined as the z score of activation with the contrast of faces vs. non-face objects, and the face recognition ability was indexed as the normalized residual of the accuracy in recognizing previously-learned faces after regressing out that for non-face objects in an old/new memory task. We found that the participants with higher face selectivity in the fusiform face area (FFA) and the occipital face area (OFA), but not in the posterior part of the superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), possessed higher face recognition ability. Importantly, the association of face selectivity in the FFA and face recognition ability cannot be accounted for by FFA response to objects or behavioral performance in object recognition, suggesting that the association is domain-specific. Finally, the association is reliable, confirmed by the replication from another independent participant group. In sum, our finding provides empirical evidence on the validity of using object selectivity as a neural signature in defining object-selective regions in the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lijie Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China
| | - Yiying Song
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China
| | - Jingguang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China
| | - Zonglei Zhen
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China
| | - Zetian Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China
| | - Jia Liu
- Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China
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43
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Collins JA, Olson IR. Beyond the FFA: The role of the ventral anterior temporal lobes in face processing. Neuropsychologia 2014; 61:65-79. [PMID: 24937188 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2013] [Revised: 05/19/2014] [Accepted: 06/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Extensive research has supported the existence of a specialized face-processing network that is distinct from the visual processing areas used for general object recognition. The majority of this work has been aimed at characterizing the response properties of the fusiform face area (FFA) and the occipital face area (OFA), which together are thought to constitute the core network of brain areas responsible for facial identification. Although accruing evidence has shown that face-selective patches in the ventral anterior temporal lobes (vATLs) are interconnected with the FFA and OFA, and that they play a role in facial identification, the relative contribution of these brain areas to the core face-processing network has remained unarticulated. Here we review recent research critically implicating the vATLs in face perception and memory. We propose that current models of face processing should be revised such that the ventral anterior temporal lobes serve a centralized role in the visual face-processing network. We speculate that a hierarchically organized system of face processing areas extends bilaterally from the inferior occipital gyri to the vATLs, with facial representations becoming increasingly complex and abstracted from low-level perceptual features as they move forward along this network. The anterior temporal face areas may serve as the apex of this hierarchy, instantiating the final stages of face recognition. We further argue that the anterior temporal face areas are ideally suited to serve as an interface between face perception and face memory, linking perceptual representations of individual identity with person-specific semantic knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Collins
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13th street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
| | - Ingrid R Olson
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13th street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
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Recovery of empathetic function following resection of insular gliomas. J Neurooncol 2014; 117:269-77. [PMID: 24549750 DOI: 10.1007/s11060-014-1380-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2013] [Accepted: 01/19/2014] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
The insular cortex is located deep within the Sylvian fissure between multi-functional and structurally-compressed cerebral structures, and has been suggested to play an important role in both basic sensorimotor and complex social-emotional functions. Such structural and functional complexity presents a challenge for neurosurgeons to remove tumors within the insula safely. It has therefore not yet been documented how neurosurgical resection of insular gliomas would impact social-emotional functions. In this study, we examined empathy, a high-level social-emotional function, in four patients with localized insular gliomas pre- and post-operatively. The patients completed an empathy-for others pain task in which they viewed another person's hand or foot in painful or non-painful situations and made judgments about either pain (explicit empathy) or laterality of the hand or foot (implicit empathy). They also completed questionnaires assessing general emotional processing and personality. Deficits in both explicit and implicit empathetic pain processing were found in patients before the operations. However, the operations significantly improved their empathetic ability after surgery, accompanied by unchanged personality traits. These results confirmed previous findings that the insula plays a critical role for empathetic pain perception. Importantly, the current results suggest that surgical resection is not only a suitable treatment for insular gliomas for clinical consideration, but also effective in improving high-level functions such as empathetic pain perception.
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Schall S, von Kriegstein K. Functional connectivity between face-movement and speech-intelligibility areas during auditory-only speech perception. PLoS One 2014; 9:e86325. [PMID: 24466026 PMCID: PMC3900530 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2013] [Accepted: 12/06/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been proposed that internal simulation of the talking face of visually-known speakers facilitates auditory speech recognition. One prediction of this view is that brain areas involved in auditory-only speech comprehension interact with visual face-movement sensitive areas, even under auditory-only listening conditions. Here, we test this hypothesis using connectivity analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Participants (17 normal participants, 17 developmental prosopagnosics) first learned six speakers via brief voice-face or voice-occupation training (<2 min/speaker). This was followed by an auditory-only speech recognition task and a control task (voice recognition) involving the learned speakers’ voices in the MRI scanner. As hypothesized, we found that, during speech recognition, familiarity with the speaker’s face increased the functional connectivity between the face-movement sensitive posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS) and an anterior STS region that supports auditory speech intelligibility. There was no difference between normal participants and prosopagnosics. This was expected because previous findings have shown that both groups use the face-movement sensitive STS to optimize auditory-only speech comprehension. Overall, the present findings indicate that learned visual information is integrated into the analysis of auditory-only speech and that this integration results from the interaction of task-relevant face-movement and auditory speech-sensitive areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonja Schall
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Katharina von Kriegstein
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Bate S, Cook SJ, Duchaine B, Tree JJ, Burns EJ, Hodgson TL. Intranasal inhalation of oxytocin improves face processing in developmental prosopagnosia. Cortex 2013; 50:55-63. [PMID: 24074457 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2013.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2012] [Revised: 05/20/2013] [Accepted: 08/16/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) is characterised by a severe lifelong impairment in face recognition. In recent years it has become clear that DP affects a substantial number of people, yet little work has attempted to improve face processing in these individuals. Intriguingly, recent evidence suggests that intranasal inhalation of the hormone oxytocin can improve face processing in unimpaired participants, and we investigated whether similar findings might be noted in DP. Ten adults with DP and 10 matched controls were tested using a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind within-subject experimental design (AB-BA). Each participant took part in two testing sessions separated by a 14-25 day interval. In each session, participants inhaled 24 IU of oxytocin or placebo spray, followed by a 45 min resting period to allow central oxytocin levels to plateau. Participants then completed two face processing tests: one assessing memory for a set of newly encoded faces, and one measuring the ability to match simultaneously presented faces according to identity. Participants completed the Multidimensional Mood Questionnaire (MMQ) at three points in each testing session to assess the possible mood-altering effects of oxytocin and to control for attention and wakefulness. Statistical comparisons revealed an improvement for DP but not control participants on both tests in the oxytocin condition, and analysis of scores on the MMQ indicated that the effect cannot be attributed to changes in mood, attention or wakefulness. This investigation provides the first evidence that oxytocin can improve face processing in DP, and the potential neural underpinnings of the findings are discussed alongside their implications for the treatment of face processing disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Bate
- Psychology Research Centre, Bournemouth University, UK.
| | - Sarah J Cook
- Dorset Healthcare University Foundation Trust, Bournemouth, UK
| | - Bradley Duchaine
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, USA
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Susilo T, Duchaine B. Advances in developmental prosopagnosia research. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2013; 23:423-9. [PMID: 23391526 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2012.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2012] [Accepted: 12/31/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Developmental prosopagnosia (DP) refers to face recognition deficits in the absence of brain damage. DP affects ∼2% of the population, and it often runs in families. DP studies have made considerable progress in identifying the cognitive and neural characteristics of the disorder. A key challenge is to develop a valid taxonomy of DP that will facilitate many aspects of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tirta Susilo
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
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Avidan G, Tanzer M, Hadj-Bouziane F, Liu N, Ungerleider LG, Behrmann M. Selective dissociation between core and extended regions of the face processing network in congenital prosopagnosia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 24:1565-78. [PMID: 23377287 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bht007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
There is growing consensus that accurate and efficient face recognition is mediated by a neural circuit composed of a posterior "core" and an anterior "extended" set of regions. Here, we characterize the distributed face network in human individuals with congenital prosopagnosia (CP)-a lifelong impairment in face processing-relative to that of matched controls. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we first uncover largely normal activation patterns in the posterior core face patches in CP. We also document normal activity of the amygdala (emotion processing) as well as normal or even enhanced functional connectivity between the amygdala and the core regions. Critically, in the same individuals, activation of the anterior temporal cortex (identity processing) is reduced and connectivity between this region and the posterior core regions is disrupted. The dissociation between the neural profiles of the anterior temporal lobe and amygdala was evident both during a task-related face scan and during a resting state scan, in the absence of visual stimulation. Taken together, these findings elucidate selective disruptions in neural circuitry in CP and offer an explanation for the known differential difficulty in identity versus emotional expression recognition in many individuals with CP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Galia Avidan
- Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
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Gu X, Gao Z, Wang X, Liu X, Knight RT, Hof PR, Fan J. Anterior insular cortex is necessary for empathetic pain perception. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012; 135:2726-35. [PMID: 22961548 DOI: 10.1093/brain/aws199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 154] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Empathy refers to the ability to perceive and share another person's affective state. Much neuroimaging evidence suggests that observing others' suffering and pain elicits activations of the anterior insular and the anterior cingulate cortices associated with subjective empathetic responses in the observer. However, these observations do not provide causal evidence for the respective roles of anterior insular and anterior cingulate cortices in empathetic pain. Therefore, whether these regions are 'necessary' for empathetic pain remains unknown. Herein, we examined the perception of others' pain in patients with anterior insular cortex or anterior cingulate cortex lesions whose locations matched with the anterior insular cortex or anterior cingulate cortex clusters identified by a meta-analysis on neuroimaging studies of empathetic pain perception. Patients with focal anterior insular cortex lesions displayed decreased discrimination accuracy and prolonged reaction time when processing others' pain explicitly and lacked a typical interference effect of empathetic pain on the performance of a pain-irrelevant task. In contrast, these deficits were not observed in patients with anterior cingulate cortex lesions. These findings reveal that only discrete anterior insular cortex lesions, but not anterior cingulate cortex lesions, result in deficits in explicit and implicit pain perception, supporting a critical role of anterior insular cortex in empathetic pain processing. Our findings have implications for a wide range of neuropsychiatric illnesses characterized by prominent deficits in higher-level social functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaosi Gu
- Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA
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Huis in 't Veld E, Van den Stock J, de Gelder B. Configuration perception and face memory, and face context effects in developmental prosopagnosia. Cogn Neuropsychol 2012. [DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2012.732051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jan Van den Stock
- b Brain and Emotion Laboratory Leuven (BELL), Division of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences , KU Leuven, Leuven , Belgium
| | - Beatrice de Gelder
- a Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory , Tilburg University , Tilburg , The Netherlands
- b Brain and Emotion Laboratory Leuven (BELL), Division of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences , KU Leuven, Leuven , Belgium
- c Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience , Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands
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