Representations of faces and body parts in macaque temporal cortex: A functional MRI study

Mark A. Pinsk, Kevin DeSimone, Tirin Moore, Charles G. Gross, Sabine Kastner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

234 Scopus citations

Abstract

Human neuroimaging studies suggest that areas in temporal cortex respond preferentially to certain biologically relevant stimulus categories such as faces and bodies. Single-cell studies in monkeys have reported cells in inferior temporal cortex that respond selectively to faces, hands, and bodies but provide little evidence of large clusters of category-specific cells that would form "areas." We probed the category selectivity of macaque temporal cortex for representations of monkey faces and monkey body parts relative to man-made objects using functional MRI in animals trained to fixate. Two face-selective areas were activated bilaterally in the posterior and anterior superior temporal sulcus exhibiting different degrees of category selectivity. The posterior face area was more extensively activated in the right hemisphere than in the left hemisphere. Immediately adjacent to the face areas, regions were activated bilaterally responding preferentially to body parts. Our findings suggest a category-selective organization for faces and body parts in macaque temporal cortex.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)6996-7001
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume102
Issue number19
DOIs
StatePublished - May 10 2005

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

Keywords

  • Non-human primate
  • Visual category representations

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