Editing Face perception (section)

=== Key areas of the brain ===
[[File:Fusiform face area face recognition.jpg|alt=A side-on image of an fMRI scan of a human brain.|thumb|A computer-enhanced fMRI scan of a person who has been asked to look at faces]]
Facial perception has neuroanatomical correlates in the brain.

The '''fusiform face area''' ([[Brodmann area#BA37,FusiformGyrus|BA37— Brodmann area 37]]) is located in the lateral fusiform gyrus. It is thought that this area is involved in holistic processing of faces and it is sensitive to the presence of facial parts as well as the configuration of these parts. The fusiform face area is also necessary for successful face detection and identification. This is supported by fMRI activation and studies on prosopagnosia, which involves lesions in the fusiform face area.<ref name="Liu">{{cite journal|last1=Liu|first1=Jia|last2=Harris|first2=Alison|last3=Kanwisher|first3=Nancy|date=January 2010|title=Perception of Face Parts and Face Configurations: An fMRI Study|journal=Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience|volume=22|issue=1|pages=203–211|doi=10.1162/jocn.2009.21203|pmc=2888696|pmid=19302006}}</ref><ref name="Rossion">{{cite journal|last1=Rossion|first1=B.|date=1 November 2003|title=A network of occipito-temporal face-sensitive areas besides the right middle fusiform gyrus is necessary for normal face processing|journal=Brain|volume=126|issue=11|pages=2381–95|doi=10.1093/brain/awg241|pmid=12876150}}</ref><ref name="McCarthy 1997">{{cite journal |last1=McCarthy |first1=Gregory |last2=Puce |first2=Aina |author-link2=Aina Puce |last3=Gore |first3=John C. |last4=Allison |first4=Truett |date=October 1997 |title=Face-Specific Processing in the Human Fusiform Gyrus |journal=Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=605–610 |doi=10.1162/jocn.1997.9.5.605 |pmid=23965119 |s2cid=23333049 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2022/22741}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Baldauf|first1=D.|last2=Desimone|first2=R.|date=25 April 2014|title=Neural Mechanisms of Object-Based Attention|journal=Science|language=en|volume=344|issue=6182|pages=424–7|doi=10.1126/science.1247003|pmid=24763592|bibcode=2014Sci...344..424B|s2cid=34728448|issn=0036-8075|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite journal|last1=de Vries|first1=Eelke|last2=Baldauf|first2=Daniel|date=1 October 2019|title=Attentional Weighting in the Face Processing Network: A Magnetic Response Image-guided Magnetoencephalography Study Using Multiple Cyclic Entrainments|url=https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01428|journal=Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience|volume=31|issue=10|pages=1573–88|doi=10.1162/jocn_a_01428|pmid=31112470|hdl=11572/252722|s2cid=160012572|issn=0898-929X|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

The '''occipital face area''' is located in the inferior occipital gyrus.<ref name="Rossion" /><ref name=":15" /> Similar to the fusiform face area, this area is also active during successful face detection and identification, a finding that is supported by fMRI and MEG activation.<ref name="Liu" /><ref name=":15" /> The occipital face area is involved and necessary in the analysis of facial parts but not in the spacing or configuration of facial parts. This suggests that the occipital face area may be involved in a facial processing step that occurs prior to fusiform face area processing.<ref name="Liu" /><ref name=":15" />

The '''superior temporal sulcus''' is involved in recognition of facial parts and is not sensitive to the configuration of these parts. It is also thought that this area is involved in gaze perception.<ref name=":15" /><ref name="Campbell">{{cite journal|last1=Campbell|first1=R.|last2=Heywood|first2=C.A.|last3=Cowey|first3=A.|last4=Regard|first4=M.|last5=Landis|first5=T.|date=January 1990|title=Sensitivity to eye gaze in prosopagnosic patients and monkeys with superior temporal sulcus ablation|journal=Neuropsychologia|volume=28|issue=11|pages=1123–42|doi=10.1016/0028-3932(90)90050-x|pmid=2290489|s2cid=7723950}}</ref> The superior temporal sulcus has demonstrated increased activation when attending to gaze direction.<ref name="Liu" /><ref name=":15" /><ref name="Marquardt">{{cite journal|last1=Marquardt|first1=Kira|last2=Ramezanpour|first2=Hamidreza|last3=Dicke|first3=Peter W.|last4=Thier|first4=Peter|date=March 2017|title=Following Eye Gaze Activates a Patch in the Posterior Temporal Cortex That Is not Part of the Human 'Face Patch' System|journal=eNeuro|volume=4|issue=2|pages=ENEURO.0317–16.2017|doi=10.1523/ENEURO.0317-16.2017|pmc=5362938|pmid=28374010}}</ref>

During face perception, major activations occur in the extrastriate areas bilaterally, particularly in the above three areas.<ref name="Liu" /><ref name="Rossion" /><ref name=":15" /> Perceiving an inverted human face involves increased activity in the inferior temporal cortex, while perceiving a misaligned face involves increased activity in the occipital cortex. No results were found when perceiving a dog face, suggesting a process specific to human faces.<ref name=":92">{{cite journal|last1=Tsujii|first1=T.|last2=Watanabe|first2=S.|last3=Hiraga|first3=K.|last4=Akiyama|first4=T.|last5=Ohira|first5=T.|date=March 2005|title=Testing holistic processing hypothesis in human and animal face perception: evidence from a magnetoencephalographic study|journal=International Congress Series|volume=1278|pages=223–6|doi=10.1016/j.ics.2004.11.151}}</ref> Bilateral activation is generally shown in all of these specialized facial areas.<ref name="McCarthy">{{cite journal|last1=Andreasen|first1=N. C.|author2=O'Leary DS|author3=Arndt S|last4=Cizadlo|first4=T|last5=Hurtig|first5=R|last6=Rezai|first6=K|last7=Watkins|first7=GL|last8=Ponto|first8=LB|last9=Hichwa|first9=RD|display-authors=3|name-list-style=vanc|year=1996|title=Neural substrates of facial recognition|journal=The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences|volume=8|issue=2|pages=139–46|doi=10.1176/jnp.8.2.139|pmid=9081548}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Haxby|first1=JV|last2=Horwitz|first2=B|last3=Ungerleider|first3=LG|last4=Maisog|first4=JM|last5=Pietrini|first5=P|last6=Grady|first6=CL|date=1 November 1994|title=The functional organization of human extrastriate cortex: a PET-rCBF study of selective attention to faces and locations|journal=The Journal of Neuroscience|volume=14|issue=11|pages=6336–53|doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.14-11-06336.1994|pmc=6577268|pmid=7965040}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Haxby|first1=James V|last2=Ungerleider|first2=Leslie G|last3=Clark|first3=Vincent P|last4=Schouten|first4=Jennifer L|last5=Hoffman|first5=Elizabeth A|last6=Martin|first6=Alex|date=January 1999|title=The Effect of Face Inversion on Activity in Human Neural Systems for Face and Object Perception|journal=Neuron|volume=22|issue=1|pages=189–199|doi=10.1016/S0896-6273(00)80690-X|pmid=10027301|s2cid=9525543|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Puce |first1=Aina |author-link=Aina Puce |last2=Allison |first2=Truett |last3=Asgari |first3=Maryam |last4=Gore |first4=John C. |last5=McCarthy |first5=Gregory |date=15 August 1996 |title=Differential Sensitivity of Human Visual Cortex to Faces, Letterstrings, and Textures: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study |journal=The Journal of Neuroscience |volume=16 |issue=16 |pages=5205–15 |doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.16-16-05205.1996 |pmc=6579313 |pmid=8756449}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Puce|first1=A.|last2=Allison|first2=T.|last3=Gore|first3=J. C.|last4=McCarthy|first4=G.|date=1 September 1995|title=Face-sensitive regions in human extrastriate cortex studied by functional MRI|journal=Journal of Neurophysiology|volume=74|issue=3|pages=1192–9|doi=10.1152/jn.1995.74.3.1192|pmid=7500143}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sergent|first1=Justine|last2=Ohta|first2=Shinsuke|last3=Macdonald|first3=Brennan|date=1992|title=Functional neuroanatomy of face and object processing. A positron emission tomography study|journal=Brain|volume=115|issue=1|pages=15–36|doi=10.1093/brain/115.1.15|pmid=1559150}}</ref> However, some studies show increased activation in one side over the other: for instance, the right fusiform gyrus is more important for facial processing in complex situations.<ref name="McCarthy 1997" />