Abstract:
Congenital amusia is as a neurodevelopment disorder primarily defined by impairment in pitch discrimination and pitch memory. Interestingly, it has been reported that individuals with congenital amusia also exhibit deficits in face recognition (prosopagnosia). One explanation of such comorbidity is that the neural substrates of pitch recognition and face recognition may be similar. To test this hypothesis, face recognition ability was assessed using the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) and gray matter volume was determined through voxel-based morphometry (VBM) among participants with and without congenital amusia. As expected, participants with amusia performed worse on the CFMT test and showed reduced gray matter volume (GMV) in the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), the superior temporal gyrus (STG), and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in the right hemisphere, when compared with matched controls. Furthermore, correlation analyses demonstrated that the CFMT score was positively related to MTG, STG, and PCC GMV in all participants, while separate analyses of each group found a positive correlation of CFMT score and PCC GMV in amusics. These findings suggest that face recognition is associated with a widely distributed microstructural network in the human brain and the PCC plays an important role in both pitch recognition and face recognition in amusics. In addition, neurodevelopmental disorders such as congenital amusia and prosopagnosia may share a common neural substrate.
摘要:
先天性失语症是一种神经发育障碍,主要由音高辨别和音高记忆障碍定义。有趣的是,据报道,患有先天性失语症的人也表现出面部识别缺陷(prosopagnosia)。这种合并症的一种解释是音高识别和面部识别的神经基质可能相似。为了检验这个假设,使用剑桥面部记忆测试(CFMT)评估面部识别能力,并通过基于体素的形态计量学(VBM)测定有或没有先天性羊耳炎的参与者的灰质体积.不出所料,患有无言症的参与者在CFMT测试中表现更差,并显示颞中回(MTG)的灰质体积(GMV)减少,颞上回(STG),和右半球的后扣带皮质(PCC),与匹配的对照相比。此外,相关分析表明,CFMT评分与MTG呈正相关,STG,以及所有参与者的PCCGMV,而对每组进行的单独分析发现,肌肉中CFMT评分与PCCGMV呈正相关。这些发现表明,人脸识别与人脑中广泛分布的微结构网络有关,PCC在音高识别和人脸识别中都起着重要作用。此外,神经发育障碍,如先天性失语症和前失认症可能具有共同的神经基质。