在成年人中,多个皮层区域对面部反应强劲,包括枕骨面区(OFA)和梭形面区(FFA),牵涉到面部感知,颞上沟(STS)和内侧前额叶皮质(MPFC),牵涉到更高层次的社会功能。在发展中,这些地区中的每一个都会出现面部选择性?在这里,我们将两个清醒的婴儿功能磁共振成像(fMRI)数据集组合在一起,创建的样本量是以前报告的两倍(n=65婴儿,2.6-9.6个月)。婴儿看电影的面孔,机构,对象,和场景,同时收集fMRI数据。尽管每个婴儿的数据数量可变,个体受试者全脑激活图显示了在OFA的大致位置与非面部视觉类别相比对面部的反应,FFA,STS,和MPFC。为了确定这些区域中面部选择性的强度和性质,我们使用交叉验证的感兴趣功能区(fROI)分析.在这个更大的样本量中,OFA的面部反应,FFA,STS,MPFC明显大于对身体的反应,对象,和场景。即使最小的婴儿(2-5个月)在FFA中也表现出明显的面部选择性反应,STS,MPFC,但不是OFA。这些结果表明,在出生后的几个月内,面部选择性存在于多个皮质区域,为皮质发育理论提供了强有力的约束。重要性陈述社会认知通常始于面部感知。在成年人中,几个皮质区域对面部反应强劲,然而,人们对这些地区何时以及如何首次出现在发展中知之甚少。为了测试在生命的第一年是否面临选择性变化,我们组合了两个数据集,相对于以前的报告,样本量增加了一倍。在梭形面部区域(FFA)的大致位置,颞上沟(STS),内侧前额叶皮质(MPFC),而不是枕骨面区域(OFA),在最年轻的组中存在面部选择性。这些发现表明,面部选择性反应在生命的早期就存在于大脑的多个脑叶中。
In human adults, multiple cortical regions respond robustly to faces, including the occipital face area (OFA) and fusiform face area (
FFA), implicated in face perception, and the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), implicated in higher-level social functions. When in development, does face selectivity arise in each of these regions? Here, we combined two awake infant functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets to create a sample size twice the size of previous reports (n = 65 infants; 2.6-9.6 months). Infants watched movies of faces, bodies, objects, and scenes, while fMRI data were collected. Despite variable amounts of data from each infant, individual subject whole-brain activation maps revealed responses to faces compared to nonface visual categories in the approximate location of OFA,
FFA, STS, and MPFC. To determine the strength and nature of face selectivity in these regions, we used cross-validated functional region of interest analyses. Across this larger sample size, face responses in OFA,
FFA, STS, and MPFC were significantly greater than responses to bodies, objects, and scenes. Even the youngest infants (2-5 months) showed significantly face-selective responses in
FFA, STS, and MPFC, but not OFA. These results demonstrate that face selectivity is present in multiple cortical regions within months of birth, providing powerful constraints on theories of cortical development.