大脑结构之间的关系,大脑功能,行为是神经科学的主要兴趣,进化生物学,和心理学。当考虑到人类特异性大脑结构时,这种关系尤其有趣,因为它们不能在神经科学的广泛研究模型中进行研究,例如小鼠。Marmosets,还有猕猴.梭形回(FG)是一种对面部处理至关重要的人形特异性结构,在患有发育性前失认症(DP)的个体中异常-在没有脑损伤的情况下识别熟悉的人的面孔有严重缺陷的个体。虽然先前的研究已经发现DP和NT之间的FG的解剖和功能差异,没有研究检查过浅三级沟(中梭状沟,MFS)在FG内,这是一个显微解剖学,宏观解剖学,和人类的功能里程碑,以及最近被证明存在于非人类人猿中。这里,我们在NT和DP中实施了神经解剖学和面部感知的预注册分析。结果表明,DP的MFS比NT短。此外,右侧MFS长度的个体差异,但没有离开,半球预测人脸感知的个体差异。这些结果支持将大脑结构和功能与感知联系起来的理论,以及表明MFS长度的个体差异可以预测面部处理的个体差异。最后,这些发现增加了越来越多的证据,支持后期发育的形态变异性之间的关系,三沟与个体认知差异。
The relationship among brain structure, brain function, and behavior is of major interest in neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and psychology. This relationship is especially intriguing when considering hominoid-specific brain structures because they cannot be studied in widely examined models in neuroscience such as mice, marmosets, and macaques. The fusiform gyrus (FG) is a hominoid-specific structure critical for face processing that is abnormal in individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DPs)-individuals who have severe deficits recognizing the faces of familiar people in the absence of brain damage. While previous studies have found anatomical and functional differences in the FG between DPs and NTs, no study has examined the shallow tertiary sulcus (mid-fusiform sulcus, MFS) within the FG that is a microanatomical, macroanatomical, and functional landmark in humans, as well as was recently shown to be present in non-human hominoids. Here, we implemented pre-registered analyses of neuroanatomy and face perception in NTs and DPs. Results show that the MFS was shorter in DPs than NTs. Furthermore, individual differences in MFS length in the right, but not left, hemisphere predicted individual differences in face perception. These results support theories linking brain structure and function to perception, as well as indicate that individual differences in MFS length can predict individual differences in face processing. Finally, these findings add to growing evidence supporting a relationship between morphological variability of late developing, tertiary sulci and individual differences in cognition.