Beyond the FFA: The role of the ventral anterior temporal lobes in face processing

Abstract

Extensive research has supported the existence of a specialized face-processing network that is distinct from the visual processing areas used for general object recognition. The majority of this work has been aimed at characterizing the response properties of the fusiform face area (FFA) and the occipital face area (OFA), which together are thought to constitute the core network of brain areas responsible for facial identification. Although accruing evidence has shown that face-selective patches in the ventral anterior temporal lobes (vATLs) are interconnected with the FFA and OFA, and that they play a role in facial identification, the relative contribution of these brain areas to the core face-processing network has remained unarticulated. Here we review recent research critically implicating the vATLs in face perception and memory. We propose that current models of face processing should be revised such that the ventral anterior temporal lobes serve a centralized role in the visual face-processing network. We speculate that a hierarchically organized system of face processing areas extends bilaterally from the inferior occipital gyri to the vATLs, with facial representations becoming increasingly complex and abstracted from low-level perceptual features as they move forward along this network. The anterior temporal face areas may serve as the apex of this hierarchy, instantiating the final stages of face recognition. We further argue that the anterior temporal face areas are ideally suited to serve as an interface between face perception and face memory, linking perceptual representations of individual identity with person-specific semantic knowledge.

Beyond the core face-processing network: Intracerebral stimulation of a face-selective area in the right anterior fusiform gyrus elicits transient prosopagnosia

“…This suggests that the anterior FG plays a role in person identification and memory. This hypothesis is consistent with fMRI and brain lesions studies showing that anterior temporal lobe may play a role in face individualization and semantic knowledge about people (e.g., Busigny et al, 2014a;Joubert et al, 2006;Kriegeskorte, Formisano, Sorger, & Goebel, 2007;Nestor, Plaut, & Behrmann, 2011;Von Der Heide, Skipper, & Olson; for reviews see Collins & Olson, 2014, Gainotti, 2007Gobbini & Haxby, 2007;Olson, Plotzker, & Ezzyat, 2007). However, these studies rarely investigated the role of the anterior FG specifically.…”

“…Most recently, fMRI studies have also reported ventral face-selective regions anterior to the FFA, up to the temporal pole (e.g., Avidan et al, 2014;Nasr & Tootell, 2012;Rajimehr, Young, & Tootell, 2009;Rossion, Hanseeuw, & Dricot, 2012;; for a recent review, see Collins & Olson, 2014).…”

The Cognitive and Neural Basis of Developmental Prosopagnosia

“…Although patients with brain lesions or atrophy to the anterior temporal lobe may have difficulties recognising known individuals, this impairment may reflect a loss of semantic knowledge about people, rather than a primarily visual deficit (Ellis, Young, & Critchley, 1989;Gainotti, 2013;Gainotti, Barbier, & Marra, 2003). However, more recent evidence favours the view that the anterior temporal lobe is also linked to visual-perceptual stages of face processing (for a review, see Collins & Olson, 2014).…”

Dynamic neural architecture for social knowledge retrieval

“…Here, we tested the hypothesis that a region in the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) has a function akin to a person identity node (1,9,10), subserving access to abstract person identity representations that can be retrieved from multiple cues, such as when you see a photo of Graceland and it cues your knowledge of Elvis (study 1). Next, we asked whether the ATL acts as a neural switchboard, performing in concert with other brain regions to enable the retrieval of different facets of person knowledge in a flexible and context-appropriate manner (study 2).…”

“…Individuals with ATL damage due to resection or stroke have multimodal person recognition deficits (34), lose access to stored knowledge about familiar people (35,36), and have difficulties learning information about new people (4,22,37,38). A subregion of the ATL contains a face-sensitive patch, first identified in monkeys, and more recently in humans (9).…”