Selective responses to faces, scenes, and bodies in the ventral visual pathway of infants

Kosakowski, Heather L.; Cohen, Michael A.; Takahashi, Atsushi; Keil, Boris; Kanwisher, Nancy; Saxe, Rebecca

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.064

Cited by 116 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…First, we confirmed that there is a selective response to faces in the visual regions of these infants (see [12], for a complementary analysis of Coil 2021 dataset alone in FFA-and OFA-specific parcels). To account for differences in distortion between Coil 2011 and Coil 2021 datasets (See Fig.…”

Section: Infants' Cortical Responses To Faces Were Not Correlated With Agesupporting

confidence: 70%

“…Awake infants are a very challenging population for fMRI scanning. Using dynamic stimuli and custom-built infant-sized head coils [83,85], we acquired fMRI data from a large group of young infants [12], but inevitably, each infant yielded a different amount of usable data. Because the amount of data per infant was low (though not correlated with age), the estimate of face selectivity in each individual infant is noisy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These data were previously used to test if infants have category-selective responses to faces, bodies and scenes in ventral temporal cortex. Results from that investigation are reported in [12].…”

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Parcels / Search Spaces. Due to the distorted nature of the Coil 2011 dataset, we opted to used larger parcels than the standard FFA parcel we used previously [12] in order to include all available data. We created lateral, ventral, STS, MPFC, and subcortical parcels using the Glasser atlas [138].…”

Section: Group Random Effects Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From birth, infants see faces often [1][2][3], prefer to look at faces more than non-face visual stimuli [4][5][6][7][8][9], and readily distinguish a familiar face from an unfamiliar one [10,11]. Infants' brains visually process faces as a distinct object category [12] but it is not known when in development infants' brains begin to process the social attributes of faces. In adult brains, perception of faces not only evokes activity in face-selective visual regions [13][14][15] but also in higher-order brain regions that represent multi-modal social perception and evaluation [16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cortical Face-Selective Responses Emerge Early in Human Infancy

Kosakowski

Cohen

Herrera

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Faces are a rich source of social information. How does the infant brain develop the ability to recognize faces and identify potential social partners? We collected functional magnetic neuroimaging (fMRI) data from 49 awake human infants (aged 2.5-9.7 months) while they watched movies of faces, bodies, objects, and scenes. Face-selective responses were observed not only in ventral temporal cortex (VTC) but also in superior temporal sulcus (STS), and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). Face responses were also observed (but not fully selective) in the amygdala and thalamus. We find no evidence that face-selective responses develop in visual perception regions (VTC) prior to higher order social perception (STS) or social evaluation (MPFC) regions. We suggest that face-selective responses may develop in parallel across multiple cortical regions. Infants’ brains could thus simultaneously process faces both as a privileged category of visual images, and as potential social partners.

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Section: Infants' Cortical Responses To Faces Were Not Correlated With Agesupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Group Random Effects Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Cortical Face-Selective Responses Emerge Early in Human Infancy

Kosakowski

Cohen

Herrera

et al. 2021

Preprint

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show abstract

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2023

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

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Face processing in the infant brain after pandemic lockdown

Yates

Ellis

Turk‐Browne

2022

Developmental Psychobiology

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The role of visual experience in the development of face processing has long been debated. We present a new angle on this question through a serendipitous study that cannot easily be repeated. Infants viewed short blocks of faces during fMRI in a repetition suppression task. The same identity was presented multiple times in half of the blocks (repeat condition) and different identities were presented once each in the other half (novel condition). In adults, the fusiform face area (FFA) tends to show greater neural activity for novel versus repeat blocks in such designs, suggesting that it can distinguish same versus different face identities. As part of an ongoing study, we collected data before the COVID-19 pandemic and after an initial local lockdown was lifted. The resulting sample of 12 infants (9-24 months) divided equally into pre-and post-lockdown groups with matching ages and data quantity/quality. The groups had strikingly different FFA responses: pre-lockdown infants showed repetition suppression (novel > repeat), whereas post-lockdown infants showed the opposite (repeat > novel), often referred to as repetition enhancement. These findings provide speculative evidence that altered visual experience during the lockdown, or other correlated environmental changes, may have affected face processing in the infant brain.

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Selective responses to faces, scenes, and bodies in the ventral visual pathway of infants

Cited by 116 publications

References 61 publications

Cortical Face-Selective Responses Emerge Early in Human Infancy

Cortical Face-Selective Responses Emerge Early in Human Infancy

References

Face processing in the infant brain after pandemic lockdown

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