Haptic face identification activates ventral occipital and temporal areas: an fMRI study

Many studies in visual face recognition have supported a special role for the right fusiform gyrus. Despite the fact that faces can also be recognized haptically, little is known about the neural correlates of haptic face recognition. In the current fMRI study, neurologically intact participants were intensively trained to identify specific facemasks (molded from live faces) and specific control objects. When these stimuli were presented in the scanner, facemasks activated left fusiform and right hippocampal/parahippocampal areas (and other regions) more than control objects, whereas the latter produced no activity greater than the facemasks. We conclude that these ventral occipital and temporal areas may play an important role in the haptic identification of faces at the subordinate level. We further speculate that left fusiform gyrus may be recruited more for facemasks than for control objects because of the increased need for sequential processing by the haptic system.