Investigating holistic face processing within and outside of face-responsive brain regions

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging
• Visual Perception

Background:

• Human faces are processed holistically, a function primarily linked to specific face-responsive brain regions.
• The contribution of non-face-responsive brain areas to holistic face processing remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate holistic face processing within and outside of canonical face-responsive brain regions using the composite face paradigm.
• To determine if non-face-responsive areas contribute to the neural mechanisms underlying holistic face perception.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to record brain activity.
• Participants performed a composite face task, involving judging face halves in aligned and misaligned conditions.
• Behavioral data and neuroimaging results were analyzed to identify brain regions sensitive to holistic processing.

Main Results:

• A significant composite face effect was observed behaviorally, indicating holistic processing.
• The lateral occipital complex (LOC) showed significant differences in neural activity between aligned and misaligned faces.
• Regions including the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) and parahippocampal place area (PPA) exhibited neural activity consistent with holistic face identity representation, correlating with behavioral effects.

Conclusions:

• Neural activity in both face-responsive and non-face-responsive brain regions contributes to the composite face effect.
• This suggests a broader neural network than previously thought supports holistic face processing.
• The findings highlight the involvement of areas like the RSC and PPA in representing face identity holistically.