fMRI response to automatic and purposeful familiar-face processing in perceptual and nonperceptual cortical regions

Viewing the faces of familiar people selectively activates a distributed network of brain regions implicated in both the perceptual and nonperceptual processing of conspecifics. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigate the influence of depth of famous-face processing on this network, comparing a passive incidental face processing to a task that required the extraction of identity and biographic information. We observed that the precuneus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), anterior temporal face patch (ATFP), and the amygdala exhibit a selective response even during incidental face processing. At the same time, face selectivity was enhanced in the lateral anterior temporal lobe (latATL) and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) when identity and information extraction was required. In addition, goal-directed identity and information extraction was associated with a recruitment of inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), whereas this region was deactivated during passive viewing. Collectively, these results show that: 1) in addition to active information extraction, the extended system is recruited by the passive retrieval of person-related knowledge and 2) active access to such knowledge modulates activity in latATL and pSTS, potentially mediated via control circuits in the IFG.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Information is extracted from familiar faces in both automatic and active modes. Using functional MRI, we show: 1) that automatic access results in the selective activation of nonperceptual brain regions, the precuneus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the anterior face patch and amygdala, demonstrating the automaticity of access to information in these regions; 2) selective increases in the activation of the lateral anterior temporal lobe and posterior superior temporal gyrus when biographic information is actively extracted.