Functionally and structurally distinct fusiform face area(s) in over 1000 participants

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• The fusiform face area (FFA) is crucial for face perception, but its detailed function, architecture, and connectivity remain incompletely understood.
• Previous research on the FFA has been limited by smaller sample sizes, hindering definitive conclusions about its properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively characterize the multimodal features of fusiform face-selective regions using a large participant cohort.
• To investigate the functional, architectural, and connectivity distinctions between subregions within the FFA.

Main Methods:

• Analyzed multimodal data from 1053 participants in the Human Connectome Project.
• Manually defined over 4,000 fusiform face-selective regions.
• Utilized functional, architectural, and connectivity metrics to differentiate these regions.

Main Results:

• Identified two distinct, often separate, cortical regions within the FFA (pFus-faces/FFA-1 and mFus-faces/FFA-2) in most hemispheres.
• Demonstrated that pFus-faces/FFA-1 exhibits higher face selectivity and distinct connectivity compared to mFus-faces/FFA-2.
• Found that pFus-faces/FFA-1 is thinner and more myelinated than mFus-faces/FFA-2, with genetic factors influencing these properties.

Conclusions:

• The FFA is not a single, homogenous area but comprises at least two functionally and structurally distinct subregions.
• These findings provide a detailed neurobiological basis for face perception and have implications for understanding visual category representation.
• Shared areal definitions will facilitate future research into the structural and functional organization of the FFA.