Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...

Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is the inability to recognize faces. In severe cases, individuals with prosopagnosia may not recognize close family members, including parents and spouses, by their faces. For instance, someone with prosopagnosia might walk past their child in a crowd, only realizing their mistake upon noticing their child's distinctive backpack or favorite jacket. Prosopagnosia specifically impairs facial recognition, while the recognition of other objects or...

Relationship Formation

Relationship Formation

What do you think is the single most influential factor in determining with whom you become friends and whom you form romantic relationships? You might be surprised to learn that the answer is simple: the people with whom you have the most contact. This most important factor is proximity. You are more likely to be friends with people you have regular contact with. For example, there are decades of research that shows that you are more likely to become friends with people who live in your dorm,...

Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development

Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development

Social-emotional experiences and cultural influences play significant roles in shaping gender development. During middle childhood, from ages 6 to 11, peer groups become dominant in reinforcing gender norms. Children in this age group often align with same-gender peer groups, which actively encourage behaviors that conform to traditional gender roles. For instance, boys may be discouraged from engaging in activities perceived as feminine, reinforcing culturally dictated norms about masculinity...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Violence and threat exposure is associated with frontostriatal alterations during risky decision-making in children with co-morbid ADHD and disruptive behavior disorders.

Frontiers in psychiatry·2026

Same author

Familial risk factors required to predict earlier adolescent substance use in youth with externalizing disorders.

Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors·2026

Same author

A paradigm shift of SERPINA3N in neurobehavioral development and brain injury.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Same author

Musical Engagement of brain LObes in Alzheimer's Disease patients study (MELODY): A randomized controlled trial.

International psychogeriatrics·2025

Same author

Profiles of HIV-Related Knowledge and Self-Regulation Factors in At-Risk Pre-Adolescents.

Children's health care : journal of the Association for the Care of Children's Health·2025

Same author

Latent Profiles of Impulsivity and Emotion Regulation in Children With Externalizing Disorders Are Associated With Alterations in Striatocortical Connectivity.

Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 6, 2025

A Method for Investigating Age-related Differences in the Functional Connectivity of Cognitive Control Networks Associated with Dimensional Change Card Sort Performance

A Method for Investigating Age-related Differences in the Functional Connectivity of Cognitive Control Networks Associated with Dimensional Change Card Sort Performance

Published on: May 7, 2014

Sex differences in development of functional connections in the face processing network.

Duncan Nowling¹, Kathleen I Crum^1,2, Jane Joseph¹

¹Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.

Journal of Neuroimaging : Official Journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging

|January 3, 2024

Summary

Sex differences emerge in how the brain processes faces during development. Males show increased segregation, while females exhibit both segregation and integration of face processing networks with age.

Keywords:

fMRI fusiform face area inferior frontal opercular cortex occipital face area

More Related Videos

Analyzing Neural Activity and Connectivity Using Intracranial EEG Data with SPM Software

Analyzing Neural Activity and Connectivity Using Intracranial EEG Data with SPM Software

Published on: October 30, 2018

Cortical Source Analysis of High-Density EEG Recordings in Children

Cortical Source Analysis of High-Density EEG Recordings in Children

Published on: June 30, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 6, 2025

A Method for Investigating Age-related Differences in the Functional Connectivity of Cognitive Control Networks Associated with Dimensional Change Card Sort Performance

A Method for Investigating Age-related Differences in the Functional Connectivity of Cognitive Control Networks Associated with Dimensional Change Card Sort Performance

Published on: May 7, 2014

Analyzing Neural Activity and Connectivity Using Intracranial EEG Data with SPM Software

Analyzing Neural Activity and Connectivity Using Intracranial EEG Data with SPM Software

Published on: October 30, 2018

Cortical Source Analysis of High-Density EEG Recordings in Children

Cortical Source Analysis of High-Density EEG Recordings in Children

Published on: June 30, 2014

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Psychology
Cognitive Science

Background:

Understanding sex differences in typical face processing network development is crucial for identifying disruptions in sex-linked developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder.
Prior research in other cognitive domains suggests potential sex-based differences in neural network development.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate age-related sex differences in the integration and segregation of core and extended face processing regions.
To determine if females exhibit increased integration and males increased segregation in face networks with age.

Main Methods:

A cross-sectional design involving 133 typically developing children and adults.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a face localizer task.
Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis to examine age-related functional connectivity changes within the face processing network.

Main Results:

Males showed decreased coupling with age between the right fusiform face area (FFA) and the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) opercular region during face viewing.
Females demonstrated increased integration with age, evidenced by enhanced coupling in specific FFA and occipital face area (OFA) to IFG connections.
Females also exhibited age-related segregation in the OFA to IFG opercular region coupling during face viewing.

Conclusions:

Neural development of face processing networks follows sexually dimorphic trajectories.
These divergent developmental paths, characterized by segregation in males and both segregation and integration in females, primarily occur during childhood and adolescence.