%0 Conference Paper %B 2019 Conference on Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (CCN) %D 2019 %T Visual Features for Invariant Coding by Face Selective Neurons %A Zarco, Wilbert %A W. A. Freiwald %B 2019 Conference on Cognitive Computational Neuroscience (CCN) %C Berlin, Germany %8 09/2019 %G eng %0 Journal Article %J eLife %D 2017 %T A Causal Relationship Between Face-Patch Activity and Face-Detection Behavior %A Srivatsun Sadagopan %A Wilbert Zarco %A W. A. Freiwald %K face patch %K fMRI %K inactivation %K Neuroscience %X

The primate brain contains distinct areas densely populated by face-selective neurons. One of these, face-patch ML, contains neurons selective for contrast relationships between face parts. Such contrast-relationships can serve as powerful heuristics for face detection. However, it is unknown whether neurons with such selectivity actually support face-detection behavior. Here, we devised a naturalistic face-detection task and combined it with fMRI-guided pharmacological inactivation of ML to test whether ML is of critical importance for real-world face detection. We found that inactivation of ML impairs face detection. The effect was anatomically specific, as inactivation of areas outside ML did not affect face detection, and it was categorically specific, as inactivation of ML impaired face detection while sparing body and object detection. These results establish that ML function is crucial for detection of faces in natural scenes, performing a critical first step on which other face processing operations can build.

%B eLife %8 04/2017 %G eng %U https://elifesciences.org/articles/18558 %R https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.18558.001 %0 Journal Article %J PLoS Biology %D 2015 %T Face Patch Resting State Networks Link Face Processing to Social Cognition. %A Schwiedrzik, Caspar M %A Wilbert Zarco %A Everling, Stefan %A W. A. Freiwald %K Face recognition %K neural nerworks %K prefrontal cortex %K social cognition %X

Faces transmit a wealth of social information. How this information is exchanged between face-processing centers and brain areas supporting social cognition remains largely unclear. Here we identify these routes using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging in macaque monkeys. We find that face areas functionally connect to specific regions within frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices, as well as subcortical structures supporting emotive, mnemonic, and cognitive functions. This establishes the existence of an extended face-recognition system in the macaque. Furthermore, the face patch resting state networks and the default mode network in monkeys show a pattern of overlap akin to that between the social brain and the default mode network in humans: this overlap specifically includes the posterior superior temporal sulcus, medial parietal, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, areas supporting high-level social cognition in humans. Together, these results reveal the embedding of face areas into larger brain networks and suggest that the resting state networks of the face patch system offer a new, easily accessible venue into the functional organization of the social brain and into the evolution of possibly uniquely human social skills.

%B PLoS Biology %V 13 %P e1002245 %8 09/2015 %G eng %U http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002245 %N 9 %R 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002245