Selective responses to faces, scenes, and bodies in the ventral visual pathway of infants

Curr Biol. 2022 Jan 24;32(2):265-274.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.064. Epub 2021 Nov 15.

Abstract

Three of the most robust functional landmarks in the human brain are the selective responses to faces in the fusiform face area (FFA), scenes in the parahippocampal place area (PPA), and bodies in the extrastriate body area (EBA). Are the selective responses of these regions present early in development or do they require many years to develop? Prior evidence leaves this question unresolved. We designed a new 32-channel infant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coil and collected high-quality functional MRI (fMRI) data from infants (2-9 months of age) while they viewed stimuli from four conditions-faces, bodies, objects, and scenes. We find that infants have face-, scene-, and body-selective responses in the location of the adult FFA, PPA, and EBA, respectively, powerfully constraining accounts of cortical development.

Keywords: EBA; FFA; PPA; bodies; category selectivity; development; faces; high-level vision; infancy; infant cortex; scenes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Brain / physiology
  • Brain Mapping
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual* / physiology
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Visual Pathways* / physiology