fMRI response to automatic and purposeful familiar-face processing in perceptual and non-perceptual cortical regions
- 2021-04-01.
/pmc/articles/PMC7611704/ /pubmed/33596739
Viewing the faces of familiar people selectively activates a distributed network of brain regions implicated in both the perceptual and non-perceptual processing of conspecifics. In this 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 (ATL) and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) when identity and information extraction was required. Additionally, goal-directed identity and information extraction was associated with a recruitment of inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), while this region was deactivated during passive viewing. Collectively, these results show that components of the extended system reflect both the passive and active retrieval of person-related knowledge, and that the active access to such knowledge may potentially be mediate control circuits in the IFG.