[Abstract Title]. - Society for Neuroscience

Abstract: Face stimuli involve many visual processing. Segregation of different components of
neural activity evoked by a face stimulus would promote the understanding of mechanisms
underlying face recognition. To segregate luminance-, face-, and non-specific components, we
recorded cortical responses to face appearance (Onset), disappearance (Offset), and change
(Change) using magnetoencephalography. Activity in and around the primary visual cortex
showed luminance-dependent behavior. Any of the three events evoked activity in the middle
occipital gyrus (MOG) at 150 ms and temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) at 250 ms after onset.
Onset and Change activated the fusiform gyrus (FG), while Offset did not. These results show
the responses of MOG and TPJ to be associated with non-specific processes such as responses to
abrupt changes. Activity in FG seemed to be related to object recognition though its faceselectivity
was unclear. Therefore, this study demonstrated at least four different elements of
time-varying neural activations in response to a face stimulus.
Disclosures: E. Tanaka, None; K. Inui, None; T. Kida, None; R. Kakigi, None.
Poster
261. Object and Faces: Neuronal Representation I
Time: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Program#/Poster#: 261.12/CC9
Topic: D.04.j. Processing of objects and faces
Support: MEXT (17022025)
CREST
Title: Spatial frequency tuning in face responsive neurons of the macaque temporal cortex
Authors: *M. INAGAKI, I. FUJITA;
Grad Sch. Frontier Biosci., Osaka Univ., Toyonaka, Japan
Abstract: Most face responsive neurons in higher visual areas of the monkey temporal cortex
are tuned to the spatial frequencies (image-based spatial frequency, characterized by cycles per
image) of a face at a certain image size. A small face image produces a spectrum of relatively
high spatial frequencies in the retina (retina-based spatial frequency, characterized by cycles per
degree of visual angle), whereas a larger face image produces a spectrum of relatively low retinabased
spatial frequencies. If face responsive neurons are purely tuned to image-based spatial
frequencies and not to retina-based ones, changes in retinal size of face image, which accompany
changes in the spectrum of retina-based spatial frequencies, should not influence the neurons‟
tunings to image-based spatial frequencies. Here we tested whether face responsive neurons in