Face recognition in human extrastriate cortex

Abstract

1. Twenty-four patients with electrodes chronically implanted on the surface of extrastriate visual cortex viewed faces, equiluminant scrambled faces, cars, scrambled cars, and butterflies. 2. A surface-negative potential, N200, was evoked by faces but not by the other categories of stimuli. N200 was recorded only from small regions of the left and right fusiform and inferior temporal gyri. Electrical stimulation of the same region frequently produced a temporary inability to name familiar faces. 3. The results suggest that discrete regions of inferior extrastriate visual cortex, varying in location between individuals, are specialized for the recognition of faces. These "face modules" appear to be intercalated among other functionally specific small regions.

Keywords

Extrastriate cortexNeurosciencePsychologyVisual cortexCortex (anatomy)Face (sociological concept)Fusiform face areaStimulationFace perceptionCognitive psychologyPerception

Affiliated Institutions

United States Department of Veterans Affairs US

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Publication Info

Year: 1994
Type: article
Volume: 71
Issue: 2
Pages: 821-825
Citations: 564
Access: Closed

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APA Style

                            
                                
                                    Truett Allison, 
                                
                                    Hannah Ginter, 
                                
                                    Gregory McCarthy
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (1994). 
                            Face recognition in human extrastriate cortex. 
                            Journal of Neurophysiology
                            , 71
                            (2)
                            , 821-825.
                            https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1994.71.2.821
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1152/jn.1994.71.2.821