Data from: Face patch resting state networks link face processing to social cognition

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.