A face-selective ventral occipito-temporal map of the human brain with intracerebral potentials

Human neuroimaging studies have identified a network of distinct face-selective regions in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC), with a right hemispheric dominance. To date, there is no evidence for this hemispheric and regional specialization with direct measures of brain activity. To address this gap in knowledge, we recorded local neurophysiological activity from 1,678 contact electrodes implanted in the VOTC of a large group of epileptic patients (n = 28). They were presented with natural images of objects at a rapid fixed rate (six images per second: 6 Hz), with faces interleaved as every fifth stimulus (i.e., 1.2 Hz). High signal-to-noise ratio face-selective responses were objectively (i.e., exactly at the face stimulation frequency) identified and quantified throughout the whole VOTC. Face-selective responses were widely distributed across the whole VOTC, but also spatially clustered in specific regions. Among these regions, the lateral section of the right middle fusifor...人类神经影像学研究已在腹侧枕颞皮层（ventral occipito-temporal cortex, VOTC）中鉴定出一系列独立的人脸选择性脑区，且呈现右侧半球优势。迄今为止，尚无通过直接测量脑活动来验证此类半球与区域特化现象的相关证据。为填补这一研究空白，我们对28名癫痫患者腹侧枕颞皮层中植入的1678个接触电极记录了局部神经生理活动。我们以固定快速速率（每秒6张图像，即6Hz）向受试者呈现自然物体图像，每5个刺激中插入1张人脸图像（即人脸刺激频率为1.2Hz）。我们在整个腹侧枕颞皮层中，客观地（即与人脸刺激频率完全匹配）识别并量化了高信噪比的人脸选择性响应。此类人脸选择性响应广泛分布于整个腹侧枕颞皮层，但同时也在特定区域呈现空间聚集特征。在这些区域中，右侧中梭状回的外侧部分……