The FERET Evaluation Methodology for Face-Recognition Algorithms
IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Face-specific processing in the human fusiform gyrus
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Task-invariant brain responses to the social value of faces
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Representations of facial identity in the left hemisphere require right hemisphere processing
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Temporal profile of amygdala gamma oscillations in response to faces
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Hi-index | 0.00 |
There is a well-established posterior network of cortical regions that plays a central role in face processing and that has been investigated extensively. In contrast, although responsive to faces, the amygdala is not considered a core face-selective region, and its face selectivity has never been a topic of systematic research in human neuroimaging studies. Here, we conducted a large-scale group analysis of fMRI data from 215 participants. We replicated the posterior network observed in prior studies but found equally robust and reliable responses to faces in the amygdala. These responses were detectable in most individual participants, but they were also highly sensitive to the initial statistical threshold and habituated more rapidly than the responses in posterior face-selective regions. A multivariate analysis showed that the pattern of responses to faces across voxels in the amygdala had high reliability over time. Finally, functional connectivity analyses showed stronger coupling between the amygdala and posterior face-selective regions during the perception of faces than during the perception of control visual categories. These findings suggest that the amygdala should be considered a core face-selective region.