Visual cells in the temporal cortex sensitive to face view and gaze direction

The direction of eye gaze and orientation of the face towards or away from another are important social signals for man and for macaque monkey. We have studied the effects of these signals in a region of the macaque temporal cortex where cells have been found to be responsive to the sight of faces. Of cells selectively responsive to the sight of the face or head but not to other objects (182 cells) 63% were sensitive to the orientation of the head. Different views of the head (full face, profile, back or top of the head, face rotated by 45° up to the ceiling or down to the floor) maximally activated different classes of cell. All classes of cell, however, remained active as the preferred view was rotated isomorphically or was changed in size or distance. Isomorphic rotation by 90–180° increased cell response latencies by 10–60 ms. Sensitivity to gaze direction was found for 64% of the cells tested that were tuned to head orientation. Eighteen cells most responsive to the full face preferred eye contact, while 18 cells tuned to the profile face preferred averted gaze. Sensitivity to gaze was thus compatible with, but could be independent of, sensitivity to head orientation. Results suggest that the recognition of one type of object may proceed via the independent high level analysis of several restricted views of the object (viewer-centred descriptions).

[1]  G. Bonin,et al.  The neocortex of Macaca mulatta , 1947 .

[2]  Van Hooff,et al.  The Facial Displays of the Catarrhine Monkeys and Apes. , 1967 .

[3]  R. Yin.  Looking at Upside-down Faces , 1969 .

[4]  John L. Bradshaw,et al.  Models for the processing and identification of faces , 1971 .

[5]  H B Barlow,et al.  Single units and sensation: a neuron doctrine for perceptual psychology? , 1972, Perception.

[6]  R. Shepard,et al.  CHRONOMETRIC STUDIES OF THE ROTATION OF MENTAL IMAGES , 1973 .

[7]  Marvin Minsky,et al.  A framework for representing knowledge , 1974 .

[8]  S. Chevalier-Skolnikoff,et al.  The ontogeny of communication in the stumptail macaque (Macaca arctiodes) , 1974 .

[9]  Marvin Minsky,et al.  A framework for representing knowledge" in the psychology of computer vision , 1975 .

[10]  William K. Redican,et al.  Facial Expressions in Nonhuman Primates , 1975 .

[11]  H. Burton,et al.  The posterior thalamic region and its cortical projection in new world and old world monkeys , 1976, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[12]  H. Burton,et al.  Areal differences in the laminar distribution of thalamic afferents in cortical fields of the insular, parietal and temporal regions of primates , 1976, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[13]  A. Milner,et al.  Form Perception in Stumptail Macaques Following Posterior Parietal and Lateral Frontal Lesions , 1977, Cortex.

[14]  J. Szentágothai.  The Ferrier Lecture, 1977 The neuron network of the cerebral cortex: a functional interpretation , 1978, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[15]  D. Pandya,et al.  Afferent cortical connections and architectonics of the superior temporal sulcus and surrounding cortex in the rhesus monkey , 1978, Brain Research.

[16]  D. Marr,et al.  Representation and recognition of the spatial organization of three-dimensional shapes , 1978, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[17]  W. Mason,et al.  Effects of Age, Objects, and Visual Experience on Affective Responses of Rhesus Monkeys to Strangers. , 1979 .

[18]  D H Hubel,et al.  Brain mechanisms of vision. , 1979, Scientific American.

[19]  G. V. Hoesen,et al.  Face recognition in the rhesus monkey , 1979, Neuropsychologia.

[20]  R. Desimone,et al.  Visual areas in the temporal cortex of the macaque , 1979, Brain Research.

[21]  R. Desimone,et al.  Visual properties of neurons in a polysensory area in superior temporal sulcus of the macaque. , 1981, Journal of neurophysiology.

[22]  R. Desimone,et al.  Cortical Visual Areas of the Temporal Lobe , 1981 .

[23]  C. Bruce,et al.  Face recognition by monkeys: Absence of an inversion effect , 1982, Neuropsychologia.

[24]  David Marr,et al.  VISION A Computational Investigation into the Human Representation and Processing of Visual Information , 2009 .

[25]  Robert W. Doty,et al.  Hemispheric specialization displayed by man but not macaques for analysis of faces , 1982, Neuropsychologia.

[26]  Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic,et al.  Face scanning and responsiveness to social cues in infant rhesus monkeys. , 1982 .

[27]  Cortical organization: A plea for better understanding, clearer definition, and more correct use of the term “column” , 1983, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[28]  M. Silverman,et al.  Functional organization of the second cortical visual area in primates. , 1983, Science.

[29]  D. Perrett,et al.  Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Visual Analysis of Faces , 1983 .

[30]  A. J. Mistlin,et al.  Neurones responsive to faces in the temporal cortex: studies of functional organization, sensitivity to identity and relation to perception. , 1984, Human neurobiology.

[31]  Discrimination of familiar faces studied with C14-2 dog and with temporal lesions in monkeys , 1984, Behavioural Brain Research.