Brain activation during face perception: Evidence of a developmental change
Brain activation during face perception: Evidence of a developmental change
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DOI：
10.1162/0898929053124884
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发表时间：
2005-02-01
影响因子：
3.2
通讯作者：
Meltzoff, AN
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Aylward, EH;Park, JE;Meltzoff, AN
行为研究表明，10岁以下儿童使用基于个体独特面部特征的零碎策略来处理面部，而年龄较大的儿童则使用基于面部特征之间空间关系的整体策略。本研究的目的是确定在面部处理过程中，参与成人面部处理的梭状回在年龄较大的儿童（12 - 14岁）中是否比年龄较小的儿童（8 - 10岁）激活程度更高。在儿童观看面部和房屋时进行了功能性磁共振成像扫描。观察到一种发展变化：年龄较大的儿童（而非年龄较小的儿童）在观看面部时双侧梭状回的激活程度显著高于观看房屋时。梭状回的激活与年龄以及整体面部处理的行为测量显著相关。被认为参与处理基本面部特征的区域在年龄较小和较大的儿童中均被激活。还观察到一些证据表明，年龄较大的儿童观看房屋相较于观看面部的激活程度比年龄较小的儿童更高，这表明随着儿童年龄的增长，这两种刺激类型的处理变得更加分化。目前的研究结果为正常发育过程中面部视觉处理的变化提供了生物学上的见解。
Behavioral studies suggest that children under age 10 process faces using a piecemeal strategy based on individual distinctive facial features, whereas older children use a configural strategy based on the spatial relations among the face's features. The purpose of this study was to determine whether activation of the fusiform gyrus, which is involved in face processing in adults, is greater during face processing in older children (12-14 years) than in younger children (810 years). Functional MRI scans were obtained while children viewed faces and houses. A developmental change was observed: Older children, but not younger children, showed significantly more activation in bilateral fusiform gyri for faces than for houses. Activation in the fusiform gyrus correlated significantly with age and with a behavioral measure of configural face processing. Regions believed to be involved in processing basic facial features were activated in both younger and older children, Some evidence was also observed for greater activation for houses versus faces for the older children than for the younger children, suggesting that processing of these two stimulus types becomes more differentiated as children age. The current results provide biological insight into changes in visual processing of faces that occur with normal development.