Neural systems for the extraction of socially-relevant information from faces

用于从面部提取社会相关信息的神经系统

• 批准号: 0446801
• 负责人: James Haxby
• 金额: $ 45万
• 依托单位: Princeton University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-08-01 至 2008-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0446801&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Neural; systems; extraction; socially; relevant

Appropriate and effective social interaction requires ready access to representations of the personal traits, intentions, goals, opinions, and mental states of others. With funding from the National Science Foundation, James V. Haxby is investigating the functional organization of neural systems that extract such person knowledge from the perception of faces and gestures. The proposed experiments use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and other measures to investigate the roles played by neural systems for face perception, action perception and imitation (mirror neuron, MN), and theory of mind (ToM) in obtaining social information from faces. This information can be transient mental states, such as direction of attention, emotional state, and level of interest, or more enduring attributes, such as personal traits, goals, attitudes, and beliefs. Perception of facial and social gesture, on the one hand, and recognition of familiar faces, on the other, are hypothesized to be mediated by distinct parts of the neural systems for face and action perception. By contrast, a common neural system for the representation of person knowledge is hypothesized to mediate the representations of transient mental states and enduring personal attributes of others that are activated during face perception. The system for these representations is hypothesized to be the same system that has been associated with ToM, the ability to represent the mental states of others. The first objective of the experiments is to characterize the functional organization of the mirror neuron system, its role in the perception of facial expressions, social gestures, and eye gaze, and its role in the activation and updating of representations of transient mental states in the ToM system. The hypothesis is being tested that perception of facial movements and gestures activate mirror neuron networks (superior temporal sulcus, intraparietal sulcus, and premotor regions, namely Broca's area and the frontal eye fields)' that both perception and imitation evoke this activity; and that movements that convey socially-relevant information also will evoke activity in the ToM system. The second objective is to investigate which of the regions that are activated during the recognition of familiar faces are associated with the spontaneous retrieval of representations of the enduring personal attributes associated with familiar individuals. The hypothesis is being tested that this process is mediated by cortical areas in the ToM system (anterior paracingulate cortex, posterior superior temporal sulcus), and these areas can be distinguished from areas associated with emotional responses (amygdala) and the retrieval of autobiographical episodic memories (posterior cingulate/precuneus, anterior temporal cortex). Automaticity of retrieval of person knowledge associated with familiar faces by manipulating awareness of the faces will also be investigated.Face perception is a highly developed and efficient skill that plays a central role in social communication. In particular, face perception may play a more critical role than language in conveying information about the intentions, attitudes, emotions, level of interest, and other transient mental states of others. Better understanding of the functional architecture of the human neural systems that mediate this skill can help to inform computational approaches to face perception, with possible applications to improved human-computer interfaces. Such understanding can also help in the development of diagnostic procedures and therapies for psychiatric disorders characterized by impaired social communication and face perception, such as social phobia, autism, and schizophrenia. Undergraduate and graduate students at Princeton University will be involved in the research.

适当和有效的社会交往需要随时了解他人的个人特征、意图、目标、意见和精神状态。在美国国家科学基金会的资助下，詹姆斯·V·哈克斯比（James V. Haxby）正在研究神经系统的功能组织，这些神经系统从对面部和手势的感知中提取此类人的知识。 拟议的实验使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI），脑电图（EEG），和其他措施，以调查所发挥的作用，神经系统的面孔知觉，动作知觉和模仿（镜像神经元，MN），心理理论（ToM）在获得社会信息的面孔。这些信息可以是短暂的心理状态，如注意力方向、情绪状态和兴趣水平，也可以是更持久的属性，如个人特质、目标、态度和信仰。一方面，对面部和社交姿态的感知，另一方面，对熟悉面孔的识别，被假设为由面部和动作感知的神经系统的不同部分介导。 相比之下，一个共同的神经系统的人的知识的表示被假设为调解的短暂的心理状态和持久的个人属性，在面部感知过程中被激活的表示。这些表征的系统被假设为与ToM（表征他人心理状态的能力）相关的系统相同。实验的第一个目标是表征镜像神经元系统的功能组织，其在面部表情，社交手势和眼睛凝视的感知中的作用，以及其在ToM系统中瞬时精神状态表征的激活和更新中的作用。这个假说正在被验证，即对面部运动和手势的感知激活镜像神经元网络（上级颞沟、顶内沟和运动前区，即布罗卡区和额叶眼区），感知和模仿都会引起这种活动;传达社会相关信息的运动也会引起ToM系统的活动。第二个目标是调查在识别熟悉面孔期间激活的哪些区域与自发检索与熟悉个人相关的持久个人属性的表征相关。 这一假设正在被检验，即这一过程是由心理理论系统中的皮层区域（前副扣带皮层、后上级颞沟）介导的，这些区域可以与情绪反应（杏仁核）和自传体情景记忆提取（后扣带/楔前叶、前颞皮层）相关的区域区分开来。 面孔知觉是一种高度发展和有效的技能，在社会交际中起着核心作用。特别是，在传达有关他人的意图、态度、情感、兴趣水平和其他短暂心理状态的信息方面，面孔感知可能比语言发挥更关键的作用。更好地理解人类神经系统的功能架构，介导这种技能可以帮助通知计算方法来面对感知，并可能应用于改进的人机界面。 这种理解也可以帮助开发以社交和面部感知受损为特征的精神疾病的诊断程序和治疗方法，例如社交恐惧症，自闭症和精神分裂症。普林斯顿大学的本科生和研究生将参与这项研究。