Development of Face Perception: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Investigations

识别面孔的能力对于日常社交互动至关重要，从童年起就得到了提高 到成年。在成年人中，面部识别是由人类枕骨腹侧的一系列区域介导的 和颞叶皮层，构成腹侧面网络。腹面的选择性和空间范围 网络从童年到成年的发展，与面部识别的年龄相关的改善相关。 然而，这种发育的神经机制、发育速度以及各因素之间的关系 控制这种发展的因素尚不清楚。拟议研究的目标是填补这些 通过确定大脑的解剖结构和功能之间的关系来发现知识上的巨大差距 发展并了解这些发展如何最终导致行为改善。达到 为了实现这些目标，该研究将结合儿童（5-10岁）的横断面和纵向测量 老年）和成人（23-28 岁）获得功能性磁的创新多模态测量 磁共振成像 (fMRI)、定量 MRI (qMRI)、弥散加权成像 (DWI) 以及每种方法的行为 参与者。目标 1 将采用 fMRI、qMRI 和面部识别行为的纵向测量来 确定面部网络中灰质的发育速率和功能选择性是多少，如果 灰质和功能的发育同时发生，或者一个先于另一个，并且如果神经发育 与面部识别的行为改善相关。目标 2 将采用横截面和纵向 使用 fMRI、DWI、qMRI 和行为进行测量，以确定面部白质特性是否以及如何 如果白质发展与功能或行为发展相关，则网络发展，并且 白质和功能的发育是否同时或依次发生。目标 3 将使用功能磁共振成像和人口 感受野 (pRF) 建模，以确定腹侧面部网络中的 pRF 是否以及如何从童年起发生变化 成年后，pRF 特性的发展是否与面部注视模式有关。目标 4 将测试神经网络是否 面部选择性反应对从童年到成年的面部变化变得不那么敏感， 从而提高不同尺寸或视图下面部不同实例的泛化能力。 至关重要的是，在每个目标中，我们不仅要检查腹侧面部网络的发育，还要检查腹侧面部网络的发育 更广泛地研究人类腹侧视觉流，以阐明发育效应的特异性。总体而言， 拟议的研究将促进对面部发育背后的神经机制的理解 认识到，它将阐明关于解剖学和解剖学之间关系的完整发展理论。 功能性大脑发育，并将首次测量多个方面的发育速率 人类腹侧颞叶皮层的解剖和功能。这项研究将为未来的研究提供重要基础 对典型和非典型病症的研究，包括发育性面容失认症、威廉姆斯综合症和 自闭症。

The ability to recognize faces, which is critical for everyday social interactions, improves from childhood to adulthood. In adults, face recognition is mediated by a series of regions in the ventral aspect of human occipital and temporal cortex, constituting the ventral face network. The selectivity and spatial extent of the ventral face network develop from childhood to adulthood, in correlation with age-related improvements in face recognition. However, the neural mechanisms of this development, the rate of development, and the relation among factors that govern this development are not well understood. The goals of the proposed research are to fill these substantial gaps in knowledge by determining the relationship between anatomical and functional brain development and understanding how these developments ultimately lead to improved behavior. To achieve these goals, the research will combine cross-sectional and longitudinal measurements in children (5-10 years old) and adults (23-28 years old) obtaining innovative multimodal measurements of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), quantitative MRI (qMRI), diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), and behavior in each participant. Aim 1 will employ longitudinal measurements of fMRI, qMRI, and face recognition behavior to determine what is the rate of the development of gray matter and functional selectivity in the face network, if development of gray matter and function occur together or one precedes the other, and if neural developments correlate with behavioral improvements in face recognition. Aim 2 will employ cross-sectional and longitudinal measurements using fMRI, DWI, qMRI, and behavior to determine if and how white matter properties of the face network develop, if white matter developments are linked with either functional or behavioral development, and if development of white matter and function occur together or in sequence. Aim 3 will use fMRI and population receptive field (pRF) modeling to determine if and how pRFs in the ventral face network change from childhood to adulthood, and if development of pRF properties is related to fixation patterns on faces. Aim 4 will test if neural responses in face-selective become less sensitive to face transformations from childhood to adulthood, consequently improving generalization across different instances of the face under different sizes or views. Critically, in each aim we will examine not only the development of the ventral face network but the development of the human ventral visual stream more broadly to elucidate the specificity of developmental effects. Overall, the proposed research will advance understanding of neural mechanisms underlying the development of face recognition, it will elucidate completing developmental theories regarding the relation between anatomical and functional brain development, and will provide the first measurements of the developmental rate of multiple facets of human ventral temporal cortex anatomy and function. This research will provide an essential basis for future research on typical and atypical conditions including developmental prosopagnosia, Williams Syndrome, and autism.