Causal Connections of the cortical face network studied with TMS and fMRI

使用 TMS 和 fMRI 研究皮质面部网络的因果关系

• 批准号: BB/P006981/1
• 负责人: David Pitcher
• 金额: $ 51.89万
• 依托单位: University of York
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FP006981%2F1
• 关键词: Causal; Connections; cortical; face; network

Whether meeting someone for the first time, or seeing someone we have known all our lives, we will understand the mood and intentions of that person by looking at their face. This understanding is formed not only by the verbal and non-verbal cues that she or he makes but also by the size and shape of their face and by how they move their head, eyes and mouth. Our brains are so efficient that, to us, instantly processing this wealth of socially relevant information appears to happen effortlessly. Yet even the simplest function, like recognizing someone's identity, or their facial expression, requires the interaction of specialized face-selective regions distributed across the brain. While the locations of these regions have been established this is only the first step in understanding how we recognize faces. We currently lack any real comprehension of how face-selective regions interact with each other when we recognize a friend, or how that friend feels based on their facial expression. New experimental paradigms are required that will transiently, and safely, disrupt brain function, to causally demonstrate how face-selective regions operate with each other and with brain regions that process different cognitive functions such as emotion and memory. Studying the effects of disruption in this manner will help us to better understand how brain damage and brain disorders (e.g. autism) can impact human behaviour.The experiments in this proposal address this issue using a novel combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuropsychology. TMS can transiently, and safely, disrupt a targeted brain region and, when combined with fMRI, it offers a powerful experimental tool for causally studying the cognitive functions of brain networks. Transiently disrupting the brains of neurologically normal participants with TMS and measuring the effects of this disruption with behaviour and fMRI is a safe and replicable way to build on more than two hundred years of neuropsychological research.We will use TMS to disrupt brain regions implicated in social perception, such as those that process facial expression and speech, and measure what impact this has on the brain. The results of these studies will be used to generate detailed maps of the causal functional connectivity of the face-processing network. The behavioural relevance of these functional connections will also be tested in behavioural TMS experiments and neuropsychological studies of a patient with face recognition deficits, to further establish how disruption impacts face-processing behaviour. Then, in the final stages of the project, we will perform a meta-analysis of all acquired combined TMS/fMRI, TMS and neuropsychological data to produce a new causal model of the face-processing network. A new causal model of the connections and cognitive operations of the face-processing network is important because it will give us a better description of how complex cognitive functions are processed across multiple brain regions. This model will also have clinical relevance. Abnormal face-processing performance has been shown in individuals with brain disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia. Mapping the functional connections of the face-processing network will enhance understanding of how brain connectivity can be impaired in these social brain disorders. For example, by identifying target nodes in social disorders, such as the face-selective STS region, for future study and possible treatment.

无论是第一次见到某人，还是见到我们认识一辈子的人，我们都会通过看他们的脸来了解他们的情绪和意图。这种理解不仅是通过她或他所做的语言和非语言暗示形成的，而且还通过他们的脸的大小和形状以及他们如何移动他们的头，眼睛和嘴巴。我们的大脑是如此高效，以至于对我们来说，即时处理这些丰富的社会相关信息似乎毫不费力。然而，即使是最简单的功能，如识别某人的身份或面部表情，也需要分布在大脑中的专门面部选择区域的相互作用。虽然这些区域的位置已经确定，但这只是了解我们如何识别人脸的第一步。我们目前缺乏任何真实的理解，当我们认出一个朋友时，面孔选择区域是如何相互作用的，或者这个朋友基于他们的面部表情是如何感受的。我们需要新的实验范式来暂时、安全地扰乱大脑功能，从而因果地证明面孔选择区域是如何相互作用的，以及如何与处理不同认知功能（如情感和记忆）的大脑区域相互作用的。以这种方式研究中断的影响将有助于我们更好地了解脑损伤和脑疾病（例如自闭症）如何影响人类行为。该提案中的实验使用经颅磁刺激（TMS），功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）和神经心理学的新组合来解决这个问题。经颅磁刺激可以短暂而安全地破坏目标大脑区域，当与功能磁共振成像结合时，它为因果研究大脑网络的认知功能提供了一个强大的实验工具。在200多年神经心理学研究的基础上，我们用经颅磁刺激短暂干扰神经系统正常的参与者的大脑，并通过行为和功能磁共振成像来测量这种干扰的影响，这是一种安全且可复制的方法。我们将用经颅磁刺激干扰与社会感知有关的大脑区域，比如处理面部表情和言语的区域，并测量这对大脑的影响。这些研究的结果将被用来生成详细的地图的因果功能连接的面孔处理网络。这些功能连接的行为相关性也将在行为TMS实验和面部识别缺陷患者的神经心理学研究中进行测试，以进一步确定中断如何影响面部处理行为。然后，在项目的最后阶段，我们将对所有获得的TMS/fMRI，TMS和神经心理学数据进行荟萃分析，以产生一个新的面部处理网络的因果模型。一个新的面部处理网络的连接和认知操作的因果模型很重要，因为它将为我们更好地描述复杂的认知功能是如何在多个大脑区域中处理的。该模型也将具有临床意义。异常的面部处理表现已经在患有大脑疾病的个体中显示出来，如自闭症和精神分裂症。绘制面部处理网络的功能连接将增强对大脑连接如何在这些社交大脑障碍中受损的理解。例如，通过识别社交障碍中的目标节点，如面部选择性STS区域，用于未来的研究和可能的治疗。

项目成果

Theta-burst TMS of lateral occipital cortex reduces BOLD responses across category-selective areas in ventral temporal cortex.

• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117790
• 发表时间: 2021-04-15
• 期刊: NeuroImage
• 影响因子: 5.7
• 作者: Groen IIA;Silson EH;Pitcher D;Baker CI
• 通讯作者: Baker CI

Thetaburst TMS to the posterior superior temporal sulcus decreases resting-state fMRI connectivity across the face processing network

• DOI: 10.1101/794578
• 发表时间: 2019-10
• 期刊: bioRxiv
• 作者: D. Handwerker;G. Ianni;B. Gutierrez;V. Roopchansingh;J. Gonzalez-Castillo;Gang Chen;P. Bandettini;Leslie G. Ungerleider;D. Pitcher

Measuring the response to visually presented faces in the human lateral prefrontal cortex.

• DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgac036
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Cerebral cortex communications