The neural organization of face and object patches in inferotemporal cortex

描述（由申请人提供）：大脑识别和记忆物体的非凡能力取决于一系列视觉处理阶段，最终在颞下皮层（IT）达到顶峰。作为最高的纯视觉处理阶段，IT包含用于处理特定对象类（如面部）的专用域。然而，人们对这些区域内神经元的详细组织和特性知之甚少。这项建议的目标是提供这样的信息，通过精确定位神经记录，面对和对象选择性区域的IT。一个集成的系统将开发，使用功能磁共振成像定位感兴趣的区域和一种新的基于X射线的技术，返回这些区域内的神经坐标。我们的第一个目标将是测量神经元的选择性和耐受性，在整个三维范围内的功能磁共振成像定义的对象补丁。不同的假设精细规模的组织将进行测试，和潜在的选择性的神经种群相比，选择性功能磁共振成像测量。我们的建议的第二个目的将比较组织在一个面补丁与补丁的新对象。面部选择细胞已经知道存在于面部补丁，但要解决的问题是如何的数量，组织，或调整的细胞强度在面部补丁不同的区域选择不熟悉的物体。这些信息将提供有关IT如何跨对象组织的见解，以及对面部等对象的强烈熟悉是否会细化神经地图。通过弥合人类功能磁共振成像和底层神经结构之间的差距，这项工作直接影响我们对人类物体选择皮层的理解。在视觉功能丧失的情况下，记忆和感知界面处的对象水平域是视觉神经修复的主要目标。了解它们的精确位置和结构将指导修复，并为下一代假肢的开发奠定基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The brain's remarkable ability to recognize and remember objects depends on a series of visual processing stages culminating in inferotemporal cortex (IT). As the highest purely visual processing stage, IT contains dedicated domains for processing specific object classes, such as faces. Little is known, however, about the detailed organization and properties of neurons within these domains. The goal of this proposal is to provide such information by precisely targeting neural recordings to face and object selective regions of IT. An integrated system will be developed that uses fMRI to localize regions of interest and a novel x-ray based technique to return neural coordinates within these regions. Our first aim will be to measure the selectivity and tolerance properties of neurons throughout the 3D extent of an fMRI defined object patch. Different hypotheses about fine scale organization will be tested, and the underlying selectivity of neural populations compared to selectivity measured by fMRI. The second aim of our proposal will compare the organization in a face patch with a patch for novel objects. Face selective cells are already known to exist in face patches, but the question to be addressed is how the number, organization, or strength of tuning of cells in face patches differs from that in regions selective to unfamiliar objects. Such information will provide insights into how IT is organized across objects and whether strong familiarity with objects like faces refines neural maps. By bridging the gap between human fMRI and underlying neural structures, this work directly impacts our understanding of human object selective cortex. In case of loss of visual function, object level domains at the interface of memory and perception are prime targets for visual neural prosthetics. Knowledge of their precise locations and structures will guide repair and lay groundwork for the development of next-generation prosthetics.