Development of Face Perception: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Investigations

描述（由申请人提供）：人类天生就有看脸的倾向，但人脸识别经历了一个令人惊讶的长期发展到青少年后期。同样，神经影像学研究发现，在儿童时期和青少年时期，腹侧颞叶皮层（VTC）中的面部选择性区域的发育延长，涉及面部选择性的年龄相关增加。由于面孔加工在儿童的视觉、社会和心理发展中具有重要意义，因此了解面孔识别发展的神经基础是非常重要的。 和情感发展，是理解涉及非典型面部处理的临床条件的先决条件。然而，面部选择性是如何发展的，或者VTC中的神经发展如何导致更好的面部识别，仍然是未知的。我们建议阐明的功能和结构的大脑机制的基础上发展的人脸识别能力，使用先进的神经成像和行为的方法，在同一科目，横截面和纵向采集多模态数据。在目标1中，我们将确定驱动VTC面部选择性发展的因素，并研究结构和功能发展之间的关系。因此，我们将获得每个受试者的行为，解剖学和功能数据，并比较幼儿的数据（5-7奥尔兹，哟），儿童（9- 11岁），和成人（23-25岁）的横截面和纵向跟踪这些发展，以确定：（1）最近积累的经验在塑造面部选择性方面的作用是什么，（2）如果用中央视觉观察面部驱动了面部选择性的发展，（3）白色结构的发展是否与VTC的面孔选择性发展有关;（4）面孔选择性、偏心偏差和白色结构的发展的可靠性、顺序和纵向轨迹如何。纵向测量将提供前所未有的空间和时间精度，揭示与皮层选择性出现相关的发展级联。在目标2中，我们将确定神经发展如何导致更好的面部识别。熟练的人脸识别需要在相似的面孔之间进行精细的区分，并在许多可能的外观中识别特定的面孔。然而，这两个关键过程的神经机制是未知的。因此，使用儿童（7-11岁），青少年（12-16岁）和成人（24-28岁）的表现和大脑反应的横截面测量，我们将确定（1）神经调谐的发展变化，以面对身份和看法，导致更好的面孔歧视和（2）如果发展的专业化，在VTC的面孔增加，导致更好的面孔识别。我们希望这些研究能够大大提高我们对皮层对面孔的选择性发展和面孔识别改善的神经机制的认识，并提高我们对长期皮层可塑性神经机制的理解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Humans are born with a propensity to look at faces, yet face recognition undergoes a surprisingly prolonged development into the late teens. Likewise, neuroimaging studies discovered prolonged development of face- selective regions in ventral temporal cortex (VTC) during childhood and into the teens involving age-related increases in face selectivity. Understanding the neural substrates of the development of face recognition is important because of the significance of face procesing in children's visual, social and emotional development, and is a prerequisite for understanding clinical conditions involving atypical face processing. However, it remains unknown how face selectivity develops, or how neural developments in VTC lead to better face recognition. We propose to elucidate the functional and structural brain mechanisms that underlie the development of face recognition abilities, using cutting-edge neuroimaging and behavioral methods acquiring multimodal data in the same subjects, cross-sectionally and longitudinally. In Aim 1 we will determine the factors that drive the development of face selectivity in VTC and examine the relationship between structural and functional developments. Thus, we will acquire behavioral, anatomical and functional data in each subject comparing data across young children (5-7 year olds, yo), children (9-11yo), and adults (23-25 yo) cross- sectionally and follow these developments longitudinally to determine: (1) what is the role of recent and cumulative experience in shaping face selectivity, (2) if viewing faces with central vision drives the development of face selectiviy, (3) if development of white matter structures is linked to development of face selectivity in VTC and (4) what is the reliability, sequence and longitudinal trajectory of the development of face selectivity, eccentricity bias and white matter structures in VTC. Longitudinal measurements wil provide unprecedented spatial and temporal precision revealing the casade of developments asociated with the emergence of cortical selectivity. In Aim 2 we will determine how neural developments lead to better face recognition. Proficient face recognition requires fine discrimination among similar faces and identification of specific faces across their many possible appearances. However, the neural mechanisms that underlie the development of these two key processes are unknown. Thus, using cross-sectional measurements of performance and brain responses in children (7-11 yo), adolescents (12-16 yo) and adults (24-28 yo) we will determine (1) if developmental changes in neural tuning to face identity and view lead to beter face discrimination and (2) if developmental increases in specialization to faces in VTC lead to beter face identification. We expect these studies to significantly advance our knowledge of the neural mechanisms that underlie the development of cortical selectivity to faces and improvements in face recognition, as well as progress our understanding of the neural mechanisms of long-term cortical plasticity.