Behavioural and neuroimaging studies of face processing

识别人脸的身份和情感表达的能力在我们的日常生活中至关重要。因此，我们是这种能力的专家也就不足为奇了，此外，大脑中的特定区域似乎专门负责面部处理。尽管很明显，大脑中的某些结构与面孔处理有关，但在科学文献中，关于涉及到的大脑区域的确切作用，已经有了相当大的争论。我的研究项目考察了大脑中被认为在面孔处理过程中发挥作用的各种结构的功能作用，以及大脑的哪一边(如果有的话)发挥着主导作用。这项研究计划使用行为和神经成像(FMRI)技术来调查这些结构所使用的潜在表征。我将使用fMRI自适应来测量面部处理区域对视觉属性的选择性。我的研究计划由三个主要项目组成，大致提出了以下问题：1)识别面孔的能力是否存在性别差异，这是否反映在一个半球与另一个半球的面孔皮质激活的差异上？2)由右脑处理的同时进行的手动任务是否比由左脑处理的任务更干扰面孔处理？3)在生命早期失去左眼(右脑主要接受输入)对面孔处理和皮层激活的影响是否大于生命早期失去右眼的影响？除了回答有关特定大脑结构在脸部处理中的作用的基本问题外，这项研究项目的发现还将对临床评估和治疗因大脑这些区域受损而导致的神经缺陷产生影响。

The ability to recognize the identity and emotional expression of a human face is of critical importance in our daily lives. It is therefore not surprising that we are such experts at this ability and further, that specific regions within the brain appear to be devoted to face processing. Although it is clear that certain structures in the brain are related to face processing, there has been considerable debate in the scientific literature, about the precise roles of the brain regions that are involved. My research program examines the functional roles of the various structures in the brain that are thought to play a role in face processing and indeed which side (if any) of the brain plays a dominant role. This research program uses both behavioural and neuroimaging (fMRI) techniques to investigate the underlying representations used by these structures. I will use fMRI adaptation to measure the selectivity of face processing regions for visual attributes. My research program consists of three main projects, which broadly ask the following questions: 1) Are there gender differences in ability to recognize faces and is this reflected in differences in cortical activation for faces in one hemisphere compared to the other? 2) Does a concurrent manual task that is processed by the right hemisphere interfere with face processing more than one that is processed by the left hemisphere? 3) Does losing the left eye early in life (from which the right hemisphere primarily receives its input) affect face processing and cortical activation for faces more than losing the right eye early in life? In addition to answering fundamental questions about the roles of specific brain structures for face processing the findings from this research program will have implications for the clinical evaluation and treatment of neurological deficits that result from damage to these areas of the brain.