The neural organization of face and object patches in inferotemporal cortex

描述(申请人提供)：大脑识别和记忆物体的非凡能力依赖于一系列视觉处理阶段，最终形成颞下皮质(IT)。作为最高的纯视觉处理阶段，IT包含用于处理特定对象类的专用域，例如人脸。然而，人们对这些区域内神经元的详细组织和属性知之甚少。这项提议的目标是通过精确地将神经记录定向到信息技术的面部和目标选择性区域来提供此类信息。将开发一个综合系统，使用功能磁共振成像来定位感兴趣的区域，并使用一种新的基于X射线的技术来返回这些区域内的神经坐标。我们的第一个目标将是在fMRI定义的对象补丁的3D范围内测量神经元的选择性和耐受属性。将测试关于精细组织的不同假设，并通过功能磁共振测量神经群体相对于选择性的潜在选择性。我们建议的第二个目标是将面部贴片中的组织与新对象的贴片进行比较。面孔选择性细胞已经被认为存在于脸部斑块中，但需要解决的问题是脸部斑块中细胞的数量、组织或调谐强度与对陌生物体具有选择性的区域中的细胞有何不同。这些信息将提供关于IT是如何跨对象组织的洞察力，以及对面部等对象的高度熟悉是否会完善神经映射。通过弥合人类功能磁共振成像和潜在神经结构之间的差距，这项工作直接影响了我们对人类对象选择性皮质的理解。在视觉功能丧失的情况下，位于记忆和知觉交界处的对象层域是视觉神经假体的主要目标。对其精确位置和结构的了解将指导修复，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.