Development of Face Perception and Recognition

描述（由申请人提供）：面部识别对于社会交往和发展至关重要，并经历了长期的成熟，直到青少年。然而，很少有人知道的成熟的正常的心理或神经过程，支持儿童的发展的面孔知觉。该提案的目标是使用尖端的心理物理学和神经科学方法来阐明涉及面部识别的心理过程的发展，潜在的神经系统及其联系。这样一个严谨和收敛的方法，在阐明正常的发展是至关重要的，了解许多发展障碍，涉及缺陷的视觉或面部处理，如威廉姆斯综合征，自闭症和先天性面容失认症。最近的心理物理学研究发现，成人的面部识别涉及多个处理阶段，包括视觉分类（面部与非面部）和个体识别（例如，乔治对比尔）。影像学研究表明，在成人中，特定的面孔选择区域的视觉皮层，如梭状“脸区”（FFA）也参与了分类和识别的面孔。我们的初步数据表明，与成人相比，儿童（7-11岁）的FFA要小得多，这与他们的面部识别记忆水平较低有关。这些数据表明，一个显着的和长期的成熟的面孔加工及其神经基板。然而，目前尚不清楚这种成熟与面部处理的特定阶段有何关系，以及这种成熟是否是FFA特有的，或者更普遍地涉及视觉皮层。我们假设，发展的脸处理具体涉及成熟的FFA。因此，我们建议检查FFA的成熟和面孔知觉之间的联系。我们将确定：（1）使用心理物理学，面部处理的哪些行为方面在7岁以后成熟;（2）使用标准fMRI，FFA的成熟是否与早期和/或高阶视觉皮层的成熟同步发生（或滞后）;（3）儿童的FFA是否参与了面部的发育（或对象）分类和识别，使用心理物理学和标准功能磁共振成像的组合，以及（4）FFA的成熟是否涉及面部选择性和/或FFA内精细尺度结构的增加，使用高分辨率的功能磁共振成像。我们希望我们的研究结果能够解决我们对正常视觉发育的理解中存在的巨大差距，为面部感知和物体表征理论增加重要知识，并为未来对发育障碍和儿科成像的研究提供重要基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Face recognition is crucial for social interaction and development, and undergoes a prolonged maturation until the teens. However, little is known about the maturation of the normal psychological or neural processes that support the development of face perception in children. The goal of this proposal is to use cutting-edge psychophysical and neuroscience methods to elucidate the development of psychological processes involved in face recognition, the underlying neural systems, and their link. Such a rigorous and convergent approach in elucidating normal development is crucial for understanding the many developmental disorders that involve deficits in visual or face processing such as Williams Syndrome, autism and congenital prosopagnosia. Recent psychophysical studies found that face recognition in adults involves multiple stages of processing, including visual categorization (face versus non face) and individual identification (e.g., George versus Bill). Imaging studies revealed that in adults, specific face selective regions in the visual cortex, such as the fusiform "face area" (FFA) are also involved in the categorization and identification of faces. Our preliminary data indicate that the FFA is substantially smaller in children (7-11) compared to adults, correlating with their lower levels of face recognition memory. These data suggest a striking and prolonged maturation of face processing and its neural substrates. However, it is not known how this maturation relates to specific stages of face processing, and whether this maturation is specific to the FFA, or involves the visual cortex more generally. We hypothesize that development of face processing specifically involves maturation of the FFA. Therefore, we propose to examine the links between maturation of the FFA and face perception. We will determine: (1) which behavioral aspects of face processing mature after age 7, using psychophysics; (2) whether the maturation of the FFA occurs in tandem with (or lags) maturation of early and/or higher order visual cortex, using standard fMRI; (3) whether the (smaller) FFA in children is involved in face (or object) categorization and identification, using a combination of psychophysics and standard fMRI and (4) whether maturation of FFA involves increases in face selectivity and/or fine-scale structures within the FFA, using high resolution fMRI. We expect our results to address wide gaps in our understanding of normal visual development, add significant knowledge to theories of face perception and object representation, and provide an essential base for future research on developmental disorders and pediatric imaging in general.