Seeing John Malkovich: the neural substrates of person categorization.
Neuroimaging data have implicated regions of the ventral temporal cortex (e.g., fusiform gyrus) as functionally important in face recognition. Recent evidence, however, suggests that these regions are not face-specific, but rather reflect subordinate-level categorical processing underpinned by perceptual expertise. Moreover, when people possess expertise for a particular class of stimuli (e.g., faces), subordinate-level identification is thought to be an automatic process. To investigate the neural substrates of person construal, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to contrast brain activity while participants judged faces at different levels of semantic specificity (i.e., identity vs. occupation). The results revealed that participants were quicker to access identity than occupational knowledge. In addition, greater activity was observed in bilateral regions of the fusiform gyrus on identity than occupation trials. Taken together, these findings support the viewpoint that person construal is characterized by the ability to access subordinate-level semantic information about people, a capacity that is underpinned by neural activity in discrete regions of the ventral temporal cortex.
Turk
David J
DJ
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, 6162 Moore Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. david.j.turk@dartmouth.edu
Rosenblum
Amy C
AC
Gazzaniga
Michael S
MS
Macrae
C Neil
CN
D000328:Adult; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D005145:Face; D005197:Famous Persons; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*