Patterns of fMRI activity dissociate overlapping functional brain areas that respond to biological motion.
Accurate perception of the actions and intentions of other people is essential for successful interactions in a social environment. Several cortical areas that support this process respond selectively in fMRI to static and dynamic displays of human bodies and faces. Here we apply pattern-analysis techniques to arrive at a new understanding of the neural response to biological motion. Functionally defined body-, face-, and motion-selective visual areas all responded significantly to "point-light" human motion. Strikingly, however, only body selectivity was correlated, on a voxel-by-voxel basis, with biological motion selectivity. We conclude that (1) biological motion, through the process of structure-from-motion, engages areas involved in the analysis of the static human form; (2) body-selective regions in posterior fusiform gyrus and posterior inferior temporal sulcus overlap with, but are distinct from, face- and motion-selective regions; (3) the interpretation of region-of-interest findings may be substantially altered when multiple patterns of selectivity are considered.
Peelen
Marius V
MV
School of Psychology, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2AS, United Kingdom. pspe40@bangor.ac.uk
Wiggett
Alison J
AJ
Downing
Paul E
PE
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D000077463:Carbamide Peroxide; D004338:Drug Combinations; D007839:Functional Laterality; D018594:Human Body; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009038:Motion; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010545:Peroxides / Q000097:blood; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014508:Urea / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood
D004338:Drug Combinations; D010545:Peroxides; D000077463:Carbamide Peroxide; D014508:Urea