title: Neural correlates of body and face perception following bilateral destruction of the primary visual cortices.
abstract: Non-conscious visual processing of different object categories was investigated in a rare patient with bilateral destruction of the visual cortex (V1) and clinical blindness over the entire visual field. Images of biological and non-biological object categories were presented consisting of human bodies, faces, butterflies, cars, and scrambles. Behaviorally, only the body shape induced higher perceptual sensitivity, as revealed by signal detection analysis. Passive exposure to bodies and faces activated amygdala and superior temporal sulcus. In addition, bodies also activated the extrastriate body area, insula, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and cerebellum. The results show that following bilateral damage to the primary visual cortex and ensuing complete cortical blindness, the human visual system is able to process categorical properties of human body shapes. This residual vision may be based on V1-independent input to body-selective areas along the ventral stream, in concert with areas involved in the representation of bodily states, like insula, OFC, and cerebellum.
authors.affiliation: Brain and Emotion Laboratory Leuven, Division of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van den Stock
authors.affiliation: Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, and CoRPS - Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases - Tilburg University Tilburg, Netherlands ; Department of Psychology, University of Torino Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamietto
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Minye
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Brain Innovation Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heinecke
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science, University of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hervais-Adelman
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychology, Neuropsychology Unit and Department of Neurology, Geneva University Hospitals Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lore B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Legrand
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science, University of Geneva Geneva, Switzerland ; Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychology, Neuropsychology Unit and Department of Neurology, Geneva University Hospitals Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Pegna
authors.affiliation: Brain and Emotion Laboratory Leuven, Division of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven Leuven, Belgium ; Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, and CoRPS - Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases - Tilburg University Tilburg, Netherlands ; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Gelder
keywords: EBA; V1; amygdala; cerebellum; insula; orbitofrontal cortex; residual vision; ventral stream