title: Development of Tool Representations in the Dorsal and Ventral Visual Object Processing Pathways.
abstract: Tools represent a special class of objects, because they are processed across both the dorsal and ventral visual object processing pathways. Three core regions are known to be involved in tool processing: the left posterior middle temporal gyrus, the medial fusiform gyrus (bilaterally), and the left inferior parietal lobule. A critical and relatively unexplored issue concerns whether, in development, tool preferences emerge at the same time and to a similar degree across all regions of the tool-processing network. To test this issue, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure the neural amplitude, peak location, and the dispersion of tool-related neural responses in the youngest sample of children tested to date in this domain (ages 4-8 years). We show that children recruit overlapping regions of the adult tool-processing network and also exhibit similar patterns of co-activation across the network to adults. The amplitude and co-activation data show that the core components of the tool-processing network are established by age 4. Our findings on the distributions of peak location and dispersion of activation indicate that the tool network undergoes refinement between ages 4 and 8 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.
authors.forename: Alyssa J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Kersey
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.
authors.forename: Tyia S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.
authors.forename: Courtney A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Lussier
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, New York, NY 14627, USA Department of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, New York, NY 14642, USA.
authors.forename: Bradford Z
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Mahon
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.
authors.forename: Jessica F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cantlon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: category-specificity; conceptual processing; fMRI; parietal cortex; tools