The role of expression and identity in the face-selective responses of neurons in the temporal visual cortex of the monkey
Abstract
Neurophysiological studies have shown that some neurons in the cortex in the superior temporal sulcus and the inferior temporal gyrus of macaque monkeys respond to faces. To determine if facial factors such as expression and identity are encoded independently by face-responsive neurons, 45 neurons were tested on a stimulus set depicting 3 monkeys with 3 expressions each. As tested on a two-way ANOVA, 15 neurons showed response differences to different identities independently of expression, and 9 neurons showed responses to different expressions independently of identity. Three neurons showed significant effects of both factors. Six of the neurons with responses related to expression responded primarily to calm faces, while 2 responded primarily to threat faces. Of a further set of 31 neurons tested on pairs of different expressions, 6 showed strong responses to open-mouth fear or threat expressions, while 2 showed stronger responses to calm faces than threat expressions. Neurons responsive to expression were found primarily in the cortex in the superior temporal sulcus, while neurons responsive to identity were found primarily in the inferior temporal gyrus. The difference in anatomical distribution was statistically significant. This supports the possibility that specific impairments of the recognition of the identity of a face and of its expression in man are due to damage to or disconnection of separate neuronal substrates.
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The reduced connectivity with temporal cortex areas in which objects and faces are represented contributes to the reduced positive valuation of signals involved in emotion such as the sight of face expressions, and of people.
“The reduced connectivity with temporal cortex areas in which objects and faces are represented was interpreted as contributing to the reduced positive valuation of signals involved in emotion such as the sight of face expressions, and of people (Hasselmo et al., 1989; Critchley et al., 2000).”
From The orbitofrontal cortex: reward, emotion and depression (2020) · cites this paper as Hasselmo et al., 1989
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- Authors
- Hasselmo, M. E., Rolls, E. T., & Baylis, G. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Rolls, Edmund T.
- Venue
- Behavioural Brain Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1989-04
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 203-218
- ISSN
- 0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2047183410
- Cited by
- 657
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 5.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Face recognition and analysis
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Keywords
- face-selective neurons, facial expressions, face identity, superior temporal sulcus, inferior temporal gyrus, macaque, fear expression, face recognition (cognition), neuronal substrates
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Arousal, Attention, Brain Mapping, Discrimination Learning, Evoked Potentials, Visual, Facial Expression, Form Perception, Macaca fascicularis, Macaca mulatta, Neurons, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Pilot Projects, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted, Visual Cortex
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