JN AJP: Endocrinology and Metabolism
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

J Neurophysiol 93: 603-608, 2005. First published August 4, 2004; doi:10.1152/jn.00513.2004
0022-3077/05 $8.00
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
93/1/603    most recent
00513.2004v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (41)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Peelen, M. V.
Right arrow Articles by Downing, P. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Peelen, M. V.
Right arrow Articles by Downing, P. E.

REPORT

Selectivity for the Human Body in the Fusiform Gyrus

Marius V. Peelen and Paul E. Downing

School of Psychology, University of Wales, Bangor, United Kingdom

Submitted 17 May 2004; accepted in final form 3 August 2004

Functional neuroimaging studies have revealed human brain regions, notably in the fusiform gyrus, that respond selectively to images of faces as opposed to other kinds of objects. Here we use fMRI to show that the mid-fusiform gyrus responds with nearly the same level of selectivity to images of human bodies without faces, relative to tools and scenes. In a group-average analysis (n = 22), the fusiform activations identified by contrasting faces versus tools and bodies versus tools are very similar. Analyses of within-subjects regions of interest, however, show that the peaks of the two activations occupy close but distinct locations. In a second experiment, we find that the body-selective fusiform region, but not the face-selective region, responds more to stick figure depictions of bodies than to scrambled controls. This result further distinguishes the two foci and confirms that the body-selective response generalizes to abstract image formats. These results challenge accounts of the mid-fusiform gyrus that focus solely on faces and suggest that this region contains multiple distinct category-selective neural representations.

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: P. Downing, School of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Wales, Bangor, United Kingdom LL57 2AS (E-mail: p.downing{at}bangor.ac.uk)




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
R. F. Schwarzlose, J. D. Swisher, S. Dang, and N. Kanwisher
The distribution of category and location information across object-selective regions in human visual cortex
PNAS, March 18, 2008; 105(11): 4447 - 4452.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Soc Cogn Affect NeurosciHome page
M. V. Peelen, A. P. Atkinson, F. Andersson, and P. Vuilleumier
Emotional modulation of body-selective visual areas
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, December 1, 2007; 2(4): 274 - 283.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
C.-C. Kung, J. J. Peissig, and M. J. Tarr
Is Region-of-Interest Overlap Comparison a Reliable Measure of Category Specificity?
J. Cogn. Neurosci., December 1, 2007; 19(12): 2019 - 2034.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
M. I. Gobbini, A. C. Koralek, R. E. Bryan, K. J. Montgomery, and J. V. Haxby
Two takes on the social brain: a comparison of theory of mind tasks.
J. Cogn. Neurosci., November 1, 2007; 19(11): 1803 - 1814.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurophysiol.Home page
J. C. Taylor, A. J. Wiggett, and P. E. Downing
Functional MRI Analysis of Body and Body Part Representations in the Extrastriate and Fusiform Body Areas
J Neurophysiol, September 1, 2007; 98(3): 1626 - 1633.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
C. Urgesi, B. Calvo-Merino, P. Haggard, and S. M. Aglioti
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Reveals Two Cortical Pathways for Visual Body Processing
J. Neurosci., July 25, 2007; 27(30): 8023 - 8030.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
R. A. Epstein and J. S. Higgins
Differential Parahippocampal and Retrosplenial Involvement in Three Types of Visual Scene Recognition
Cereb Cortex, July 1, 2007; 17(7): 1680 - 1693.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
C. I. Baker, J. Liu, L. L. Wald, K. K. Kwong, T. Benner, and N. Kanwisher
Visual word processing and experiential origins of functional selectivity in human extrastriate cortex
PNAS, May 22, 2007; 104(21): 9087 - 9092.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
P. E. Downing, A. W.-Y. Chan, M. V. Peelen, C. M. Dodds, and N. Kanwisher
Domain Specificity in Visual Cortex
Cereb Cortex, October 1, 2006; 16(10): 1453 - 1461.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
G. Kovacs, M. Zimmer, E. Banko, I. Harza, A. Antal, and Z. Vidnyanszky
Electrophysiological Correlates of Visual Adaptation to Faces and Body Parts in Humans
Cereb Cortex, May 1, 2006; 16(5): 742 - 753.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
J. Lange and M. Lappe
A model of biological motion perception from configural form cues.
J. Neurosci., March 15, 2006; 26(11): 2894 - 2906.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
R. F. Schwarzlose, C. I. Baker, and N. Kanwisher
Separate Face and Body Selectivity on the Fusiform Gyrus
J. Neurosci., November 23, 2005; 25(47): 11055 - 11059.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
M. A. Pinsk, K. DeSimone, T. Moore, C. G. Gross, and S. Kastner
Representations of faces and body parts in macaque temporal cortex: A functional MRI study
PNAS, May 10, 2005; 102(19): 6996 - 7001.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Visit Other APS Journals Online
Copyright © 2005 by the The American Physiological Society.