Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Location, Location, Location: Alterations In The Functional Topography Of Face- But Not Object- Or Place-Related Cortex In Adolescents With Autism, K. Suzanne Scherf, Beatriz Luna, Nancy Minshew, Marlene Behrmann

Marlene Behrmann

In autism, impairments in face processing are a relatively recent discovery, but have quickly become a widely accepted aspect of the behavioral profile. Only a handful of studies have investigated potential atypicalities in autism in the development of the neural substrates mediating face processing. High-functioning individuals with autism (HFA) and matched typically developing (TD) controls watched dynamic movie vignettes of faces, common objects, buildings, and scenes of navigation while undergoing an fMRI scan. With these data, we mapped the functional topography of category-selective activation for faces bilaterally in the fusiform gyrus, occipital face area, and posterior superior temporal sulcus. Additionally, …

Cortical Patterns Of Category-Selective Activation For Faces, Places And Objects In Adults With Autism, Kate Humphreys, Uri Hasson, Galia Avidan, Nancy Minshew, Marlene Behrmann

Marlene Behrmann

Autism is associated with widespread atypicalities in perception, cognition and social behavior. A crucial question concerns how these atypicalities are reflected in the underlying brain activation. One way to examine possible perturbations of cortical organization in autism is to analyze the activation of category-selective ventral visual cortex, already clearly delineated in typical populations. We mapped out the neural correlates of face, place and common object processing, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in a group of high-functioning adults with autism and a typical comparison group, under both controlled and more naturalistic, viewing conditions. There were no consistent group differences in …

The Neural Basis Of Visual Word Form Processing: A Multivariate Investigation, Adrian Nestor, Marlene Behrmann, David Plaut

Marlene Behrmann

Current research on the neurobiological bases of reading points to the privileged role of a ventral cortical network in visual word processing. However, the properties of this network and, in particular, its selectivity for orthographic stimuli such as words and pseudowords remain topics of significant debate. Here, we approached this issue from a novel perspective by applying pattern-based analyses to functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Specifically, we examined whether, where and how, orthographic stimuli elicit distinct patterns of activation in the human cortex. First, at the category level, multivariate mapping found extensive sensitivity throughout the ventral cortex for words relative …

‘‘What’’ Precedes ‘‘Which’’: Developmental Neural Tuning In Face- And Place-Related Cortex, K. Suzanne Scherf, Beatriz Luna, Galia Avidan, Marlene Behrmann

Marlene Behrmann

Although category-specific activation for faces in the ventral visual pathway appears adult-like in adolescence, recognition abilities for individual faces are still immature. We investigated how the ability to represent “individual” faces and houses develops at the neural level. Category-selective regions of interest (ROIs) for faces in the fusiform gyrus (FG) and for places in the parahippocampal place area (PPA) were identified individually in children, adolescents, and adults. Then, using an functional magnetic resonance imaging adaptation paradigm, we measured category selectivity and individual-level adaptation for faces and houses in each ROI. Only adults exhibited both category selectivity and individual-level adaptation bilaterally …

Emerging Structure–Function Relations In The Developing Face Processing System, K. Suzanne Scherf, Cibu Thomas, Jamie Doyle, Marlene Behrmann

Marlene Behrmann

To evaluate emerging structure–function relations in a neural circuit that mediates complex behavior, we investigated age-related differences among cortical regions that support face recognition behavior and the fiber tracts through which they transmit and receive signals using functional neuroimaging and diffusion tensor imaging. In a large sample of human participants (aged 6–23 years), we derived the microstructural and volumetric properties of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and control tracts, using independently defined anatomical markers. We also determined the functional characteristics of core face- and place-selective regions that are distributed along the trajectory of the pathways of …

Aberrant Functioning Of The Theory-Of-Mind Network In Children And Adolescents With Autism., Rajesh Kana, Jose Maximo, Diane Williams, Timothy Keller, Sarah Schipul, Vladimir Cherkassky, Nancy Minshew, Marcel Just

Marcel Adam Just