Upright face-preferential high-gamma responses in lower-order visual areas: Evidence from intracranial recordings in children

Naoyuki Matsuzaki, Rebecca F. Schwarzlose, Masaaki Nishida, Noa Ofen, Eishi Asano

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Behavioral studies demonstrate that a face presented in the upright orientation attracts attention more rapidly than an inverted face. Saccades toward an upright face take place in 100-140. ms following presentation. The present study using electrocorticography determined whether upright face-preferential neural activation, as reflected by augmentation of high-gamma activity at 80-150. Hz, involved the lower-order visual cortex within the first 100. ms post-stimulus presentation. Sampled lower-order visual areas were verified by the induction of phosphenes upon electrical stimulation. These areas resided in the lateral-occipital, lingual, and cuneus gyri along the calcarine sulcus, roughly corresponding to V1 and V2. Measurement of high-gamma augmentation during central (circular) and peripheral (annular) checkerboard reversal pattern stimulation indicated that central-field stimuli were processed by the more polar surface whereas peripheral-field stimuli by the more anterior medial surface. Upright face stimuli, compared to inverted ones, elicited up to 23% larger augmentation of high-gamma activity in the lower-order visual regions at 40-90. ms. Upright face-preferential high-gamma augmentation was more highly correlated with high-gamma augmentation for central than peripheral stimuli. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that lower-order visual regions, especially those for the central field, are involved in visual cues for rapid detection of upright face stimuli.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)249-259
Number of pages11
JournalNeuroImage
Volume109
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2015

Keywords

  • Category-specific responses
  • ECoG
  • High-frequency oscillations (HFOs)
  • Intracranial recording
  • Pediatric epilepsy surgery
  • Ripples

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