Origins of Face Responses in the Human Cortex: fNIRS and fMRI Evidence From Infants

2025/04/18 by Rebecca Saxe, Heather L. Kosakowski · 1 voice · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Face Recognition and Perception #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

paper · doi:10.1177/09637214251327113

Abstract

In adults, cortical regions in the fusiform face area (FFA), superior temporal sulcus (STS), and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) respond selectively to faces, but underlie distinct perceptual and social processes. When do each of these regions, and their distinctive functions, develop? We review recent studies of awake human infants' cortical responses to faces using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The results converge, and argue against slow sequential posterior-to-anterior development of face-selective responses. Instead, cortical face-selective responses arise very early and simultaneously in infancy, and may reflect distinctively social processes from the start.

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Discussions

• In our recent review, @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social & I bring together fMRI & fNIRS findings from the last decade to argue that babies not only perceive faces but they also attribute meaning to those faces [bsky, 16 points, 1 comments]

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