Le Grand Richard, Mondloch Catherine J, Maurer Daphne, Brent Henry P
Department of Psychology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada.
Nat Neurosci. 2003 Oct;6(10):1108-12. doi: 10.1038/nn1121. Epub 2003 Sep 7.
Adult expertise in face processing is mediated largely by neural networks in the right hemisphere. Here we evaluate the contribution of early visual input in establishing this neural substrate. We compared visually normal individuals to patients for whom visual input had been restricted mainly to one hemisphere during infancy. We show that early deprivation of visual input to the right hemisphere severely impairs the development of expert face processing, whereas deprivation restricted mainly to the left hemisphere does not. Our results indicate that the neural circuitry responsible for adults' face expertise is not pre-specified, but requires early visual experience. However, the two hemispheres are not equipotent: only the right hemisphere is capable of using the early input to develop expertise at face processing.
成年人在面部处理方面的专业能力很大程度上由右半球的神经网络介导。在此，我们评估早期视觉输入在建立这种神经基础中的作用。我们将视力正常的个体与在婴儿期视觉输入主要局限于一个半球的患者进行了比较。我们发现，早期剥夺右半球的视觉输入会严重损害专家级面部处理能力的发展，而主要局限于左半球的剥夺则不会。我们的结果表明，负责成年人面部专业能力的神经回路并非预先设定好的，而是需要早期视觉经验。然而，两个半球并非等效：只有右半球能够利用早期输入来发展面部处理方面的专业能力。
