Mosconi Matthew W, Mack Peter B, McCarthy Gregory, Pelphrey Kevin A
Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Neuroimage. 2005 Aug 1;27(1):247-52. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.03.027. Epub 2005 Apr 21.
During middle childhood, children develop an increasing understanding of intentions and other social information conveyed through dynamic facial cues such as changes in eye-gaze direction. Recent work in our laboratory has focused on using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in adults to map the neural circuitry subserving the visual analysis of others' actions and the intentions underlying these actions. In these studies, the superior temporal sulcus (STS) region has been continually implicated in processing shifts in eye gaze. Further, these studies have indicated that STS activity is modulated by the context within which eye-gaze shifts occur, suggesting that this region is involved in social perception via its role in the analysis of the intentions of observed actions. Still, no studies have investigated the neural circuitry supporting eye-gaze processing in children. We used event-related fMRI to examine brain activity in 7- to 10-year-old healthy children observing an animated virtual actor who shifted her eyes towards either a target object or empty space. Consistent with prior studies in adults, the STS, middle temporal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobule were sensitive to the intentions underlying the stimulus character's eye movements. These findings suggest that the neural circuitry underlying the processing of eye gaze and the detection of intentions conveyed through shifts in eye gaze in children are similar to that found previously in adults. We discuss these findings and potential implications for mapping the neurodevelopment of the social cognition and social perception abnormalities characteristic of autism.
在童年中期，儿童对意图以及通过动态面部线索（如目光方向的变化）所传达的其他社会信息有了越来越多的理解。我们实验室最近的工作集中在利用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）对成年人进行研究，以绘制支持对他人动作及其背后意图进行视觉分析的神经回路。在这些研究中，颞上沟（STS）区域一直被认为与处理目光转移有关。此外，这些研究表明，STS的活动会受到目光转移发生时的背景的调节，这表明该区域通过在分析观察到的动作意图中的作用而参与社会感知。然而，尚无研究调查支持儿童目光处理的神经回路。我们使用事件相关功能磁共振成像来检查7至10岁健康儿童在观察一个动画虚拟角色时的大脑活动，该角色会将目光转向目标物体或空白处。与先前对成年人的研究一致，颞上沟、颞中回和顶下小叶对刺激角色目光移动背后的意图很敏感。这些发现表明，儿童处理目光以及通过目光转移检测意图的神经回路与之前在成年人中发现的相似。我们讨论了这些发现以及对绘制自闭症所特有的社会认知和社会感知异常的神经发育图的潜在意义。
