Downing P E, Chan A W-Y, Peelen M V, Dodds C M, Kanwisher N
School of Psychology, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2AS, UK.
Cereb Cortex. 2006 Oct;16(10):1453-61. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhj086. Epub 2005 Dec 7.
We investigated the prevalence and specificity of category-selective regions in human visual cortex. In the broadest survey to date of category selectivity in visual cortex, 12 participants were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing scenes and 19 different object categories in a blocked-design experiment. As expected, we found selectivity for faces in the fusiform face area (FFA), for scenes in the parahippocampal place area (PPA), and for bodies in the extrastriate body area (EBA). In addition, we describe 3 main new findings. First, evidence for the selectivity of the FFA, PPA, and EBA was strengthened by the finding that each area responded significantly more strongly to its preferred category than to the next most effective of the remaining 19 stimulus categories tested. Second, a region in the middle temporal gyrus that has been reported to respond significantly more strongly to tools than to animals did not respond significantly more strongly to tools than to other nontool categories (such as fruits and vegetables), casting doubt on the characterization of this region as tool selective. Finally, we did not find any new regions in the occipitotemporal pathway that were strongly selective for other categories. Taken together, these results demonstrate both the strong selectivity of a small number of regions and the scarcity of such regions in visual cortex.
我们研究了人类视觉皮层中类别选择性区域的普遍性和特异性。在迄今为止对视觉皮层类别选择性进行的最广泛调查中，12名参与者在一项区组设计实验中观看场景和19种不同物体类别时接受了功能磁共振成像扫描。正如预期的那样，我们在梭状回面孔区（FFA）发现了对面孔的选择性，在海马旁回位置区（PPA）发现了对场景的选择性，在纹外体区（EBA）发现了对身体的选择性。此外，我们描述了3个主要的新发现。第一，FFA、PPA和EBA选择性的证据得到了加强，因为发现每个区域对其偏好类别做出的反应明显比对其余19种测试刺激类别中次有效的类别更强烈。第二，颞中回中一个据报道对工具的反应比对动物的反应明显更强烈的区域，对工具的反应并不比对其他非工具类别（如水果和蔬菜）更强烈，这让人怀疑该区域作为工具选择性区域的特征。最后，我们在枕颞通路中没有发现对其他类别有强烈选择性的任何新区域。综上所述，这些结果表明了少数区域的强选择性以及视觉皮层中此类区域的稀缺性。
