congneuro 6 SEB2 Flashcards
brain base of eye gaze detection.
2 brain areas
Superior temporal sulcus STS
Fusiform Face Area FFA
STS in eye gaze detection
- activated in eye gaze detection task
- involved in changeable features
- lesion impair the ability to detect gaze direction
Autism eye gaze in STS findings
no difference between incongruent (non goal directed) and congruent trials in Autism.
perception of gaze shift not linked to its mentalistic significance
FFA in eye gaze
activated in face identity task
- processing of unchangeable features of facial features
Haxby model of eye gaze
Core system consists of
- STS (changeable aspects of face)
- inferior occipital gyri (early perception of facial features)
- Lateral Fusiform Gyrus (invariant aspects of faces)
Extended system (further processes)
- STS links with Interparietal sulcus (spatially directed attention), auditory cortex (prelexical speech perception), Amygdala insula limbic system (emotion). All to process variable features
- FFA links to Anterior temporal gyrus (identity info)
facial expression processing at 5 months
FNIRS study.
right occipital area selectively responds to faces.
Face processing network activated at 5 months
No diff between happy and fearful faces = sensitivity to facial emotions immature at this age
Visual cliff studies reveal what about facial processing
12 months, infants used social referencing to cross cliff
when mother expressed joy, did cross. When expressed worry, didn’t cross.
Neural basis of empathy and ToM
overall areas and specific areas
Both ToM and Empathy activated
- medial prefrontal cortex
- temporoparietal junction
- tomporal poles
ToM specific
- orbitofrontal cortex
Empathy specific
- amygdala
Temporal poles function and likely implications on ToM
- lang and semantic memory
- possible role: activating schemas
Parieto-temporal junction function and likely implications on ToM
Activated by perception of biological motion, eye gaze,
possible role: detecting other agents
Medial prefrontal cortex:
- activated more by thinking ab people over ab objects
- activated more by thinking ab minds than thinking ab physical characteristics
- pragmatics of language
- Possible role: binding together diff kinds of info: actions, agents, goals, beliefs
