Role of the fusiform gyrus and superior temporal sulcus in face perception and recognition: An empirical review

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reviews neuroimaging studies that investigated the brain activation involved in face perception and recognition, with a particular focus on activity measured in the fusiform gyrus and superior temporal sulcus (STS). Several lines of evidence suggest that a localized area in the fusiform gyrus (i.e., the fusiform face area; FFA) is specialized for face processing; however, FFA activity is significantly modulated by the attention level of individuals and by the contextual information of stimuli. It is speculated that intensity differences between the eye region and other face areas may influence face‐recognition performance, indicating that the eye region plays a critical role in person identification. Moreover, STS activity is involved in the processing of eye gaze, expression, and speech production. A unique aspect of these stimuli is that the subject automatically expects their motion on presentation. Thus, STS activity may function to send facial information for further cognitive processing in response to perceived biological motion in the surrounding environment. The neuroimaging literature indicates the functional significance of both FFA and STS in face processing; however, the evidence for neural connectivity between the regions is limited, which suggests that these two sites play mutually independent roles in face perception and recognition.