Representations of face size, identity, and viewing angle in anterior fundus (AF) face patch.

Monday, September 22, 2014 — Poster Session I
12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.	FAES Academic Center	NIMH	NEURO-11

* FARE Award Winner

Authors

• A.P. Jones
• L.N. Vasileva
• D.B.T McMahon
• I.V. Bondar
• D.A. Leopold

Abstract

Primates are able to recognize individual faces despite a range of transformations that affect their presentation onto the retina. In the macaque, several face selective “patches” in the inferotemporal cortex (IT) are thought to underlie this ability. Previous work has found that neurons in the AM face patch in ventral IT were tuned to identity, whereas several in the superior temporal sulcus were more strongly tuned to head rotation and gaze direction. Here we asked how a conjunction of face identity, viewing angle, and spatial scale shape single-unit responses in a different face patch, AF. We used chronically implanted electrodes to accumulate responses to a large number of stimuli over multiple sessions. Our results demonstrate that face size has the strongest influence on response rates in AF. In addition, the majority of cells also demonstrated tuning to image rotation, gaze direction, or both. In some neurons, we found similar responses to images that were mirror-symmetric in terms of either gaze direction or head rotation. We also found a distinct preference for face orientations in which the gaze was directed towards the upper-right quadrant of visual space – the visual field that was contralateral to the recordings.

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