Face Processing in Developmental Prosopagnosia: Altered Neural Representations in the Fusiform Face Area

Rationale: Face expertise is a pivotal social skill. Developmental prosopagnosia (DP), i.e., the inability to recognize faces without a history of brain damage, affects about 2% of the general population, and is a renowned model system of the face-processing network. Within this network, the right F...

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Autores principales:	Alexa Haeger, Christophe Pouzat, Volker Luecken, Karim N’Diaye, Christian Elger, Ingo Kennerknecht, Nikolai Axmacher, Vera Dinkelacker
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	prosopagnosia fusiform face area (FFA) perception representational similarity analysis (RSA) Donsker’s random walk analysis working memory Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a8688b75c64749159a233b1d478399ce
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a8688b75c64749159a233b1d478399ce2021-11-18T06:08:37ZFace Processing in Developmental Prosopagnosia: Altered Neural Representations in the Fusiform Face Area1662-515310.3389/fnbeh.2021.744466https://doaj.org/article/a8688b75c64749159a233b1d478399ce2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.744466/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/1662-5153Rationale: Face expertise is a pivotal social skill. Developmental prosopagnosia (DP), i.e., the inability to recognize faces without a history of brain damage, affects about 2% of the general population, and is a renowned model system of the face-processing network. Within this network, the right Fusiform Face Area (FFA), is particularly involved in face identity processing and may therefore be a key element in DP. Neural representations within the FFA have been examined with Representational Similarity Analysis (RSA), a data-analytical framework in which multi-unit measures of brain activity are assessed with correlation analysis.Objectives: Our study intended to scrutinize modifications of FFA-activation during face encoding and maintenance based on RSA.Methods: Thirteen participants with DP (23–70 years) and 12 healthy control subjects (19–62 years) participated in a functional MRI study, including morphological MRI, a functional FFA-localizer and a modified Sternberg paradigm probing face memory encoding and maintenance. Memory maintenance of one, two, or four faces represented low, medium, and high memory load. We examined conventional activation differences in response to working memory load and applied RSA to compute individual correlation-matrices on the voxel level. Group correlation-matrices were compared via Donsker’s random walk analysis.Results: On the functional level, increased memory load entailed both a higher absolute FFA-activation level and a higher degree of correlation between activated voxels. Both aspects were deficient in DP. Interestingly, control participants showed a homogeneous degree of correlation for successful trials during the experiment. In DP-participants, correlation levels between FFA-voxels were significantly lower and were less sustained during the experiment. In behavioral terms, DP-participants performed poorer and had longer reaction times in relation to DP-severity. Furthermore, correlation levels were negatively correlated with reaction times for the most demanding high load condition.Conclusion: We suggest that participants with DP fail to generate robust and maintained neural representations in the FFA during face encoding and maintenance, in line with poorer task performance and prolonged reaction times. In DP, alterations of neural coding in the FFA might therefore explain curtailing in working memory and contribute to impaired long-term memory and mental imagery.Alexa HaegerAlexa HaegerAlexa HaegerChristophe PouzatVolker LueckenKarim N’DiayeChristian ElgerIngo KennerknechtNikolai AxmacherVera DinkelackerVera DinkelackerFrontiers Media S.A.articleprosopagnosiafusiform face area (FFA)perceptionrepresentational similarity analysis (RSA)Donsker’s random walk analysisworking memoryNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. NeuropsychiatryRC321-571ENFrontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol 15 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	prosopagnosia fusiform face area (FFA) perception representational similarity analysis (RSA) Donsker’s random walk analysis working memory Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571
spellingShingle	prosopagnosia fusiform face area (FFA) perception representational similarity analysis (RSA) Donsker’s random walk analysis working memory Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571 Alexa Haeger Alexa Haeger Alexa Haeger Christophe Pouzat Volker Luecken Karim N’Diaye Christian Elger Ingo Kennerknecht Nikolai Axmacher Vera Dinkelacker Vera Dinkelacker Face Processing in Developmental Prosopagnosia: Altered Neural Representations in the Fusiform Face Area
description	Rationale: Face expertise is a pivotal social skill. Developmental prosopagnosia (DP), i.e., the inability to recognize faces without a history of brain damage, affects about 2% of the general population, and is a renowned model system of the face-processing network. Within this network, the right Fusiform Face Area (FFA), is particularly involved in face identity processing and may therefore be a key element in DP. Neural representations within the FFA have been examined with Representational Similarity Analysis (RSA), a data-analytical framework in which multi-unit measures of brain activity are assessed with correlation analysis.Objectives: Our study intended to scrutinize modifications of FFA-activation during face encoding and maintenance based on RSA.Methods: Thirteen participants with DP (23–70 years) and 12 healthy control subjects (19–62 years) participated in a functional MRI study, including morphological MRI, a functional FFA-localizer and a modified Sternberg paradigm probing face memory encoding and maintenance. Memory maintenance of one, two, or four faces represented low, medium, and high memory load. We examined conventional activation differences in response to working memory load and applied RSA to compute individual correlation-matrices on the voxel level. Group correlation-matrices were compared via Donsker’s random walk analysis.Results: On the functional level, increased memory load entailed both a higher absolute FFA-activation level and a higher degree of correlation between activated voxels. Both aspects were deficient in DP. Interestingly, control participants showed a homogeneous degree of correlation for successful trials during the experiment. In DP-participants, correlation levels between FFA-voxels were significantly lower and were less sustained during the experiment. In behavioral terms, DP-participants performed poorer and had longer reaction times in relation to DP-severity. Furthermore, correlation levels were negatively correlated with reaction times for the most demanding high load condition.Conclusion: We suggest that participants with DP fail to generate robust and maintained neural representations in the FFA during face encoding and maintenance, in line with poorer task performance and prolonged reaction times. In DP, alterations of neural coding in the FFA might therefore explain curtailing in working memory and contribute to impaired long-term memory and mental imagery.
format	article
author	Alexa Haeger Alexa Haeger Alexa Haeger Christophe Pouzat Volker Luecken Karim N’Diaye Christian Elger Ingo Kennerknecht Nikolai Axmacher Vera Dinkelacker Vera Dinkelacker
author_facet	Alexa Haeger Alexa Haeger Alexa Haeger Christophe Pouzat Volker Luecken Karim N’Diaye Christian Elger Ingo Kennerknecht Nikolai Axmacher Vera Dinkelacker Vera Dinkelacker
author_sort	Alexa Haeger
title	Face Processing in Developmental Prosopagnosia: Altered Neural Representations in the Fusiform Face Area
title_short	Face Processing in Developmental Prosopagnosia: Altered Neural Representations in the Fusiform Face Area
title_full	Face Processing in Developmental Prosopagnosia: Altered Neural Representations in the Fusiform Face Area
title_fullStr	Face Processing in Developmental Prosopagnosia: Altered Neural Representations in the Fusiform Face Area
title_full_unstemmed	Face Processing in Developmental Prosopagnosia: Altered Neural Representations in the Fusiform Face Area
title_sort	face processing in developmental prosopagnosia: altered neural representations in the fusiform face area
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/a8688b75c64749159a233b1d478399ce
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Face Processing in Developmental Prosopagnosia: Altered Neural Representations in the Fusiform Face Area

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