FACE-SPECIFIC RESPONSES FROM THE HUMAN INFERIOR OCCIPITOTEMPORAL CORTEX

Whole-head neuromagnetic responses were recorded from seven subjects t o pictures of faces and to Various control stimuli. Four subjects disp layed signals specific to faces. The combination of functional informa tion from magnetoencephalography and anatomical data from magnetic res onance images suggests that the face-specific activity was generated i n the inferior occipitotemporal cortex. All four subjects showed the f ace-specific response in the right hemisphere, one of them also in the left. Our results, together with recent positron emission tomography and lesion studies, suggest a right-hemisphere preponderance of face p rocessing in the inferior occipitotemporal cortex. Copyright (C) 1997 IBRO.