Human face perception traced by magneto- and electro-encephalography

The temporal and spatial processing of face perception in normal subjects w as traced by magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). We used 5 different visual stimuli: (1) face with opened eyes, (2) face wi th closed eyes, (3) eyes, (4) scrambled face, and (5) hand, and they were s hown in random order. Subjects were asked to count the number of hand stimu li. To analyze the complicated brain responses to visual stimuli, we used b rain electric source analysis (BESA) as the spatio-temporal multiple source model. In MEG recording, the 1M and 2M components were identified in all s ubjects. The 1M component was recorded to all kinds of stimuli. The 2M comp onent was clearly identified only to face stimulation in all subjects, but to eyes stimulation in only 3 subjects with a small amplitude. The 2M compo nent was not identified to scrambled face nor hand stimulation. The 2M comp onent was recorded from the right hemisphere in all subjects, but in only 5 of 10 subjects from the left hemisphere. The mean peak latencies of the 1M and 2M components were approximately 132 and 179 ms, respectively. The int erpeak latency between 1M and 2M was approximately 47 ms on average but the interindividual difference was large. There was no significant difference of the 2M latency between face with opened eyes and face with closed eyes. The IM component was generated in the primary visual cortex in the bilatera l hemispheres, and the 2M component was generated in the inferior temporal cortex, around the fusiform gyrus. In the EEG recording, face-specific comp onents, positive at the vertex, P200 (Cz), and the negative at the temporal areas, N190 (T5') and N190 (T6'), were clearly recorded. The EEG results w ere fundamentally compatible with the MEG results. The amplitude of the com ponent recorded from the right hemisphere was significantly larger than tha t from the left hemisphere. These findings suggest that the fusiform gyrus is considered to play an important role in face perception in humans, and t hat the right hemisphere is more dominant. Face perception takes place appr oximately 47 ms after the primary response to visual stimulation in the pri mary visual cortex, but the period of information transfer to the fusiform gyrus is variable among subjects. Detailed temporal and spatial analyses of the processing of face perception can be achieved with MEG. (C) 1999 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.