Scientists have uncovered a brain circuit in primates that rapidly detects faces. The findings help not only explain how primates sense and recognize faces, but could also have implications for understanding conditions such as autism, where face detection and recognition are often impaired from early childhood.
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have uncovered a brain circuit in primates that rapidly detects faces. The findings help not only explain how primates sense and recognize faces, but could also have implications for understanding conditions such as autism, where face detection and recognition are often impaired from early childhood.
These observations left scientists with several questions, including: how does the brain shift the eyes towards a face to better see fine details? What provides this face preference before the brain's"face patches" develop? And how do the brain's"face patches" develop the ability to understand faces in the first place?
Previous studies had suggested that the detection of objects by the superior colliculus was object-agnostic, meaning that this part of the brain was just noting the presence or absence of something, without any differentiation of what that thing might be. However, in this study, Krauzlis and colleagues found that within 40 milliseconds, more than half the neurons they measured responded more strongly to images of faces compared to other types of objects.
"We believe this face-preference circuit may actually drive the development of the brain's more advanced facial recognition processes," said Krauzlis."If so, deficits in this face preference in the superior colliculus might play a role in autism."
Nervous System Psychology Research Brain Tumor Perception Neuroscience Psychology Brain-Computer Interfaces
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