Open AccessBidirectional electric communication between the inferior occipital gyrus and the amygdala during face processing
Author(s) -
Sato Wataru,
Kochiyama Takanori,
Uono Shota,
Matsuda Kazumi,
Usui Keiko,
Usui Naotaka,
Inoue Yushi,
Toichi Motomi
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.23678
Subject(s) - amygdala , neuroscience , inferior frontal gyrus , hum , psychology , electroencephalography , neuroimaging , occipital lobe , face (sociological concept) , functional magnetic resonance imaging , art , social science , sociology , performance art , art history
Faces contain multifaceted information that is important for human communication. Neuroimaging studies have revealed face‐specific activation in multiple brain regions, including the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) and amygdala; it is often assumed that these regions constitute the neural network responsible for the processing of faces. However, it remains unknown whether and how these brain regions transmit information during face processing. This study investigated these questions by applying dynamic causal modeling of induced responses to human intracranial electroencephalography data recorded from the IOG and amygdala during the observation of faces, mosaics, and houses in upright and inverted orientations. Model comparisons assessing the experimental effects of upright faces versus upright houses and upright faces versus upright mosaics consistently indicated that the model having face‐specific bidirectional modulatory effects between the IOG and amygdala was the most probable. The experimental effect between upright versus inverted faces also favored the model with bidirectional modulatory effects between the IOG and amygdala. The spectral profiles of modulatory effects revealed both same‐frequency (e.g., gamma–gamma) and cross‐frequency (e.g., theta–gamma) couplings. These results suggest that the IOG and amygdala communicate rapidly with each other using various types of oscillations for the efficient processing of faces. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4511–4524, 2017 . © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.