PREFER

The macaque monkey has been considered for decades as the best available animal model for understanding the neural mechanisms of visual cognition in humans, in particular for the recognition of faces. Yet, there may be substantial behavioral and neural differences between the two species in face recognition, a key brain function that involves the most complex mechanisms of perception, learning, memory, emotion and attention. Using a unifying frequency-tagging approach, this multicenter research project will provide the first comparison of human and macaques’ spontaneous face recognition abilities with scalp electroencephalography (EEG; WP1) and of the two species’ neural face recognition systems with the same methodological parameters in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; WP2). Finally, using fMRI face-selective localization, the recordings of face-evoked single neuron activity in both the macaque and human face-selective temporal cortex will be compared (WP3). We hypothesize both similarities and differences in the neuro-functional organization of face recognition between the two species First, we hypothesize neurofunctional similarities between humans and macaques in terms of recognition of dynamic face cues (head and gaze orientation), supported by a ‘dorsal’ face-selective network in the superior temporal sulcus (STS). Second, we hypothesize differences in facial identity coding between the two species, a function supported in humans by a right lateralized ventral face-selective network largely enriched by semantics. Overall, this research proposal will contribute to clarifying the cellular mechanisms of human face recognition and go a long way towards evaluating the validity of an important animal model for a key human brain function.