Optogenetic and pharmacological suppression of spatial clusters of face neurons reveal their causal role in face gender discrimination
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Afraz-2015-Optogenetic and phar.pdf
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Author(s)
Afraz, Arash
DiCarlo, James
Boyden, Edward
Date Issued
May 2015
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Citation
Afraz, Arash, Edward S. Boyden, and James J. DiCarlo. “Optogenetic and Pharmacological Suppression of Spatial Clusters of Face Neurons Reveal Their Causal Role in Face Gender Discrimination.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112, no. 21 (May 7, 2015): 6730–6735.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Neurons that respond more to images of faces over nonface objects were identified in the inferior temporal (IT) cortex of primates three decades ago. Although it is hypothesized that perceptual discrimination between faces depends on the neural activity of IT subregions enriched with “face neurons,” such a causal link has not been directly established. Here, using optogenetic and pharmacological methods, we reversibly suppressed the neural activity in small subregions of IT cortex of macaque monkeys performing a facial gender-discrimination task. Each type of intervention independently demonstrated that suppression of IT subregions enriched in face neurons induced a contralateral deficit in face gender-discrimination behavior. The same neural suppression of other IT subregions produced no detectable change in behavior. These results establish a causal link between the neural activity in IT face neuron subregions and face gender-discrimination behavior. Also, the demonstration that brief neural suppression of specific spatial subregions of IT induces behavioral effects opens the door for applying the technical advantages of optogenetics to a systematic attack on the causal relationship between IT cortex and high-level visual perception.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Media Laboratory
McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1423328112
