“`html

WashU Medicine researchers have discovered neurons in the brain that are crucial for our ability to recognize faces, an insight that clarifies how the brain merges various visual signals from different facial characteristics into a cohesive memory of an individual. These cells seem to connect neural circuits tasked with visual interpretation and those tasked with recalling specific faces.

The investigation, spearheaded by instructor Runnan Cao, alongside associate professor Shuo Wang, both affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis’ Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, was published on June 6 in Nature Human Behaviour.

The team, in collaboration with experts from West Virginia University and other institutions, displayed images of well-known faces to 12 alert patients undergoing brain surgery and documented the activity of 2,048 distinct neurons in their brains. By employing deep-learning algorithms, the scientists identified which neurons reacted to specific facial attributes and which ones responded to the overall identity of the face. They discovered a cluster of neurons in the medial temporal lobe — an area of the brain often linked to memory — that appeared to process visual attributes similarly to neurons in the visual cortex, the part of the brain located at the back that receives and processes visual information. Each neuron in this cluster reacted to groups of related facial features that could be common among several individuals. This indicates that certain neurons in the memory-associated regions of the brain may act as conduits in visual processing, connecting the perception of facial characteristics to the recognition of a person’s identity.

The scientists emphasized that their findings could improve our comprehension of memory and visual processing disorders, including prosopagnosia (face blindness). It may also aid in the development of visual prosthetic devices that connect to brain functions.

The article Researchers identify brain cells key to facial recognition appeared first on The Source.

“`