| Processing social aspects of human gaze: A combined fMRI-DTI study. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21095230 Owner: NLM Status: In-Data-Review |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Human gaze is a critical social cue that can reveal intentions and dispositions of others. The right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is thought to be critically involved in processing eye gaze information. We combined diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify direct neural connections of right pSTS and to determine how these connections are modulated by the social significance of perceived gaze shifts. Participants saw faces with direct or averted gaze during event-related fMRI. Half of these faces remained static, and half displayed a dynamic gaze shift either towards or away from the subject. Social attention (dynamic gaze shifts towards the observer) not only increased activity in right pSTS, but also its functional connectivity with the right anterior insula (aIns) and right fusiform gyrus (FG). However, direct fiber connections from pSTS were demonstrated by DTI for the right aIns, but not the right FG. Moreover, the right FG responded to eye motion irrespective of direction and social significance; whereas the right aIns was selectively sensitive to social significance (i.e. gaze shifts towards the observer), but not generally to eye motion. We conclude that the social aspects of mutual gaze contact are processed by direct fiber pathways between right pSTS and right aIns; whereas increased connectivity with FG could reflect an enhanced perceptual analysis of changing facial features in dynamic gaze conditions and involves indirect fiber pathways with pSTS, perhaps via motion-selective regions in middle temporal (MT) gyrus that exhibited strong white-matter connections with both pSTS and FG and could thus provide inputs to these two areas. |
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Authors:
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Thomas Ethofer; Markus Gschwind; Patrik Vuilleumier |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article Date: 2010-11-21 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: NeuroImage Volume: 55 ISSN: 1095-9572 ISO Abbreviation: Neuroimage Publication Date: 2011 Mar |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-01-31 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9215515 Medline TA: Neuroimage Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 411-9 Citation Subset: IM |
Copyright Information:
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Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
Affiliation:
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Laboratory for Behavioral Neurology & Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience & Clinic of Neurology, Medical School, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Department of General Psychiatry, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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