UNDERSTANDING THE NEURAL BASES OF SOCIAL PERCEPTION WITHIN SUPERIOR TEMPORAL SULCUS

Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The superior temporal sulcus (STS) is a large region of cortex in the temporal lobe that has been implicated in a wide range of cognitive processes. Critically, many of these are critical to social perception: perception of human motion and actions, understanding the mental states of others (theory of mind), perception of animacy, perception of faces, integration of audiovisual information, and detection of gaze direction. Our goal is to leverage cutting-edge neuroimaging techniques to gain a better understanding of STS structure and function as it relates to social perception, as well as the role of STS in the more extensive cortical networks that support the cognitive and perceptual processes enumerated above. Aim 1 will map the functional sub-regions of the STS associated with social perception using high-resolution fMRI and a wide array of well- established experimental designs and stimuli. This will help reconcile the different roles attributed to the STS arising from neuroimaging data that is usually collected in disparate domains of cognitive neuroscience and in different subjects. Here we will ensure these domains and their associated patterns of STS recruitment are compared within the same subject population. The end result will be a comprehensive functional map of the STS explicating the separate and shared cortical regions that are recruited across different social processes. Aim 2 will use diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) to map the white matter connectivity of the STS. The same subject population participating in the fMRI scans of Aim 1 will also undergo DSI scans. Functional regions identified from Aim 1 will be used as seeds for fiber tractography, thereby allowing us to map the white matter connectivity patterns of functional sub-regions of STS. The resultant functional/structural connectivity map of STS will help clarify its computational role across a wide range of socially critical tasks. This multimodal map will also establish a normal baseline for comparison with data from individuals with social deficits such as autism spectrum disorder. Our overall result will be a clearer understanding of the neural underpinnings of a wide variety of critical social and communicative functions.