|
[Vol.22 No.1 contents]
Japanese/English
Full Text of this Articlein Japanese PDF (113K) |
| ArticleTitle | Neural correlates of the process for person perception -a deficit in discriminating gaze direction and right superior temporal gyrus lesion |
| Language | J |
| AuthorList | Motoichiro Kato1), Tomoko Akiyama2) |
| Affiliation |
1) Department of Neuropsychiatry, School of Medicine, Keio University 2) Komagino Hospital |
| Publication | Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 22 (1), 53-61, 2006 |
| Received | |
| Accepted | |
| Abstract | The superior temporal sulcus (STS) region is well recognized as being heavily involved in detecting and discriminating gaze. Circumscribed lesions to STS in humans are quite rare. In the present research, we report one such rare case, a 54-year-old female with a cerebral hemorrhage. MRI demonstrated a lesion almost completely confined to the entire right superior temporal gyrus (STG). In the subacute phase, the patient showed evidence of left hemispatial neglect, from which she gradually recovered. In the chronic phase, she showed a puzzling difficulty in obtaining eye-contact. On gaze cognition experiments, she was repeatedly shown to perceive left gaze as straight, and to a lesser degree, straight gaze as right. We suggest that the function of the STG in detecting gaze, together with the directional information it receives from earlier visual areas, may be associated, when damaged, with this deficit in detecting contra-directional gaze. We have demonstrated for the first time that a single circumscribed lesion to the STG results in both gaze processing deficit and concurrent aberrant gaze behavior, implicating a mechanism within the STG as an interface between gaze of others and gaze of self. |
| Keywords | Person perception, superior temporal sulcus, right superior temporal gyrus, gaze, biological motion |
Copyright © 2002 NEUROPSYCHOLOGY ASSOCIATION OF JAPAN All rights reserved
http://www.neuropsychology.gr.jp/