Self-Face Recognition Begins to Share Active Region in Right Inferior Parietal Lobule with Proprioceptive Illusion During Adolescence

Abstract

We recently reported that right-side dominance of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) in self-body recognition (proprioceptive illusion) task emerges during adolescence in typical human development. Here, we extend this finding by demonstrating that functional lateralization to the right IPL also develops during adolescence in another self-body (specifically a self-face) recognition task. We collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 60 right-handed healthy children (8–11 years), adolescents (12–15 years), and adults (18–23 years; 20 per group) while they judged whether a presented face was their own (Self) or that of somebody else (Other). We also analyzed fMRI data collected while they performed proprioceptive illusion task. All participants performed self-face recognition with high accuracy. Among brain regions where self-face-related activity (Self vs. Other) developed, only right IPL activity developed predominantly for self-face processing, with no substantial involvement in other-face processing. Adult-like right-dominant use of IPL emerged during adolescence, but was not yet present in childhood. Adult-like common activation between the tasks also emerged during adolescence. Adolescents showing stronger right-lateralized IPL activity during illusion also showed this during self-face recognition. Our results suggest the importance of the right IPL in neuronal processing of information associated with one’s own body in typically developing humans.

Developmental Changes in Task‐Induced Brain Deactivation in Humans Revealed by a Motor Task

“…We also found activation in the right inferior frontal cortex, including the anterior insula, and right inferior parietal cortex. The inferior frontoparietal cortices likely form a network connected by the inferior branch of the superior longitudinal fasciculus, and may perform the function of online monitoring of ongoing actions and sensory experiences (Berti et al , ; Naito et al , ; Morita et al , ). In addition to these regions, we also found activation in the left inferior frontal cortex, including the anterior insula, and left cerebellar hemisphere.…”

“…We used the same procedure for the other deactivation comparisons. The validity of the masking procedure is discussed in our previous papers (Naito et al , ; Morita et al , ).…”

“…The children, adolescents, and adults were recruited from local elementary and junior high schools as well as universities. We also collected data from another three children and one adolescent; however, we excluded their data from the analysis because of their excessive head motions (more than 3 mm on either the x , y , or z axis) during fMRI scanning, according to a previous study (Morita et al , ). We confirmed handedness with the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, ) and ensured that no participants had a history of neurological or psychiatric disorders based on self‐reports and those provided by legal guardians.…”

Local-to-distant development of the cerebrocerebellar sensorimotor network in the typically developing human brain: a functional and diffusion MRI study

“…MR images were acquired using a 3.0 T Discovery MR 750 scanner (General Electric Medical Systems, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA). The methods of fMRI data acquisition were identical to those in our previous studies (Morita et al 2018 ; Naito et al 2017 ). Functional images were acquired using T2*-weighted gradient echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequences obtained using the MRI machine and a 32-channel array coil.…”

“…All 57 participants had less than 3 mm of cut-off maximum motion in every plane ( x, y, z ) during the run. When we computed the average displacement across participants in each group (Morita et al 2018 ), we found that in the CH group the average displacements were 0.08 mm (range 0.02–0.25 mm), 0.13 mm (0.14–0.44 mm), and 0.31 mm (0.03–1.90 mm) in the x -, y -, and z -axes, respectively. In the ADO group, these values were 0.07 mm (0.02–0.15 mm), 0.13 mm (0.03–0.48 mm), and 0.17 mm (0.04–0.34 mm).…”