Brain asymetry
Visual pathway
V1 (Striate Cortex)
Image courtesy of Dr. Paul Wellman
Modularity: structures for faces,
places, and bodies
Figure 4.18 (a) Monkey brain showing
location of the inferotemporal cortex
(IT) in the lower part of the temporal
lobe. (b) Human brain showing
location of the fusiform face area
(FFA) in the fusiform gyrus, which is
located under the temporal lobe.
Brain Asymmetry experiment
Young
Young
• You see a sequence
of faces (old/young,
or young/old)
• You judge which
face, the one shown
first or the other
shown second,
looks younger.
Brain asymmetry explanation
• The two faces were always mirror images
of each other.
• So they had identical age information.
• For a right-handed person, the right
hemisphere is more strongly involved in
judgment about faces.
Young
• The information to the
left of fixation goes first
to the right
hemisphere.
• As a result, the
younger half on the left
will look younger than
the mirror image (with
the younger half on the
right).