White matter microstructure in face and body networks predicts facial expression and body posture perception across development

Ward, Isobel L., Raven, Erika P., de la Rosa, Stephan, Jones, Derek K. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4409-8049, Teufel, Christoph ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3915-9716 and von dem Hagen, Elisabeth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1056-8196 2023. White matter microstructure in face and body networks predicts facial expression and body posture perception across development. Human Brain Mapping 44 (6) , pp. 2307-2322. 10.1002/hbm.26211

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Abstract

Facial expression and body posture recognition have protracted developmental trajectories. Interactions between face and body perception, such as the influence of body posture on facial expression perception, also change with development. While the brain regions underpinning face and body processing are well-defined, little is known about how white-matter tracts linking these regions relate to perceptual development. Here, we obtained complementary diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures (fractional anisotropy [FA], spherical mean Ṧμ), and a quantitative MRI myelin-proxy measure (R1), within white-matter tracts of face- and body-selective networks in children and adolescents and related these to perceptual development. In tracts linking occipital and fusiform face areas, facial expression perception was predicted by age-related maturation, as measured by Ṧμ and R1, as well as age-independent individual differences in microstructure, captured by FA and R1. Tract microstructure measures linking posterior superior temporal sulcus body region with anterior temporal lobe (ATL) were related to the influence of body on facial expression perception, supporting ATL as a site of face and body network convergence. Overall, our results highlight age-dependent and age-independent constraints that white-matter microstructure poses on perceptual abilities during development and the importance of complementary microstructural measures in linking brain structure and behaviour.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC)
Publisher:	Wiley Open Access
ISSN:	1097-0193
Funders:	Wellcome Trust
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	18 January 2023
Date of Acceptance:	7 January 2023
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2023 10:26
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/156027

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