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Specialized Regions of Brain Aid In Recognition of Body Parts !

Facial recognition has already been the subject of much research. But what happens when we cannot recognize an animal or a human being on the basis of a face, but only have other body parts to go on? The mechanism behind this recognition process is uncharted territory for neuroscientists, says Professor Rufin Vogels of the KU Leuven Laboratory for Neuro- and Psychophysiology.

Specific regions of the brain are specialized in recognizing bodies of animals and human beings. By measuring the electrical activity per cell, scientists from KU Leuven, Belgium, and the University of Glasgow have shown that the individual brain cells in these areas do different things. Their response to specific contours or body shapes is very selective. Vogels explains: “We showed the monkeys images of bodies of both animals and human beings, while covering up specific body parts. We usually left out the faces, because other brain cells are responsible for recognizing those. With a method developed at the University of Glasgow, we then examined each cell to see which body parts activated it.”

“Previous research in monkeys has shown that small areas in the temporal lobes — the

parts of the brain near the temples — are activated when the monkeys look at bodies instead of objects or faces. Brain scans tell us that these regions of the brain correspond to the ones activated in human beings. But that only tells us which regions are active, not which information about bodies is passed on by their cells.”

“We found that these individual cells in themselves are not body detectors: they respond to specific, frequently found characteristics of bodies, such as the curve of an elbow or a part of a leg. And they divide the work. Each cell has its own specialty and screens the incoming information for certain characteristics. The brain recognizes a body by combining all the pieces of the puzzle: all the bits of information registered by the different cells in a particular region of the brain. The brain cells, in other words, collaborate to solve the puzzle.”

Scientists are looking for ways to expand their studies in the next project to include a number of other brain areas that are also active for body recognition.  “If we improve our understanding of how our brains recognize bodies, we can use that knowledge for disorders whereby that particular mechanism is disrupted, such as autism, or for the development of facial-recognition software.”

Peace-lover, creative, smart and intelligent. Prapti is a foodie, music buff and a travelholic. After leaving a top-notch full time corporate job, she now works as an Online Editor for Biotecnika. Keen on making a mark in the scientific publishing industry, she strives to find a work-life balance. Follow her for more updates!