Abstract
Interpersonal activity is essential in making humans the uniquely social beings that we are. The underlying neural grounds of the social interaction are the fusiform region, amygdala, superior temporal sulcus, orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which are of great interest to neuroscientists. To anticipate possible futures and coordinate thought and action for achieving desired outcomes, the prefrontal lobes play a pivotal role. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is essential to guide the behavior by thought and language, while the orbital and ventromedial regions have been considered to be the neural correlates for affective evaluation of the consequences of our action. The brain region that is implicated in gaze processing, STS, has repeatedly been activated when viewing gaze in the normal brain. We have presented a case, MJ, in a recent report, with a circumscribed lesion in the right superior temporal gyrus, due to a cerebrovascular accident, who manifested a puzzling difficulty in obtaining eye-contact. As the STG comprises a part of the STS, we investigated her ability in processing gaze. Indeed, MJ demonstrated a unique impairment in discriminating gaze direction, which is the first neuropsychological evidence that establishes STS as a gaze processor, so often implicated in animals and human neuroimaging studies. [J Physiol Sci. 2006;56 Suppl:S62]
