Dynamic Functional Connectivity reveals Stages of Face Perception in Brain

Face perception involves dynamic communication between different areas of the brain incorporating extended network with the core occipito-temporal network. The present study focuses on changes in functional connectivity over time for face-like processing in the brain. The functional connectivity was evaluated in five EEG frequency bands for the time length of stimuli presentation. The results demonstrate a significant statistical difference in theta and gamma band connectivity between faces and objects. Increased connectivity for faces in the frontal region (for theta band) in 0-100 ms time segment (around latency of P100 component) indicates the first stage of processing. The increased connectivity in occipito-temporal region (for theta band) at time segment 100-200 ms around the latency of N170 specifies the next stage of face structural encoding. Our results reveal the successive stages responsible for face perception with the respective brain networks involved in the process.