Part of the ventral temporal lobe is thought to be critical for face perception,
but what determines this specialization remains unknown. We present evidence
that expertise recruits the fusiform gyrus 'face area'. Functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure changes associated with increasing
expertise in brain areas selected for their face preference. Acquisition of
expertise with novel objects (greebles) led to increased activation in the
right hemisphere face areas for matching of upright greebles as compared to
matching inverted greebles. The same areas were also more activated in experts
than in novices during passive viewing of greebles. Expertise seems to be
one factor that leads to specialization in the face area.
