Microscopic functional specificity can be predicted from fMRI signals in ventral visual areas

Functional areas specialized for recognition can be activated by a non-preferred stimulus as well as a preferred stimulus. The functional magnetic resonance imaging signals detected in response to different stimuli in an area may have the same or different amplitudes. However, it is uncertain whether the responses originate from the same neuronal populations or heterogeneous ones. To address this concern, we propose a novel method that uses multi-echo echo-planar imaging sequences to evaluate changes in the transverse relaxation profile caused by stimulation. According to this method, the areas related with visual recognition, i.e. fusiform face area and parahippocampal place area, have different transverse relaxation profiles to preferred and non-preferred stimuli, which can be considered as reflecting a difference in neuronal population processing stimuli in those areas. The proposed method can be useful for probing the microscopic functional specificity of brain areas.