MCAT® ExamPsychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of BehaviorHard
A patient with a history of stroke presents with visual agnosia, specifically an inability to recognize faces (prosopagnosia), despite having intact visual acuity and no general intellectual impairment. Damage to which of the following brain regions is most likely responsible for this specific deficit?
- ASuperior temporal gyrus
- BHippocampus
- CFusiform gyrus
- DPrimary visual cortex (V1)
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Fusiform gyrus
Prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize faces, is specifically associated with damage to the fusiform gyrus, particularly in the right hemisphere, which is often referred to as the fusiform face area (FFA).
Why the other options are wrong
- A. The superior temporal gyrus is primarily involved in auditory processing and language comprehension, not face recognition.
- B. The hippocampus is crucial for memory formation, not visual recognition of faces.
- D. Damage to the primary visual cortex would cause general blindness or visual field defects, not selective face recognition issues.
Fusiform Gyrus (Fusiform Face Area)
A brain region located on the inferior surface of the temporal lobe, specialized for face perception and recognition.
- Part of the ventral visual stream ('what' pathway)
- Lesions can cause prosopagnosia (face blindness)
- Also involved in expert recognition of other complex visual stimuli
Memory trick: Faces fuse in the fusiform.