Is the extrastriate body area part of the dorsal visuomotor stream?

• Published in: Brain Structure and Function Vol. 223; no. 1; pp. 31 - 46
• Main Authors: Zimmermann, Marius, Mars, Rogier B., de Lange, Floris P., Toni, Ivan, Verhagen, Lennart
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain Mapping; category-selective visual areas; Cell Biology; connectivity profile; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; diffusion MRI; Female; Functional Laterality - physiology; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; goal-directed action; Handedness; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Information processing; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Neurology; Neurosciences; Original; Original Article; Photic Stimulation; Posture; Psychology; psykologi; Rest; resting-state fMRI; Sensorimotor integration; Structure-function relationships; Temporal cortex; ventral and dorsal visual pathways; Visual cortex; Visual Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Visual Pathways - diagnostic imaging; Visual Perception - physiology; Young Adult; Resting-state fMRI; Category-selective visual areas; Diffusion MRI; Ventral and dorsal visual pathways; Goal-directed action; Connectivity profile
• ISSN: 1863-2653; 1863-2661; 1863-2661; 0340-2061
• DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1469-0

The extrastriate body area (EBA) processes visual information about body parts, and it is considered one among a series of category-specific perceptual modules distributed across the occipito-temporal cortex. However, recent evidence raises the possibility that EBA might also provide an interface between perception and action, linking the ventral and dorsal streams of visual information processing. Here, we assess anatomical evidence supporting this possibility. We localise EBA in individual subjects using a perceptual task and compare the characteristics of its functional and structural connectivity to those of two perceptual areas, the lateral occipital complex (LOC) and the fusiform body area (FBA), separately for each hemisphere. We apply complementary analyses of resting-state fMRI and diffusion-weighted MRI data in a group of healthy right-handed human subjects ( N  = 31). Functional and structural connectivity profiles indicate that EBA interacts more strongly with dorsal-stream regions compared to other portions of the occipito-temporal cortex involved in processing body parts (FBA) and object identification (LOC). These findings provide anatomical ground for a revision of the functional role of EBA. Building on a number of recent observations, we suggest that EBA contributes to planning goal-directed actions, possibly by specifying a desired postural configuration to parieto-frontal areas involved in computing movement parameters.