Faces and Word Forms Can Coexist in the Right Ventro-occipital Temporal Cortex—Evidence from Left-Hemisphere Perinatal Stroke

Abstract

In most healthy adult humans, the right ventro-occipital temporal cortex (vOTC) is more involved in face perception than its left-hemisphere counterpart. Several hypotheses link this right-lateralization for face processing to left-lateralization of language and visual word form processing. In its strongest form, this account assumes an encroachment by word form processing into left vOTC territory that would otherwise be dedicated to face processing, causing face processing that would otherwise be bilateral to rely relatively more on right vOTC. By this logic, if visual word recognition came to rely predominantly on the right hemisphere, face processing should become left-lateralized. Alternatively, it would have to share neural territory with words in right vOTC, which might negatively impact behavioral performance due to crowding. Here, we used functional MRI and the Cambridge Face Memory Test in 15 male and female adolescents and young adults with a history of left-hemisphere perinatal stroke (LHPS) who are right-lateralized for language and word form processing and whose vOTC is anatomically and functionally intact in both hemispheres. Comparison with 14 neurotypical controls revealed no significant group differences in strength or lateralization of face activation and no significant differences in face recognition. These results demonstrate that after LHPS, face and word form processing can both be right-lateralized without significant detriment to either. This is reminiscent of the observation that emotional prosody and sentence processing—typically lateralized to the right and left hemisphere, respectively—are both successfully supported by the right hemisphere in the same participant group.