CAJ | 학술논문

面孔具有明显不同于其他刺激物的特点，面孔认知的目的也因此与其他物体认知的目的大相径庭。依据面孔认知的目的，本文将面孔认知划分为四个层面：将面孔区别于一般物体的第一层面，对面孔物理属性进行识别的第二层面，对面孔的生物属性进行识别的第三层面和对面孔的社会属性进行识别的第四层面。FFA是面孔加工的一个重要脑区，通过论述它对面孔认知各层面的作用，FFA在面孔加工中的作用被进一步明确。
면공구유명현불동우기타자격물적특점，면공인지적목적야인차여기타물체인지적목적대상경정。의거면공인지적목적，본문장면공인지화분위사개층면：장면공구별우일반물체적제일층면，대면공물리속성진행식별적제이층면，대면공적생물속성진행식별적제삼층면화대면공적사회속성진행식별적제사층면。FFA시면공가공적일개중요뇌구，통과논술타대면공인지각층면적작용，FFA재면공가공중적작용피진일보명학。
Facial stimuli are quite different fi＇om those of other objects, and the purpose of perceiving human facial stimuli is also very different from that of perceiving other objects. We perceive the latter just to understand what and where they are, but when we perceive a human face, in addition to identifying a face, we also want to know how it differs from other faces. Sometimes we want to infer the in formation about age, sexuality, or race from the face. More importantly, we need to understand the facial expressions, especially the e motions that faces express, so that we can react appropriately when we communicate with others face to face. Considering these purposes of face perception, we propose that face perception includes the following four aspects ： face detection, physical attributes detection, bi ological attributes detection, and social attributes detection. This may help scientists to clarify the roles of related brain areas including FFA in face perception more clearly. Ahhough FFA is a core brain area for face processing, its exact roles remain unclear. We reviewed related studies and analyzed FFA＇ s roles in the four aspects of face perception. Firstly, we focus on whether FFA is essential to confirm that a stimulus is a face. Ahhough FFA shows its activation both for usual objects and faces, stronger activation for faces than for usual objects has been con firmed by many studies. It suggests that compared to usual object detection, FFA is more sensitive to face detection. Therefore, we con clude that FFA is essential to confirm that a stimulus is a face. Secondly, we discuss whether FFA plays a crucial role in distinguishing a face from other faces based on their physical attributes. Although some studies emphasize that FFA＇ s activation has a holistic domina tion, others insist that FFA is sensitive to local features. Our concern is ： whether FFA＇ s activation is dependent on the difference of faces. Actually, if a face is perceived as a different face, FFA＇ s activation also changes. Based on the fact, we summarize that FFA plays crucial role in distinguishing a face from other faces based on their physical attributes. Thirdly, we consider the role of FFA in bi ological attributes detection. Some studies indicate that FFA＇ s activation is dependent on sexuality, age, and race of a face. Thus, FFA also plays role in biological attributes detection. Finally, we focus on FFA＇ s role in social attribute detection. Currently, there have been contradictory results about the relationship between FFA＇ s activation and some social attributes like expressions of a face. Some studies indicate that different FFA＇s activation reflects different social attributes while other studies show there is no correlation between FFA activation and social attributes of a facial stimulus. Since social attributes of a facial stimulus are very complex, it is not easy to get coherent results. Face cognition is a purposeful cognitive activity. Classifying the purposes, and then clarifying what roles the related brain areas play in achieving the purposes, is an effective approach to understanding the mechanisms. Besides FFA, there are also other face pro cessing brain areas such as OFA （Occipital Face Area） and STS （Superior Temporal Sulcus）, and the same approach can be adopted to clarify the roles of these areas. The more knowledgewe get about the functional roles of all related brain areas in the four aspects of face processing, the clearer the neural mechanisms of face processing will be.