Joint encoding of facial identity, orientation, gaze, and expression in the middle dorsal face area

Significance Past work on the neural mechanisms of face processing has focused on how a network of face-selective areas in the macaque monkey brain extracts facial identity. Here, we study the processing of identity, expression, and gaze information. We find that all of these signals are extracted in populations of face cells located in a face area outside the classical network. In this area, we discover a single-cell representation of facial expression that is preserved even with the changes of identity and head orientation. This face area, previously thought to be specialized for the processing of naturalistic facial movements, harbors a heterogeneous population of face cells that can process static faces to extract a wide range of socially meaningful facial information.