{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T10:35:49Z","timestamp":1787567749791,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]],"date-time":"2025-05-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748304000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]],"date-time":"2025-05-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748304000000},"content-version":"am","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]],"date-time":"2025-05-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748304000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003130","name":"Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["G0E0220N"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["G0E0220N"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003130","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000781","name":"European Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["10.3030\/856495"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["10.3030\/856495"],"id":[{"id":"10.3030\/856495","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000781","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004040","name":"KU Leuven","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["C14\/21\/111"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C14\/21\/111"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004040","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["elifesciences.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>The neural processing of faces and bodies is often studied separately, despite their natural integration in perception. Unlike prior research on the neural selectivity for either head or body orientation, we investigated their interaction in macaque superior temporal sulcus (STS) using a monkey avatar with diverse head\u2013body orientation angles. STS neurons showed selectivity for specific combinations of head\u2013body orientations. Anterior STS (aSTS) neurons enabled more reliable decoding of head\u2013body configuration angles compared to middle STS neurons. Decoding accuracy in aSTS was lowest for head\u2013body angle pairs differing only in sign (e.g. head\u2013body orientation difference of \u00b190\u00b0 relative to the anatomical midline), and highest for aligned (0\u00b0) head\u2013body orientations versus those with maximum angular difference. Inverted bodies showed diminished decoding of head\u2013body orientation angle compared to upright bodies. These findings show that aSTS integrates head and body orientation cues, revealing configuration-specific neural mechanisms, and advance our understanding of social perception.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.7554\/elife.105714","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,6]],"date-time":"2025-03-06T08:25:54Z","timestamp":1741249554000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7554\/elife.105714","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Integration of head and body orientations in the macaque superior temporal sulcus is stronger for upright bodies"],"prefix":"10.7554","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2153-6926","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Yordanka","family":"Zafirova","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorium voor Neuro- en Psychofysiologie, Department of Neurosciences","place":["Leuven, Belgium"]},{"name":"Leuven Brain Institute","place":["Leuven, Belgium"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8778-835X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Rufin","family":"Vogels","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorium voor Neuro- en Psychofysiologie, Department of Neurosciences","place":["Leuven, Belgium"]},{"name":"Leuven Brain Institute","place":["Leuven, Belgium"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"},{"role":"corresponding-author","vocabulary":"crossref"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"4374","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"bib1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7554\/eLife.53798","type":"journal-article","article-title":"The neurons that mistook a hat for a face","volume":"9","author":"Arcaro","year":"2020","journal-title":"eLife"},{"key":"bib2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1080\/026432900380463","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Effect of image orientation and size on object recognition: responses of single units in the macaque monkey temporal cortex","volume":"17","author":"Ashbridge","year":"2000","journal-title":"Cognitive Neuropsychology"},{"key":"bib3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2350-5","type":"journal-article","article-title":"A map of object space in primate inferotemporal cortex","volume":"583","author":"Bao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"bib4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1093110","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Contextually evoked object-specific responses in human visual cortex","volume":"304","author":"Cox","year":"2004","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"bib5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"513","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neubiorev.2009.10.008","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Standing up for the body: recent progress in uncovering the networks involved in the perception of bodies and bodily expressions","volume":"34","author":"de Gelder","year":"2010","journal-title":"Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews"},{"key":"bib6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14717","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1512378112","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Whole-agent selectivity within the macaque face-processing system","volume":"112","author":"Fisher","year":"2015","journal-title":"PNAS"},{"key":"bib7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"845","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1194908","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Functional compartmentalization and viewpoint generalization within the macaque face-processing system","volume":"330","author":"Freiwald","year":"2010","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"bib8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"325","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-neuro-070815-013934","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Face processing systems: from neurons to real-world social perception","volume":"39","author":"Freiwald","year":"2016","journal-title":"Annual Review of Neuroscience"},{"key":"bib9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1558","DOI":"10.3758\/s13423-022-02067-3","type":"journal-article","article-title":"A multilevel Bayesian meta-analysis of the body inversion effect: evaluating controversies over headless and sexualized bodies","volume":"29","author":"Griffin","year":"2022","journal-title":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review"},{"key":"bib10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"174","DOI":"10.1007\/s00426-002-0091-8","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Social attention orienting integrates visual information from head and body orientation","volume":"66","author":"Hietanen","year":"2002","journal-title":"Psychological Research"},{"key":"bib11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"472","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neubiorev.2020.02.021","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Integrating faces and bodies: psychological and neural perspectives on whole person perception","volume":"112","author":"Hu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews"},{"key":"bib12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2024.1404174","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Face detection mechanisms: nature vs. nurture","volume":"18","author":"Kobylkov","year":"2024","journal-title":"Frontiers in Neuroscience"},{"key":"bib13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhx320","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Transformation of visual representations across ventral stream body-selective patches","volume":"29","author":"Kumar","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cerebral Cortex"},{"key":"bib14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0204353","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Body inversion effect in monkeys","volume":"13","author":"Matsuno","year":"2018","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"key":"bib15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7069","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.3086-14.2015","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Intelligent information loss: the coding of facial identity, head pose, and non-face information in the macaque face patch system","volume":"35","author":"Meyers","year":"2015","journal-title":"The Journal of Neuroscience"},{"key":"bib16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2015.00909","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Perceiving where another person is looking: the integration of head and body information in estimating another person\u2019s gaze","volume":"6","author":"Moors","year":"2015","journal-title":"Frontiers in Psychology"},{"key":"bib17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"636","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn2195","type":"journal-article","article-title":"The neural basis of visual body perception","volume":"8","author":"Peelen","year":"2007","journal-title":"Nature Reviews. Neuroscience"},{"key":"bib18","first-page":"197","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Neurones responsive to faces in the temporal cortex: studies of functional organization, sensitivity to identity and relation to perception","volume":"3","author":"Perrett","year":"1984","journal-title":"Human Neurobiology"},{"key":"bib19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"293","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.1985.0003","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Visual cells in the temporal cortex sensitive to face view and gaze direction","volume":"223","author":"Perrett","year":"1985","journal-title":"Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences"},{"key":"bib20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780198522614.003.0005","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Organization and functions of cells responsive to faces in the temporal cortex","volume":"335","author":"Perrett","year":"1992","journal-title":"Philos.Trans.R.Soc.Lond B Biol.Sci"},{"key":"bib21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1001","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_00762","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Tolerance of macaque middle STS body patch neurons to shape-preserving stimulus transformations","volume":"27","author":"Popivanov","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience"},{"key":"bib22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1506","DOI":"10.1126\/science.287.5457.1506","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Mirror-image confusion in single neurons of the macaque inferotemporal cortex","volume":"287","author":"Rollenhagen","year":"2000","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"bib23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1423","DOI":"10.1007\/s00429-021-02420-7","type":"journal-article","article-title":"One object, two networks? Assessing the relationship between the face and body-selective regions in the primate visual system","volume":"227","author":"Taubert","year":"2022","journal-title":"Brain Structure & Function"},{"key":"bib24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.neuro.30.051606.094238","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Mechanisms of face perception","volume":"31","author":"Tsao","year":"2008","journal-title":"Annual Review of Neuroscience"},{"key":"bib25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1167\/17.1.24","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Holistic integration of gaze cues in visual face and body perception: evidence from the composite design","volume":"17","author":"Vrancken","year":"2017","journal-title":"Journal of Vision"},{"key":"bib26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"671","DOI":"10.3758\/BRM.42.3.671","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Controlling low-level image properties: the SHINE toolbox","volume":"42","author":"Willenbockel","year":"2010","journal-title":"Behavior Research Methods"},{"key":"bib27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2022.119676","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Keep the head in the right place: face-body interactions in inferior temporal cortex","volume":"264","author":"Zafirova","year":"2022","journal-title":"NeuroImage"},{"key":"bib28","type":"software","article-title":"Head-body-orientation-interaction","volume-title":"Software Heritage","author":"Zafirova","year":"2024","unstructured":"Zafirova Y. 2024. Head-body-orientation-interaction. Software Heritage. swh:1:rev:89ed1fcff36d253f3cffada04710fcd19d2f96db. https:\/\/archive.softwareheritage.org\/swh:1:dir:34c775a3cb6b082900b978849b11021e5369e171;origin=https:\/\/github.com\/Yozafirova\/head-body-orientation-interaction;visit=swh:1:snp:86e73a842692de036ec7506c4ec5ed9cf97d4050;anchor=swh:1:rev:89ed1fcff36d253f3cffada04710fcd19d2f96db."},{"key":"bib29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pneurobio.2023.102545","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Configuration-sensitive face-body interactions in primate visual cortex","volume":"232","author":"Zafirova","year":"2024","journal-title":"Progress in Neurobiology"},{"key":"dataset1","type":"dataset","article-title":"Head-body orientation interaction","volume-title":"Open Science Framework","author":"Zafirova","year":"2024","unstructured":"Zafirova Y. 2024. Head-body orientation interaction. Open Science Framework. https:\/\/osf.io\/7t2e8\/. 7t2e8."}],"container-title":["eLife"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/cdn.elifesciences.org\/articles\/105714\/elife-105714-v1.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/cdn.elifesciences.org\/articles\/105714\/elife-105714-v1.xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/elifesciences.org\/articles\/105714","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T09:38:42Z","timestamp":1787564322000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/elifesciences.org\/articles\/105714"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]]},"references-count":30,"alternative-id":["10.7554\/eLife.105714"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7554\/elife.105714","archive":["CLOCKSS"],"relation":{"has-preprint":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1101\/2024.12.30.630733","asserted-by":"subject"}],"is-same-as":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7554\/eLife.105714.3","asserted-by":"subject"}],"is-version-of":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7554\/eLife.105714.1","asserted-by":"subject"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7554\/eLife.105714.2","asserted-by":"subject"}],"is-financed-by":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.3030\/856495","asserted-by":"subject"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.3030\/856495","asserted-by":"object"}],"is-supplemented-by":[{"id-type":"accession","id":"7t2e8","asserted-by":"subject"},{"id-type":"uri","id":"https:\/\/archive.softwareheritage.org\/swh:1:dir:34c775a3cb6b082900b978849b11021e5369e171;origin=https:\/\/github.com\/Yozafirova\/head-body-orientation-interaction;visit=swh:1:snp:86e73a842692de036ec7506c4ec5ed9cf97d4050;anchor=swh:1:rev:89ed1fcff36d253f3cffada04710fcd19d2f96db","asserted-by":"subject"}]},"ISSN":["2050-084X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2050-084X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]]},"assertion":[{"value":"single anonymised","name":"peer_review_transparency","label":"Peer review transparency","group":{"name":"peer_review_taxonomy"}},{"value":"other reviewer(s), editor","name":"peer_review_interaction","label":"Peer review interaction","group":{"name":"peer_review_taxonomy"}},{"value":"review summaries, review reports, author\/editor communication, reviewer identities reviewer opt in, editor identities","name":"peer_review_published","label":"Peer review published","group":{"name":"peer_review_taxonomy"}},{"value":"open (sign in with ORCID iD required)","name":"post_publication_commenting","label":"Post publication commenting","group":{"name":"post_publication_commenting"}}],"article-number":"RP105714"}}