Esin Karahan1, Ozlem Ozmen Okur1, Ozlem Alkan2, Tulin Yildirim2, Cengizhan Ozturk1
1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey; 2Department of Radiology, Baskent University Medical School, Ankara, Turkey
Neural correlates of familiarity to faces has been studied in fMRI studies suggesting that it is associated with increased neural activity in restrosplenial cortex and precuneus. However experience based familiarity has not been studied comparatively in detail. We aim to investigate whether brain regions associated with face familiarity are also activated with different types of stimuli. fMRI is obtained from two different groups (radiologists and volunteers) while they are viewing radiological images and natural scenes. Fusiform gyrus and frontal lobe regions were activated in radiologists' group while they are viewing radiological images whereas in volunteers group inferior occipital gyrus and posterior cingulate were activated during the same stimulus, suggesting that familiarity depends on the stimulus type.