Rapid gamma oscillations in the inferior occipital gyrus in response to eyes.

Eyes are an indispensable communication medium for human social interactions. Although previous neuroscientific evidence suggests the activation of the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) during eye processing, the temporal profile of this activation remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we analyzed intracranial electroencephalograms of the IOG during the presentation of eyes and mosaics, in either averted or straight directions. Time-frequency statistical parametric mapping analyses revealed greater gamma-band activation in the right IOG beginning at 114 ms in response to eyes relative to mosaics, irrespective of their averted or straight direction. These results suggest that gamma oscillations in the right IOG are involved in the early stages of eye processing, such as eye detection.