Asymmetries in the timing of facial and vocal expressions by rhesus monkeys: implications for hemispheric specialization

Hauser, Marc D.; Akre, Karin L.

doi:10.1006/anbe.2000.1588

Cited by 61 publications

(44 citation statements)

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“…Species-specific calls also convey important information about affective content (25). When animals coo, the animal's emotional state is calm, affiliative, or positively excited because of the presence of food (2).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies (mostly behavioral) in non-human primates have reported the capacity for conceptual distinctions in various domains, such as food (20), number (21, 22), and tools (23). Furthermore, studies of visual categorization in non-human primates show both behavioral and neural parallels with studies of humans, including the perception of faces, facial expressions, biological motion, and socially relevant action (13,(24)(25)(26). What is unclear, however, is the extent to which these similarities transcend the visual modality, which would provide evidence that, like humans, non-human primates also have more abstract representations of some of these concepts (27-29).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Toward an evolutionary perspective on conceptual representation: Species-specific calls activate visual and affective processing systems in the macaque

Gil-da-Costa

Braun

Lopes

et al. 2004

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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115

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Non-human primates produce a diverse repertoire of speciesspecific calls and have rich conceptual systems. Some of their calls are designed to convey information about concepts such as predators, food, and social relationships, as well as the affective state of the caller. Little is known about the neural architecture of these calls, and much of what we do know is based on single-cell physiology from anesthetized subjects. By using positron emission tomography in awake rhesus macaques, we found that conspecific vocalizations elicited activity in higher-order visual areas, including regions in the temporal lobe associated with the visual perception of object form (TE͞TEO) and motion (superior temporal sulcus) and storing visual object information into long-term memory (TE), as well as in limbic (the amygdala and hippocampus) and paralimbic regions (ventromedial prefrontal cortex) associated with the interpretation and memory-encoding of highly salient and affective material. This neural circuitry strongly corresponds to the network shown to support representation of conspecifics and affective information in humans. These findings shed light on the evolutionary precursors of conceptual representation in humans, suggesting that monkeys and humans have a common neural substrate for representing object concepts.auditory ͉ brain ͉ evolution ͉ vocalizations ͉ concepts S tudies of the evolution of animal signaling systems reveal specializations of the peripheral and central nervous systems for producing and perceiving signals linked to survival and reproduction. These signals can be represented, both within and between species, in various modalities, including visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile, and are often designed to convey considerable information about the signaler and its socioecological context. In particular, non-human primates have evolved complex auditory communication systems that can convey information about a variety of objects and events, such as individual identity (1), motivational state (2), reproductive status (3), body size (4), types of food (5), and predators (6). It has been argued that many of these calls are functionally linked to rich conceptual representations (5-8).In humans, evidence from behavioral (9), neuropsychological (10), and functional brain-imaging (11) studies suggests that conceptual representations are directly grounded in perception, action, and emotion. For example, functional brain-imaging studies have shown that tasks probing knowledge of animate things and social interactions activate a well defined network that includes regions in the posterior cortex associated with perceiving their visual form (including the fusiform face area) (12) and biological motion [superior temporal sulcus (STS)] (13), as well as limbic and paralimbic cortical areas involved in perceiving and modulating affect (especially the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex) (11,14). Neural responses in these regions are elicited by a variety of input modalities, such as visual (12, 15) or auditory (16,...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward an evolutionary perspective on conceptual representation: Species-specific calls activate visual and affective processing systems in the macaque

Gil-da-Costa

Braun

Lopes

et al. 2004

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

115

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“…Several studies of non-human primates have shown and discussed facial asymmetries in monkeys [69,70], marmosets [71], and chimpanzees [72], all of which can be viewed as precursors to human brain functional and anatomical asymmetries, as well as the beginnings of the co-evolution of human face and brain. Indeed, there is a myriad of behavioral asymmetries in animals (reviewed by Vallortigara and Rogers [73]), and those could not have developed without the brain of the perceiver being neuronally wired-up to perceive them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetry and Symmetry in the Beauty of Human Faces

Zaidel

Hessamian

2010

Symmetry

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Abstract:The emphasis in the published literature has mostly been on symmetry as the critical source for beauty judgment. In fact, both symmetry and asymmetry serve as highly aesthetic sources of beauty, whether the context is perceptual or conceptual. The human brain is characterized by symbolic cognition and this type of cognition facilitates a range of aesthetic reactions. For example, both art and natural scenery contain asymmetrical elements, which nevertheless render the whole effect beautiful. A further good case in point is, in fact, human faces. Normally, faces are structurally left-right symmetrical content-wise but not size-wise or function-wise. Attractiveness has often been discussed in terms of content-wise full-face symmetry. To test whether or not attractiveness can be gleaned only from the presence of left-right full-faces we tested half faces. Three separate groups of participants viewed and rated the attractiveness of 56 full-faces (women's and men's), their 56 vertical left hemi-faces and 56 vertical right hemi-faces. We found no statistically significant differences in the attractiveness ratings of full-and hemi-faces (whether left or right). Instead, we found a strong and significant positive correlation between the ratings of the hemi-and full-faces. These results are consistent with the view that the underpinning of human facial beauty is complex and that bilateral symmetry does not constitute a principle factor in beauty assessment. We discuss that the highly evolved human brain, compared to other animals, as well as symbolic and abstract cognition in humans enable a wide variety of aesthetic reactions.

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“…A case in point is the robust finding that humans show a left hemisphere bias for processing spoken language and the suggestion that this bias originates from a non-human primate ancestor dating back at least as far as the genus Macaca. Studies using behavioural and neurophysiological approaches suggest a left hemisphere bias for the perception of conspecific vocalizations and a right hemisphere bias for the production of both vocalizations and facial expressions (Zoloth et al 1979;Heffner & Heffner 1986;Hauser 1993;Hauser & Andersson 1994;Hauser & Akre 2001;Poremba et al 2004). Although these studies have been used to support the hypothesis that processing of specifies-specific vocalizations in humans and non-human primates is homologous in terms of brain asymmetries (Efron 1990;Corballis 1991;Belin et al 2000), there are two open questions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vervet monkeys and humans show brain asymmetries for processing conspecific vocalizations, but with opposite patterns of laterality

Gil-da-Costa

Hauser

2006

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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A robust finding in the human neurosciences is the observation of a left hemisphere specialization for processing spoken language. Previous studies suggest that this auditory specialization and brain asymmetry derive from a primate ancestor. Most of these studies focus on the genus Macaca and all demonstrate a left hemisphere bias. Due to the narrow taxonomic scope, however, we lack a sense of the distribution of this asymmetry among primates. Further, although the left hemisphere bias appears mediated by conspecific calls, other possibilities exist including familiarity, emotional relevance and more general acoustic properties of the signal. To broaden the taxonomic scope and test the specificity of the apparent hemisphere bias, we conducted an experiment on vervets (Cercopithecus aethiops)-a different genus of old world monkeys and implemented the relevant acoustic controls. Using the same head orienting procedure tested with macaques, results show a strong left ear/right hemisphere bias for conspecific vocalizations (both familiar and unfamiliar), but no asymmetry for other primate vocalizations or non-biological sounds. These results suggest that although auditory asymmetries for processing species-specific vocalizations are a common feature of the primate brain, the direction of this asymmetry may be relatively plastic. This finding raises significant questions for how ontogenetic and evolutionary forces have impacted on primate brain evolution.

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Asymmetries in the timing of facial and vocal expressions by rhesus monkeys: implications for hemispheric specialization

Cited by 61 publications

References 46 publications

Toward an evolutionary perspective on conceptual representation: Species-specific calls activate visual and affective processing systems in the macaque

Toward an evolutionary perspective on conceptual representation: Species-specific calls activate visual and affective processing systems in the macaque

Asymmetry and Symmetry in the Beauty of Human Faces

Vervet monkeys and humans show brain asymmetries for processing conspecific vocalizations, but with opposite patterns of laterality

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