Face Processing in the Chimpanzee Brain

Parr, Lisa A.; Hecht, Erin E.; Barks, Sarah K.; Preuss, Todd M.; Votaw, John R.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.11.048

Cited by 82 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Moreover, macaques show STS and amygdala activation in response to faces, although this amygdala activation is dependent on the dimensions of the faces (Hoffman, Gothard, Schmid, & Logothetis, 2007). Also in chimpanzees, the STS and orbitofrontal cortex were activated during face processing, comparable to face processing in humans (Parr, Hecht, Barks, Preuss, & Votaw, 2009). However, differences in (emotional) face processing between humans and nonhuman primates are also reported (Polosecki et al, 2013;Zhu et al, 2013).…”

Section: Cross-species Studiesmentioning

confidence: 89%

The dot-probe task to measure emotional attention: A suitable measure in comparative studies?

2017

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For social animals, attending to and recognizing the emotional expressions of other individuals is of crucial importance for their survival and likely has a deep evolutionary origin. Gaining insight into how emotional expressions evolved as adaptations over the course of evolution can be achieved by making direct cross-species comparisons. To that extent, experimental paradigms that are suitable for investigating emotional processing across species need to be developed and evaluated. The emotional dot-probe task, which measures attention allocation toward emotional stimuli, has this potential. The task is implicit, and subjects need minimal training to perform the task successfully. Findings in nonhuman primates, although scarce, show that they, like humans, have an attentional bias toward emotional stimuli. However, the wide literature on human studies has shown that different factors can have important moderating effects on the results. Due to the large heterogeneity of this literature, these moderating effects often remain unnoticed. We here review this literature and show that subject characteristics and differences in experimental designs affect the results of the dot-probe task. We conclude with specific recommendations regarding these issues that are particularly relevant to take into consideration when applying this paradigm to study animals.

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Section: Cross-species Studiesmentioning

confidence: 89%

The dot-probe task to measure emotional attention: A suitable measure in comparative studies?

2017

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“…Whether these behaviours engage reward-and value-related neural processes as they do in humans remains an interesting question for further research. These comparative studies may require methodological developments to enable parallel studies in monkeys and humans (for example, methods to image cerebral blood flow in chimpanzees 159,160 ), but they may also provide converging evidence on social rewards and values using methods that are not readily available for human studies, such as single-unit recording 106,146 and experimental lesions 145 .…”

Section: Box 4 | Evolutionary Aspects Of Social Rewards and Valuationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The neurobiology of rewards and values in social decision making

2014

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Of all the decisions in your life, which were the most important? Chances are high that many of them had a social component, be it when deciding about others (for example, whether to marry someone), for others (for example, which school to send your child to) or jointly with others (for example, whether to buy a house with your partner). Pathological changes specifically in the social aspects of decision making are pervasive in many psychiatric 1 and neurological 2 disorders and can have devastating consequences for individual and collective welfare. A good understanding of the neural basis of social decision making is thus an important aim of scientists in many disciplines, from basic neuroscience to medicine, psychology and economics.The neural mechanisms underlying social and nonsocial types of choices have traditionally been examined from different theoretical angles. In studies of non-social choices (for example, purchasing decisions), researchers have often focused on neural value computations associated with the rewarding properties of the choice options 3,4 . On the basis of this research, several brain structures have been proposed as elements of a brain valuation system (BOX 1). The neural value signals in these structures are thought to represent a 'common currency' for assessing the motivational relevance of all possible stimuli or actions, which is essential for guiding decision making across varying contexts 5,6 . By contrast, researchers studying social decisions have traditionally paid less attention to motivational processes, such as reward and value coding; instead, they have focused on identifying neurocognitive processes that may have uniquely evolved to guide social behaviour 7 . This emphasis on 'social-specific cognition' has identified, for example, that different visual areas seem to be functionally specialized for the perception of faces or bodies 8 and that the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) may be specifically involved in representing the intentions, emotions or actions of other people [9][10][11] . The idea of 'social-specific cognition' thus implies that the control of social and non-social behaviour should fundamentally differ in terms of neural architecture and information processing demands 12 . However, this view is challenged by recent findings that social decisions may also draw on value-related brain processes that strongly resemble those seen during non-social decisions. This apparent overlap in neural representations of motivational relevance for social and non-social choices is often taken to implicitly extend the 'common currency' idea to decisions based on social factors. This proposalthat choices in both social and non-social situations are steered by identical neural value computations -therefore questions whether the motivational control of social behaviour requires dedicated neural processes.In this Review, we propose a framework for studying the possible neurobiological links in the motivational control of social...

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“…The possibility of a shared signal system is plausible in part due to evidence from comparative studies showing similarities in face processing for the two species, including homologous specialised brain regions (Parr, Hecht, Barks, Preuss & Votaw, 2009), crossspecies identification of relatedness (Alvergne et al, 2009), sensitivity to facial configurations (Parr, Heintz & Akamagwuna, 2006), and homologies in expression (Parr, Waller, Vick & Bard, 2007). However, a shared signal system of personality would require a variety of other physical and psychological homologies, including behavioural biases as reflected by aspects of personality structure, facial morphology, and the cognitive means for correctly interpreting and using these signals from the face.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying personality from the static, nonexpressive face in humans and chimpanzees: evidence of a shared system for signaling personality

Kramer

King

Ward

2011

Evolution and Human Behavior

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Many aspects of personality are honestly signalled on the human face, as shown by accurate identification of personality traits from static images of unknown faces with neutral expressions. Here we examine the evolutionary history of this signal system. In four studies, we found that untrained human observers reliably discriminated characteristics related to extraversion solely from non-expressive facial images of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In chimpanzees, as in humans, there is therefore information in the static, non-expressive face that signals aspects of an individual's personality. We suggest this performance is best explained by shared personality structure and signalling in the two species.A shared signal system 3

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Face Processing in the Chimpanzee Brain

Cited by 82 publications

References 28 publications

The dot-probe task to measure emotional attention: A suitable measure in comparative studies?

The dot-probe task to measure emotional attention: A suitable measure in comparative studies?

The neurobiology of rewards and values in social decision making

Identifying personality from the static, nonexpressive face in humans and chimpanzees: evidence of a shared system for signaling personality

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