Imitation of facial gestures by an infant chimpanzee

Myowa, Masako

doi:10.1007/bf02381408

Cited by 69 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This phenomenon has been termed ‘neonatal imitation’ in the human [1], [2], [28] as well as the comparative literature [13], [22]–[25]. Within the LPS condition, infants increased LPS during the Stimulus phase, and the frequency of LPS remained high during Baseline 2 when the model displayed a still face.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Delayed Imitation of Lipsmacking Gestures by Infant Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Paukner¹,

Ferrari

Suomi³

2011

PLoS ONE

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Human infants are capable of accurately matching facial gestures of an experimenter within a few hours after birth, a phenomenon called neonatal imitation. Recent studies have suggested that rather than being a simple reflexive-like behavior, infants exert active control over imitative responses and ‘provoke’ previously imitated gestures even after a delay of up to 24 h. Delayed imitation is regarded as the hallmark of a sophisticated capacity to control and flexibly engage in affective communication and has been described as an indicator of innate protoconversational readiness. However, we are not the only primates to exhibit neonatal imitation, and delayed imitation abilities may not be uniquely human. Here we report that 1-week-old infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) who show immediate imitation of a lipsmacking gesture also show delayed imitation of lipsmacking, facilitated by a tendency to refrain from lipsmacking toward a still face during baseline measurements. Individual differences in delayed imitation suggest that differentially matured cortical mechanisms may be involved, allowing some newborns macaques to actively participate in communicative exchanges from birth. Macaque infants are endowed with basic social competencies of intersubjective communication that indicate cognitive and emotional commonality between humans and macaques, which may have evolved to nurture an affective mother-infant relationship in primates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Delayed Imitation of Lipsmacking Gestures by Infant Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Paukner¹,

Ferrari

Suomi³

2011

PLoS ONE

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“…First demonstrated in humans (Meltzoff & Moore 1977, it has been subsequently shown in apes (Myowa 1996;Myowa-Yamakoshi et al 2004) and monkeys (Ferrari et al 2006).…”

Section: From Mirror Neurons To Behaviour: 'Direct' and 'Indirect' Pamentioning

confidence: 93%

From monkey mirror neurons to primate behaviours: possible ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ pathways

Ferrari

Bonini

Fogassi

2009

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

110

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The discovery of mirror neurons (MNs), deemed to be at the basis of action understanding, could constitute the potential solution to the 'correspondence problem' between one's own and others' action that is crucial for of imitative behaviours. However, it is still to be clarified whether, and how, several imitative phenomena, differing in terms of complexity and cognitive effort, could be explained within a unified framework based on MNs. Here we propose that MNs could differently contribute to distinct imitative behaviours by means of two anatomo-functional pathways, subjected to changes during development. A 'direct mirror pathway', directly influencing the descending motor output, would be responsible for neonatal and automatic imitation. This proposal is corroborated by some new behavioural evidences provided here. During development, the increased control of voluntary movements and the capacity to efficiently suppress automatic motor activation during action observation assign to the core MNs regions essentially perceptuo-cognitive functions. These functions would be exploited by an 'indirect mirror pathway' from the core regions of the MN system to prefrontal cortex. This latter would play a key role in parsing, storing and organizing motor representations, allowing the emergence of more efficient and complex imitative behaviours such as response facilitation and true imitation.

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“…Not only human but also neonatal chimpanzees are able to imitate facial actions (tongue protrusion or mouth opening) and this ability, as in humans, declines after 2 months of life (Myowa, 1996).…”

Section: A Neural System Subserving Imitation In Humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

From imitation to conversation: the first dialogues with human neonates

Nagy

2006

Inf. Child Develop.

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The functional maturity of the newborn infant's brain, the resemblances between neonatal imitation and imitation in adults and the possibly lateralized neonatal imitation suggest that the mirror neuron system may contribute to neonatal imitation. Newborn infants not only imitate but also initiate previously imitated gestures, and are able to participate in overlapping imitation-initiation communicative cycles. Additionally, these social responses in neonates are faster than previously thought, and may enable them to have long-lasting intimate interactions much before language develops. Infants are equipped with a powerful, innate, reciprocal communicative ability already at birth. The earliest communication originates from imitation and this communicative ability presumably later evolves to language.

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Imitation of facial gestures by an infant chimpanzee

Cited by 69 publications

References 15 publications

Delayed Imitation of Lipsmacking Gestures by Infant Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Delayed Imitation of Lipsmacking Gestures by Infant Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

From monkey mirror neurons to primate behaviours: possible ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ pathways

From imitation to conversation: the first dialogues with human neonates

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