Wang Mu-Yun, Takeuchi Hideaki
Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
The Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
Elife. 2017 Jul 11;6:e24728. doi: 10.7554/eLife.24728.
Individual recognition (IR) is essential for maintaining various social interactions in a group, and face recognition is one of the most specialised cognitive abilities in IR. We used both a mating preference system and an electric shock conditioning experiment to test IR ability in medaka, and found that signals near the face are important. Medaka required more time to discriminate vertically inverted faces, but not horizontally shifted faces or inverted non-face objects. The ability may be comparable to the classic 'face inversion effect' in humans and some other mammals. Extra patterns added to the face also did not influence the IR. These findings suggest the possibility that the process of face recognition may differ from that used for other objects. The complex form of recognition may promote specific processing adaptations, although the mechanisms and neurological bases might differ in mammals and medaka. The ability to recognise other individuals is important for shaping animal societies.
个体识别（IR）对于维持群体中的各种社会互动至关重要，而面部识别是个体识别中最具专业性的认知能力之一。我们使用交配偏好系统和电击条件实验来测试青鳉的个体识别能力，发现面部附近的信号很重要。青鳉辨别垂直倒置的面部需要更多时间，但辨别水平移动的面部或倒置的非面部物体则不然。这种能力可能与人类和其他一些哺乳动物中经典的“面部倒置效应”相当。添加到面部的额外图案也不会影响个体识别。这些发现表明，面部识别过程可能与识别其他物体的过程不同。尽管哺乳动物和青鳉的机制和神经基础可能不同，但这种复杂的识别形式可能会促进特定的加工适应。识别其他个体的能力对于塑造动物社会很重要。
