Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5K8, Canada
Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5K8, Canada.
J Neurosci. 2023 May 10;43(19):3477-3494. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1484-22.2023. Epub 2023 Mar 31.
The correct identification of facial expressions is critical for understanding the intention of others during social communication in the daily life of all primates. Here we used ultra-high-field fMRI at 9.4 T to investigate the neural network activated by facial expressions in awake New World common marmosets from both male and female sex, and to determine the effect of facial motions on this network. We further explored how the face-patch network is involved in the processing of facial expressions. Our results show that dynamic and static facial expressions activate face patches in temporal and frontal areas (O, PV, PD, MD, AD, and PL) as well as in the amygdala, with stronger responses for negative faces, also associated with an increase of the respiration rates of the monkey. Processing of dynamic facial expressions involves an extended network recruiting additional regions not known to be part of the face-processing network, suggesting that face motions may facilitate the recognition of facial expressions. We report for the first time in New World marmosets that the perception and identification of changeable facial expressions, vital for social communication, recruit face-selective brain patches also involved in face detection processing and are associated with an increase of arousal. Recent research in humans and nonhuman primates has highlighted the importance to correctly recognize and process facial expressions to understand others' emotions in social interactions. The current study focuses on the fMRI responses of emotional facial expressions in the common marmoset (), a New World primate species sharing several similarities of social behavior with humans. Our results reveal that temporal and frontal face patches are involved in both basic face detection and facial expression processing. The specific recruitment of these patches for negative faces associated with an increase of the arousal level show that marmosets process facial expressions of their congener, vital for social communication.
正确识别面部表情对于所有灵长类动物在日常生活中的社交交流中理解他人的意图至关重要。在这里，我们使用 9.4T 超高场 fMRI 研究了来自雄性和雌性新世界普通狨猴的面部表情激活的神经网络，并确定了面部运动对该网络的影响。我们进一步探讨了面部斑块网络如何参与面部表情的处理。我们的研究结果表明，动态和静态面部表情会激活颞叶和额叶区域（O、PV、PD、MD、AD 和 PL）以及杏仁核中的面部斑块，对负面面孔的反应更强，这也与猴子的呼吸率增加有关。动态面部表情的处理涉及到一个扩展的网络，该网络招募了一些不被认为是面部处理网络一部分的额外区域，这表明面部运动可能有助于对面部表情的识别。我们首次在新世界狨猴中报告称，对于社交交流至关重要的可变化面部表情的感知和识别会招募也参与面部检测处理的选择性大脑斑块，并与唤醒度的增加有关。最近在人类和非人类灵长类动物中的研究强调了正确识别和处理面部表情以理解社交互动中他人情绪的重要性。本研究关注普通狨猴（Callithrix jacchus）的情绪面部表情的 fMRI 反应，普通狨猴是一种新世界灵长类动物，其社会行为与人类有许多相似之处。我们的研究结果表明，颞叶和额叶面部斑块既参与基本的面部检测，也参与面部表情处理。这些斑块对负面面孔的特异性招募与唤醒水平的增加有关，这表明狨猴会对面部表情进行处理，这对于社交交流至关重要。
