Monkeys exhibit individual differences in the way they look at faces of conspecifics. As shown in the diagram to the left (taken from Gibbonni, Zimmerman, and Gothard, 2009) monkey T prefers to look mostly at the eyes, H exhibits a mouth preference, and Q scans all regions of the face. Not only do the monkeys preferentially examine different face regions they also exhibit different variability in looking patterns: whereas T exhibits a very stereotypic pattern that is unchanging from one trial to the next, Q and H change their looking strategies during different trials. Individual differences in the scanpaths of the monkeys correlate with their behavioral tendencies and 5HT-transporter genotype
To quantify emotion and arousal in monkeys, we record various autonomic measurements like heart rate, skin conductance response (SCR), and pupil dilation. SCR measures miniscule changes in sweat at the palm of the hands, and is positively correlated with arousal in humans viewing emotive images and movies. The figure to the left (taken from Laine, Spitler, Mosher, & Gothard, 2007) shows electordes placed in the amygdala (A) and the average firing rate of three neurons before and after several SCRs occur (B). The bottom trace (C) shows 4 SCRs with their onsets marked by a dotted line. Changes in neural activity in the amygdala precede SCRs by 100-200 ms.
( left ) When shown videos of other monkeys, viewer monkeys (Q, V, and T) all look at the eyes of the movie monkey and then follow their gaze, looking in the same direction. Gaze following behavior may be a fundamental component of empathy and theory of mind.
( top ) Viewer monkeys are most likely to lipsmack movie monkeys when they maintain long periods of eye contact, indicating that the lipsmack is a friendly, prosocial gesture.
Lipsmack Neutral Threat
Neurons in the monkey amygdala respond differentially to monkey faces, human faces, and objects (Gothard et al., 2007). Moreover, neurons that respond to monkey faces selectively fire to different identity monkeys, facial expressions, or a combination of the two. The figure to the left (taken from Gothard et al., 2007) shows how a single neuron responds to nine different images. Every row of images depicts a single monkey portraying each of three facial expressions. Below each image is a raster plot (where each black line represents a neural action potential and each row is a trial), followed by a peristimulus time histogram (which sums the spike across all the tirals). Images are shown for 1.5 s and neural data is aligned to image onset. Notice how robustly this neuron responds to images of threatening facial expressions, and how quiet it is during lipsmack and neutrals!
The broad goal of the research in our laboratory is to understand the neural basis of emotion. We use non-human primates as a model system for normal and pathological emotions generated in the context of social behavior. The experiments involve eliciting emotions in freely behaving monkeys while recording neural activity from the amygdala along with heart rate and several other autonomic measures of arousal. These experiments reveal the real-time dynamic interactions of multiple systems implicated in emotion regulation and the mechanisms by which emotional responses produce immediate behavioral effects.
Clayton Mosher
Ph.D. Student
cmosher_email.arizona.edu
Prisca Zimmerman
Research Specialist
priscaz_email.arizona.edu
Katalin Gothard, M.D. Ph.D.
Associate Professor
kgothard_email.arizona.edu
Francesco Battaglia, Universiteit van Amsterdam (http://www.battaglia.nl)
Lisa Parr, Emory University (http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~lparr/index.html)
Kari Hoffman, York University (http://www.yorku.ca/khoffman/)
Leslie Ungerleider, National Institutes of Heatlh (http://neuroscience.nih.gov/Lab.asp?Org_ID=157)
David Leopold, National Institutes of Mental Health (http://intramural.nimh.nih.gov/research/pi/pi_leopold_d.html)
Jocelyne Bachevalier, Emory University (http://www.psychology.emory.edu/nab/bachevalier/)
Ryan Sprissler, University of Arizona
Carol Barnes, University of Arizona (http://embi.nsma.arizona.edu/)
Andy Fuglevand, University of Arizona (http://www3.physiology.arizona.edu/articles/11?q=articles/11)
Mosher, C.P., Zimmerman, P.E., Gothard, K.M. Videos of conspecifics elicit interactive looking patters and facial expressionsons in monkeys. Behav. Neurosci. 125(4): 639-52 (2011).
Mosher, C.P., Zimmerman, P.E., Gothard, K.M. Response characteristics of basolateral and centromedial neurons in the primate amygdala. J. Neurosci. 30(48): 16197-207.
Gibboni, R.R., Zimmerman, P.E., Gothard, K.M. Individual differences in scanpaths correspond with serotonin transporter genotype in Rhesus monkeys (macaca mulatta). Front. Behav. Neurosci. 3:50 (2009).
Laine, C.M., Spitler, K.M., Mosher, C.P., Gothard, K.M. Behavioral triggers of skin conductance and their neural correlates in the primate amygdala. J. Neurophysiol. 101(4):1749-54 (2009).
Gothard, K.M., Brooks, K.B., Peterson, M.A. Multiple perceptual strategies used by macaque monkeys for face recognition. Anim. Cogn. 12(1):155-67(2009).
Waller, B.M., Parr, L.A., Gothard K.M., Burrows, A.M., Fuglevand, A.J. Mapping the contribution of single muscles to facial movements in the rhesus macaque. Physiol. Behav. 95(1-2):93-100 (2008).
Spitler, K.M., Gothard, K.M. A removable silicone elastomer seal reduces granulation tissue growth and maintains the sterility of recording chambers for primate neurophysiology. J. Neurosci. Methods. 169(1):23-6 (2008).
Hoffmann, K.L., Gothard, K.M., Schmid, M.C., Logothetis N.K. Facial-expression and gaze-selective responses in the monkey amygdala. Curr. Biol. 17(9):766-72 (2007).
Gothard, K.M., Battaglia, F.P., Erickson, C.A., Spitler, K.M. & Amaral, D.G. Neural responses to facial expression and face identity in the monkey amygdala. J. Neurophysiol. 97, 1671-83 (2007).
Waller, B.M., Vick, S.J., Parr, L.A., Bard, K.A., Pasqualini, M.C., Gothard, K.M., Fuglevand, A.J. Intramuscular electrical stimulation of facial muscles in humans and chimpanzees: Duchenne revisited and extended. . Emotion. 6(3):367-82 (2006).
Gothard, K.M., Erickson, C.A., Amaral, D.G. How do rhesus monkeys ( Macaca mulatta) scan faces in a visual paired comparison task? Anim. Cogn. 7(1):25-36 (2003).
We have collected an extensive library of movies and static images that depict over 150 monkeys each displaying a variety of social behaviors. We would like to share our library with other researchers who share similar interests. If you are interested in collaborating with us, please contact Dr. Gothard (kgothard_email.arizona.edu). Below is a sample of a few pictures from our library.
University of Arizona Department of Physiology (http://www3.physiology.arizona.edu/)
University of Arizona Neuroscience GIDP (http://www.neuroscience.arizona.edu/)
Neural Systems Memory and Aging, Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute (http://embi.nsma.arizona.edu/)
Thomas Recording (http://www.thomasrecording.com/)
Cambridge Electronics Design, Spike 2 (http://www.ced.co.uk/nwu.shtml?nw9y.htm)
World Precision Instruments (http://www.wpiinc.com/)
ISCAN Eye and Target Tracking Instrumentation (http://www.iscaninc.com/)
E-mail:
kgothard_email.arizona.edu (Dr. Kati Gothard)
priscaz_email.arizona.edu (Prisca Zimmerman)
Mailing address:
Department of Physiology
College of Medicine
Life Sciences North Room 327
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85724
Phone & Fax:
Dr. Gothard's office phone: (520) 626-1448
Lab office phone: (520) 626-1450
Fax: (520) 626-1448
Please leave us your comments about our research, website, stimuli, etc. We're excited to hear what you have to say!
