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The embodied nature of primate communication: some phylogenetic, ontogenetic & neurobiological evidence
Author(s) -
Ghazanfar Asif
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.185.4
Subject(s) - primate , embodied cognition , extant taxon , context (archaeology) , perception , psychology , scale (ratio) , neuroscience , cognitive psychology , face (sociological concept) , communication , cognitive science , biology , evolutionary biology , computer science , geography , sociology , paleontology , cartography , artificial intelligence , social science
Our work focuses on the neurobiology of facial and vocal signals that mediate communication between conspecifics. As a monkey agent's behavior is the result of the interplay between its evolutionary history, individual development and experience, and current context, we are studying primate communication on three time scales. First, a short time scale which relates to actual mechanisms (perceptual or neural) operating in real time guiding the agent's behavior. On this level, we are examining the functional interactions between cortical areas and how the might mediate the integration of faces and voices. Second, an intermediate time scale which incorporates the development and/or experience of the agent over its lifetime. On this intermediate level, we are studying the development of face/voice integration in monkeys, as well as the roles of sensory experience in forming face‐voice associations. Finally, a very long time scale, which focuses on the evolution of an agent's behavior, is slowly revealed when we make explicit comparisons between what know about humans versus other extant primate species.