Abstract
Primates use gaze cues to follow peer gaze to an object of joint attention. Gaze following of monkeys is largely determined by head or face orientation. We used fMRI in rhesus monkeys to identify brain regions underlying head gaze following and to assess their relationship to the 'face patch' system, the latter being the likely source of information on face orientation. We trained monkeys to locate targets by either following head gaze or using a learned association of face identity with the same targets. Head gaze following activated a distinct region in the posterior STS, close to-albeit not overlapping with-the medial face patch delineated by passive viewing of faces. This 'gaze following patch' may be the substrate of the geometrical calculations needed to translate information on head orientation from the face patches into precise shifts of attention, taking the spatial relationship of the two interacting agents into account.
Highlights
Successful social interactions require understanding of peer dispositions, desires, beliefs and intentions
Rather than using the directional information provided by a gaze cue to shift attention out from the center until an object of potential interest is encountered, geometrical gaze following implies that a gaze vector is defined which is used to search for the object of interest (Butterworth and Jarrett, 1991)
The two conditions were the same in terms of the visual information provided by the presented portraits as well as the motor behavior the visual stimuli prompted
Summary
Successful social interactions require understanding of peer dispositions, desires, beliefs and intentions. Rather than using the directional information provided by a gaze cue to shift attention out from the center until an object of potential interest is encountered, geometrical gaze following implies that a gaze vector is defined which is used to search for the object of interest (Butterworth and Jarrett, 1991). Another important feature shared by the gaze following of monkeys and man is the dependence on social context. Human observers tend to prefer gaze cues of those whom they feel close to Liuzza et al (2011), while monkeys are eager to follow the gaze
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