Identification of facial expressions of emotions in Capuchin monkeys (Cebus Apella)

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Identification of facial expressions of emotions in Capuchin monkeys (Cebus Apella) M. C. Tavares1, Antonella Gasbarri2*, A. Pompili2, A. D’Onofrio2, C. T. Abreu1 and C. Tomaz1 1 Dept. Physiol. Sci., Lab. of Neurosci. & Behav, Univ. of Brasília, Brazil 2 Dept of Biomed. Sci. & Technol., Fac. of Sciences of Education, Univ. of L’Aquila, Italy In human primates, pictures with emotional content are more easily recognized compared to emotionally neutral pictures. Non-human primates share several cognitive and physiological characteristics with humans and, therefore, they represent an important and relevant model in studies focused on the identification of facial expression of emotion. In this study we developed a set of 384 pictures of capuchin monkey (Cebus apella) faces, classified according to their emotional valence (positive/pleasant, negative/unpleasant and neutral/indifferent), to examine whether working memory can benefit from the emotional content of visual stimuli in delayed non-matching to sample task (DNMTS). Seven adult capuchin monkeys were tested with a computer system and touch screen. Geometric figures (control) and the co-specific faces pictures were used as stimuli. A similar performance to positive, negative and neutral pictures was obtained. However, the monkeys performed above the upper confidence limits around chance to all kinds of stimulus, showing that they are able to learn the tests using emotional faces. Furthermore, the capuchin monkeys had much better performance when using geometric figures compared with the co-specific pictures. This preliminary study yielded findings that are of relevance for a better understanding of the influences of emotional expressiveness on memory. Our data indicate the possible usefulness of applying the paradigm utilized in this study to investigate emotional working memory in non-human primates. Conference: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience, Bodrum, Turkey, 1 Sep - 5 Sep, 2008. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Memory & Learning Citation: Tavares MC, Gasbarri A, Pompili A, D’Onofrio A, Abreu CT and Tomaz C (2008). Identification of facial expressions of emotions in Capuchin monkeys (Cebus Apella). Conference Abstract: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.01.303 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 10 Dec 2008; Published Online: 10 Dec 2008. * Correspondence: Antonella Gasbarri, Dept of Biomed. Sci. & Technol., Fac. of Sciences of Education, Univ. of L’Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy, antonella.gasbarri@cc.univaq.it Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers M. C Tavares Antonella Gasbarri A. Pompili A. D’Onofrio C. T Abreu C. Tomaz Google M. C Tavares Antonella Gasbarri A. Pompili A. D’Onofrio C. T Abreu C. Tomaz Google Scholar M. C Tavares Antonella Gasbarri A. Pompili A. D’Onofrio C. T Abreu C. Tomaz PubMed M. C Tavares Antonella Gasbarri A. Pompili A. D’Onofrio C. T Abreu C. Tomaz Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.