美国宾夕法尼亚大学Camille Testard等研究人员揭示社会化猕猴自然行为的神经特征。相关论文于2024年3月13日在线发表在《自然》杂志上。

研究人员结合了人种学分析、计算机视觉和无线记录技术，以识别无拘束、有社会互动的成对猕猴自然行为的神经特征。前额叶和颞叶皮层的单神经元和群体活动对24种物种典型行为以及社会背景进行了强有力的编码。雄性-雌性伙伴在梳理方面表现出近乎完美的互惠性，这是支持友谊和联盟的一种关键行为机制，神经活动维持着这些社会投资的运行记录。面对具有攻击性的入侵者，行为和神经群体的反应反映了同理心，并因伴侣的存在而得到缓冲。

这些研究结果揭示了社会动态的高度分布式神经生理学账本，这是支持灵长类社会（包括人类自己的社会）群体生活的潜在计算基础。

据了解，人们对灵长类动物行为神经生物学的了解主要来自高度控制的实验室环境中的人工任务，而忽略了灵长类动物大脑演化过程中产生的大多数自然行为。灵长类动物如何驾驭多维社会关系，从而构建日常生活并影响生存和繁殖成功，这在很大程度上仍是单神经元水平上的未知数。

附：英文原文

Title: Neural signatures of natural behaviour in socializing macaques

Author: Testard, Camille, Tremblay, Sbastien, Parodi, Felipe, DiTullio, Ron W., Acevedo-Ithier, Arianna, Gardiner, Kristin L., Kording, Konrad, Platt, Michael L.

Issue&Volume: 2024-03-13

Abstract: Our understanding of the neurobiology of primate behaviour largely derives from artificial tasks in highly controlled laboratory settings, overlooking most natural behaviours that primate brains evolved to produce1,2,3. How primates navigate the multidimensional social relationships that structure daily life4 and shape survival and reproductive success5 remains largely unclear at the single-neuron level. Here we combine ethological analysis, computer vision and wireless recording technologies to identify neural signatures of natural behaviour in unrestrained, socially interacting pairs of rhesus macaques. Single-neuron and population activity in the prefrontal and temporal cortex robustly encoded 24 species-typical behaviours, as well as social context. Male–female partners demonstrated near-perfect reciprocity in grooming, a key behavioural mechanism supporting friendships and alliances6, and neural activity maintained a running account of these social investments. Confronted with an aggressive intruder, behavioural and neural population responses reflected empathy and were buffered by the presence of a partner. Our findings reveal a highly distributed neurophysiological ledger of social dynamics, a potential computational foundation supporting communal life in primate societies, including our own.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07178-6

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07178-6