Emotional communication in primates: implications for neurobiology

The social brain hypothesis proposes that large neocortex size in Homonoids evolved to cope with the increasing demands of complex group living and greater numbers of interindividual relationships. Group living requires that individuals communicate effectively about environmental and internal events...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current opinion in neurobiology 2005-12, Vol.15 (6), p.716-720
Main Authors: Parr, Lisa A, Waller, Bridget M, Fugate, Jennifer
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Communication
Emotions
Facial Expression
Humans
Neural Pathways - physiology
Pan troglodytes
Primates
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Summary:The social brain hypothesis proposes that large neocortex size in Homonoids evolved to cope with the increasing demands of complex group living and greater numbers of interindividual relationships. Group living requires that individuals communicate effectively about environmental and internal events. Recent data have highlighted the complexity of chimpanzee communication, including graded facial expressions and referential vocalizations. Among Hominoids, elaborate facial communication is accompanied by specializations in brain areas controlling facial movement. Finally, the evolution of empathy, or emotional awareness, might have a neural basis in specialized cells in the neocortex, that is, spindle cells that have been associated with self-conscious emotions, and mirror neurons that have recently been shown to activate in response to communicative facial gestures.
ISSN:0959-4388
1873-6882
DOI:10.1016/j.conb.2005.10.017