Neurons in the monkey amygdala detect eye contact during naturalistic social interactions.

ABSTRACT: Primates explore the visual world through eye-movement sequences. Saccades bring details of interest into the fovea, while fixations stabilize the image. During natural vision, social primates direct their gaze at the eyes of others to communicate their own emotions and intentions and to gather information about the mental states of others. Direct gaze is an integral part of facial expressions that signals cooperation or conflict over resources and social status. Despite the great importance of making and breaking eye contact in the behavioral repertoire of primates, little is known about the neural substrates that support these behaviors. Here we show that the monkey amygdala contains neurons that respond selectively to fixations on the eyes of others and to eye contact. These "eye cells"

SUBMITTER: Mosher CP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4253056 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature