High-level visual function in non-human primates

这项拨款提案的目的是寻求资金，以允许对非人类灵长类动物进行人脸识别研究。我们最近发现，由动态线索定义的面孔被人类观察者识别的几率更高。这是令人惊讶的，因为尽管运动形成是一种众所周知的视觉现象，但真实的人脸辨别是意想不到的，因为这是一个非常高水平的过程。这一发现对两种主要的视觉流--背侧和腹侧通路--相互作用的方式有着重要的影响。根据我们目前的理解，由动态线索定义的面部刺激必须出现在背流结构中。然而，导致识别的人脸处理被广泛接受为腹侧流函数。我们的结果表明，必须在两个信息流之间的最高水平上进行显着程度的信息传递，才能实现动态线索人脸识别。本研究的具体目标是使用与我们在人类上的研究类似的显示协议来评估非人类灵长类动物的视觉功能。我们希望在东半球和西半球的物种(分别是斑尾猴和绒猴)上进行这项研究。人脸识别性能在这两个物种中都没有很好的记录，因此计划中的实验将在这一领域开辟新的天地。此外，如果发现藜类和绒猴能够识别由动态线索定义的面孔，这意味着这两种动物之间的相互作用可以概括为灵长类动物，并为更详细地探索这些物种的高级视觉功能铺平了道路。

The objective of this grant proposal is to seek funding to permit face recognition studies on non-human primates. We have recently found that faces that are defined by dynamic cues are recognized above chance by human observers. This was surprising because although form-from-motion is a well-known visual phenomenon, veridical face discrimination is unexpected because it is known to be a very high-level process.This finding has significant implications for the way that the two dominant visual streams-dorsal and ventral pathways-interact with each other. A face stimulus defined by dynamic cues must, according to our current understanding, arise in dorsal stream structures. However, face processing leading to recognition is widely accepted to be a ventral stream function. Our results imply that a significant degree of information relay must occur at the highest levels between the two streams to permit face recognition with dynamic cues.The specific goal of the proposed study is to assess visual function in non-human primates using similar display protocols as with our study on humans. We wish to undertake this study in both an Old World and a New World species (vervet and marmoset monkeys, respectively). Face recognition performance has not been well documented in either species and therefore the planned experiments will break new ground in this area. Furthermore, a finding that vervets and marmosets are capable of recognizing faces defined by dynamic cues would imply that the interaction between the two streams generalizes across primates and pave the way for more detailed anatomical and physiological explorations of high-level visual function in these species.