Shared and Unique Neural Codes for Biological Motion Perception in Humans and Macaque Monkeys
Abstract Throughout evolution, living organisms have honed the ability to swiftly recognize biological motion (BM) across species. However, how the brain processes within‐ and cross‐species BM, and the evolutionary progression of these processes, remain unclear. To investigate these questions, the c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Advanced Science |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202411562 |
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| author | Yuhui Cheng Yumeng Xin Xiqian Lu Tianshu Yang Xiaohan Ma Xiangyong Yuan Ning Liu Yi Jiang |
| author_facet | Yuhui Cheng Yumeng Xin Xiqian Lu Tianshu Yang Xiaohan Ma Xiangyong Yuan Ning Liu Yi Jiang |
| author_sort | Yuhui Cheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Throughout evolution, living organisms have honed the ability to swiftly recognize biological motion (BM) across species. However, how the brain processes within‐ and cross‐species BM, and the evolutionary progression of these processes, remain unclear. To investigate these questions, the current study examined brain activity in the lateral temporal areas of humans and monkeys as they passively observed upright and inverted human and macaque BM stimuli. In humans, the middle temporal area (hMT+) responded to both human and macaque BM stimuli, while the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (hpSTS) exhibited selective responses to human BM stimuli. This selectivity is evidenced by an increased feedforward connection from hMT+ to hpSTS during the processing of human BM stimuli. In monkeys, the MT region processed BM stimuli from both species, but no subregion in the STS anterior to MT is specific to conspecific BM stimuli. A comparison of these findings suggests that upstream brain regions (i.e., MT) may retain homologous functions across species, while downstream brain regions (i.e., STS) may have undergone differentiation and specialization throughout evolution. These results provide insights into the commonalities and differences in the specialized visual pathway engaged in processing within‐ and cross‐species BMs, as well as their functional divergence during evolution. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-883dacc3a7a84830ae136bfd2944951d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2198-3844 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Advanced Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-883dacc3a7a84830ae136bfd2944951d2025-08-20T02:34:47ZengWileyAdvanced Science2198-38442025-05-011218n/an/a10.1002/advs.202411562Shared and Unique Neural Codes for Biological Motion Perception in Humans and Macaque MonkeysYuhui Cheng0Yumeng Xin1Xiqian Lu2Tianshu Yang3Xiaohan Ma4Xiangyong Yuan5Ning Liu6Yi Jiang7State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100101 ChinaUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100101 ChinaUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100101 ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100101 ChinaUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100101 ChinaAbstract Throughout evolution, living organisms have honed the ability to swiftly recognize biological motion (BM) across species. However, how the brain processes within‐ and cross‐species BM, and the evolutionary progression of these processes, remain unclear. To investigate these questions, the current study examined brain activity in the lateral temporal areas of humans and monkeys as they passively observed upright and inverted human and macaque BM stimuli. In humans, the middle temporal area (hMT+) responded to both human and macaque BM stimuli, while the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (hpSTS) exhibited selective responses to human BM stimuli. This selectivity is evidenced by an increased feedforward connection from hMT+ to hpSTS during the processing of human BM stimuli. In monkeys, the MT region processed BM stimuli from both species, but no subregion in the STS anterior to MT is specific to conspecific BM stimuli. A comparison of these findings suggests that upstream brain regions (i.e., MT) may retain homologous functions across species, while downstream brain regions (i.e., STS) may have undergone differentiation and specialization throughout evolution. These results provide insights into the commonalities and differences in the specialized visual pathway engaged in processing within‐ and cross‐species BMs, as well as their functional divergence during evolution.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202411562biological motioncross‐species comparisonevolutionfMRInon‐human primates |
| spellingShingle | Yuhui Cheng Yumeng Xin Xiqian Lu Tianshu Yang Xiaohan Ma Xiangyong Yuan Ning Liu Yi Jiang Shared and Unique Neural Codes for Biological Motion Perception in Humans and Macaque Monkeys Advanced Science biological motion cross‐species comparison evolution fMRI non‐human primates |
| title | Shared and Unique Neural Codes for Biological Motion Perception in Humans and Macaque Monkeys |
| title_full | Shared and Unique Neural Codes for Biological Motion Perception in Humans and Macaque Monkeys |
| title_fullStr | Shared and Unique Neural Codes for Biological Motion Perception in Humans and Macaque Monkeys |
| title_full_unstemmed | Shared and Unique Neural Codes for Biological Motion Perception in Humans and Macaque Monkeys |
| title_short | Shared and Unique Neural Codes for Biological Motion Perception in Humans and Macaque Monkeys |
| title_sort | shared and unique neural codes for biological motion perception in humans and macaque monkeys |
| topic | biological motion cross‐species comparison evolution fMRI non‐human primates |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202411562 |
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