Lisa A Parr
Emory University
Project start date: 2003-09-01
Project end date: 2014-01-31
Sponsored Links Excellgen http://Excellgen.com
Neuropsychology Of Primate Social Cognition
Lisa A Parr, Assistant Research Professor
Emory University 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor Atlanta, Ga 30322
Grant 5R01MH068791-04 from National Institute Of Mental Health IRG: BRLE
Abstract: This proposal aims to identify neuropsychological processes associated with social cognition in primates through a comprehensive comparison of the cognitive, behavioral and neuroanaomical substrates underlying face recognition and emotional processing, in two species closely related to humans, chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys. Providing a detailed comparison of cognitive and emotional processes in rhesus and chimpanzees will serve the long-term objective of helping to identify the best species to model some aspects of human behavior. These questions are critically important because of the numerous psychiatric, neurodegenerative, and developmental disorders present in humans that share face recognition and emotional processing impairments as part of their primary phenotype. Some aspects of face recognition and garnering emotional information from facial expressions are impaired in individuals with autism, schizophrenia, psychopathy, prosopagnosia, Fragile X, Alzheimer s, William s syndrome, major depression, and various forms of dementia. This project proposes five specific aims. Specific Aim 1 will examine what features monkeys and apes use to discriminate faces, including eye gaze, spatial orientation, facial features, and individual familiarity. Specific Aims 2 and 3 will examine the role of auditory and visual cues in individual recognition and the categorization of facial expressions. Specific Aim 4 will examine the ability of monkeys and apes to recognize kin relationships using the faces of unfamiliar individuals, and whether the heritability of physiognomic characteristics differers with maternal or paternal influences. Finally, integrating several of these questions is Specific Aim 5 that will compare patterns of regional cerebral glucose metabolism during face and facial expression processing using 18F-FDG positron emission tomography. The proposed studies go beyond previous studies on nonhuman primates in that they aim to compare social cognition processes in two different primate species that vary in their social organization, genetic similarity to humans, and cognitive abilities. Moreover, by using similar training and testing methodologies our work will extend these cognitive findings to comparisons of the patterns of neural specificity using functional neuroimaging.
Keywords: cue, face expression, neural information processing, neuropsychology, social perception, visual perception, auditory stimulus, brain metabolism, emotion, face, family, glucose metabolism, space perception, speech recognition, visual stimulus, Macaca mulatta, Pan, behavior test, behavioral /social science research tag, brain imaging /visualization /scanning, computer, deoxyglucose, positron emission tomography, videotape /videodisc
Project start date: 2004-04-01
Project end date: 2009-01-31
5R01MH068791-04 (2007): $252383
5R01MH068791-03 (2006): $297051
5R01MH068791-02 (2005): $266175
BEHAVIORAL AND NEURAL PROCESSING OF FACES AND EXPRESSIONS IN NONHUMAN PRIMATES
Lisa A Parr
Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor, Atlanta, Ga 30322
Grant 5R01MH068791-07 from National Institute Of Mental Health
Abstract: Face recognition is an essential part of social cognition. Despite all faces containing the same general set of features, e.g. eyes, nose, mouth, etc., arranged in the same overall configuration, face recognition is accomplished rapidly and is flexible to ongoing transformation in head orientation, gaze direction, and facial expression. This suggests the presence of a highly specialized cognitive system that is able to process accurately a wide variety of information from faces despite often unique, impoverished, and socially complex viewing situations. Although much is known about the perceptual and neural processes underlying face recognition in humans, very little is understood about the basic behavior and biology of face processing in other species. Those existing studies report conflicting results due, in part, to inconsistent methodologies and the use of poorly standardized stimuli. Therefore, it is unclear whether these cognitive and neural specializations for face processing are unique to humans, or whether they may be present in other socially complex, and cognitively advanced species. Five cohesive experiments are proposed that build on previous studies of social cognition. First, the ability of nonhuman species to process faces based on identity and expression type will be compared using two well-studied experimental methods. In the second and third experiments, the specific perceptual features important for facial expression processing will be compared, along with features important for processing faces based on identity and gender. The fourth experiment will examine whether facial expressions are processed categorically using a morphing procedure similar to that used in studies of human categorical perception. And finally, functional neuroimaging will be used to identify brain regions involved in processing facial expressions and these data will be compared to previous studies of face processing in these two species. Comparative studies of these basic processes in species related to humans are critical for understanding the evolution of social perception as well as for developing research models for studying the neurobiological factors associated with disorders of social cognition. This is important as basic deficits in face recognition and reading and interpreting facial expressions represent common phenotypes for a wide variety of neuropsychological and development disorders in humans, from Alzheimer´s disease to autism. Among humans, there are numerous disorders that include deficits of social cognition, such as face recognition and/or producing and responding to facial expressions. In order to better understand these disorders, nonhuman species are often used as models for the human condition. However, extremely little is known about the basic behavior and biology of socio-cognitive processes in these models. Therefore, it is the goal of these studies to examine the evolution of human face processing skills in order to better understand and treat human diseases
Keywords: 3D image; Accounting; Alzheimer; Alzheimer disease; Alzheimer sclerosis; Alzheimer syndrome; Alzheimer`s; Alzheimer`s Disease; Alzheimers Dementia; Alzheimers disease; Apes; Autism; Autism, Early Infantile; Autism, Infantile; Autistic Disorder; Back; Behavior; Behavioral; Biology; Brain region; Buccal Cavity; Categories; Cavitas Oris; Chimp; Chimpanzee; Cognitive; Cognitive Discrimination; Comparative Study; Complex; Computers; Conflict; Conflict (Psychology); Cues; Data; Dementia, Alzheimer Type; Dementia, Primary Senile Degenerative; Dementia, Senile; Development; Diagnostic; Discrimination; Discrimination (Psychology); Disease; Disorder; Dorsum; Emotional; Evolution; Eye; Eyeball; Face; Face Expression Recognition; Face Processing; Facial Expression; Facial Expression Recognition; Gender Identity; Goals; Head; Head and Neck, Buccal Cavity; Human; Human, General; Images, 3-D; Individual; Kanner`s Syndrome; Life Stress; Macaca mulatta; Mammals, Primates; Man (Taxonomy); Man, Modern; Method LOINC Axis 6; Methodology; Methods; Methods and Techniques; Methods, Other; Modeling; Monkeys; Mouth; Nasal; Nervous; Neurobiology; Neuropsychologies; Neuropsychology; Nose; Nose, Nasal Passages; Oral cavity; Paired Comparison; Pan; Pan Genus; Pan Species; Perception; Performance; Phenotype; Pongidae; Primary Senile Degenerative Dementia; Primates; Procedures; Process; Progress Reports; Reading; Reporting; Reports, Progress; Research; Respiratory System, Nose, Nasal Passages; Rhesus; Rhesus Macaque; Rhesus Monkey; Sampling; Seminal; Series; Social Perception; Stimulus; Study models; System; System, LOINC Axis 4; Techniques; Testing; Three-Dimensional Image; Visual; base; cognitive system; comparative; dementia of the Alzheimer type; disease/disorder; experiment; experimental research; experimental study; face expression; facial; flexibility; gaze; great ape; human disease; information processing; neural; neurobiological; neuroimaging; neuropsychologic; neuropsychological; non-human primate; nonhuman primate; primary degenerative dementia; public health relevance; relating to nervous system; research study; senile dementia of the Alzheimer type; skills; social cognition; visual process; visual processing
Relevance: Among humans, there are numerous disorders that include deficits of social cognition, such as face recognition and/or producing and responding to facial expressions. In order to better understand these disorders, nonhuman primates are often used as models for the human condition. However, extremely little is known about the basic behavior and biology of socio-cognitive processes in nonhuman primates. Therefore, it is the goal of these studies to compare directly the ability of monkeys and apes to process facial stimuli in order to better understand and treat human diseases
Project start date: 2003-09-01
Project end date: 2014-01-31
Budget start date: 1-FEB-2010
Budget end date: 31-JAN-2011
PFA/PA: PA-07-083
5R01MH068791-07 (2010): $396000
Grants awarded to Lisa A Parr
BEHAVIORAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL & NEUROANATOMICAL CONSEQUENCES OF REPETITIVE
Lisa A Parr
Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor, Atlanta, Ga 30322
Abstract: This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This project is designed to examine physiological, behavior and neural responses to social stress in differentially reared monkeys. We are specifically focusing on the cardiac response of monkeys to various social and stressful challenges, their behavioral reactions and reactivity of their stress response. During the reporting period, we completed all PET scanning on this project, in addition to all physiological testing. The first of three tasks has been summarized and analyses are ongoing
Keywords: Behavior; Behavioral; CRISP; Cardiac; Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects Database; Funding; Grant; Institution; Investigators; Mammals, Primates; Medical Imaging, Positron Emission Tomography; Monkeys; NIH; National Institutes of Health; National Institutes of Health (U.S.); Nervous; PET; PET Scan; PET imaging; PETSCAN; PETT; Physiologic; Physiological; Positron Emission Tomography Scan; Positron-Emission Tomography; Primates; Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging; Rad.-PET; Reaction; Reporting; Research; Research Personnel; Research Resources; Researchers; Resources; Source; Testing; United States National Institutes of Health; biological adaptation to stress; design; designing; neural; reaction; crisis; relating to nervous system; response; social; social stress; stress response; stress; reaction
Project start date: 2009-05-01
Project end date: 2010-04-30
Budget start date: 1-MAY-2009
Budget end date: 30-APR-2010
5P51RR000165-49_8365 (2009): $43907
BEHAVIORAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL & NEUROANATOMICAL CONSEQUENCES OF MATERNAL SEPARATION
Lisa A Parr
Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor, Atlanta, Ga 30322
Abstract: This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Our work on this project compared the cognitive and neural responses of monkeys and apes to face processing tasks, including face recognition, facial expression categorization, kin recognition and neuroimaging using PET. During the reporting period, we demonstrated similar or different cognitive processes underlying face recognition in these species
Keywords: Apes; Behavioral; CRISP; Cognitive; Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects Database; Face; Face Expression Recognition; Face Processing; Facial Expression Recognition; Funding; Grant; Institution; Investigators; Mammals, Primates; Medical Imaging, Positron Emission Tomography; Monkeys; NIH; National Institutes of Health; National Institutes of Health (U.S.); Nervous; PET; PET Scan; PET imaging; PETSCAN; PETT; Physiologic; Physiological; Pongidae; Positron Emission Tomography Scan; Positron-Emission Tomography; Primates; Process; Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging; Rad.-PET; Reporting; Research; Research Personnel; Research Resources; Researchers; Resources; Source; United States National Institutes of Health; Work; facial; great ape; maternal separation; neural; neuroimaging; relating to nervous system; response
Project start date: 2009-05-01
Project end date: 2010-04-30
Budget start date: 1-MAY-2009
Budget end date: 30-APR-2010
5P51RR000165-49_8373 (2009): $43907
AN EXAMINATION OF THE EVOLUTIONARY SPECIALIZATIONS FOR AUDITORY MEMORY
Lisa A Parr
Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor, Atlanta, Ga 30322
Abstract: This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Humans form robust long-term memories using well-established neuroanatomical substrates including the hippocampus and surrounding gyri. Despite having a proficient long-term memory system for visual information that relies on similar neuroanatomical regions, there is little evidence that monkeys are able to form long-term memories in the auditory modality. This is a perplexing finding and raises the possibility that long-term auditory memories may be specific to humans and have some functional consequence for the evolution of language. The purpose of this project is to test a chimpanzee on a long-term auditory memory task as a crucial step in determining the evolution of auditory MTS skills, i.e. whether the skill is unique to Hominoids, or specifically human. Subjects were trained to perform an auditory s/d discrimination task but never reached the required criterion in the grant period
Keywords: Ammon Horn; Auditory; CRISP; Chimp; Chimpanzee; Cognitive Discrimination; Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects Database; Cornu Ammonis; Discrimination; Discrimination (Psychology); Evolution; Funding; Grant; Hippocampus; Hippocampus (Brain); Human; Human, General; Institution; Investigators; Language; Mammals, Primates; Man (Taxonomy); Man, Modern; Memory; Modality; Monkeys; NIH; National Institutes of Health; National Institutes of Health (U.S.); Pan; Pan Genus; Pan Species; Primates; Research; Research Personnel; Research Resources; Researchers; Resources; Source; System; System, LOINC Axis 4; Testing; Training; United States National Institutes of Health; hippocampal; long term memory; skills; visual information
Project start date: 2009-05-01
Project end date: 2010-04-30
Budget start date: 1-MAY-2009
Budget end date: 30-APR-2010
5P51RR000165-49_8396 (2009): $43907
SOCIAL COGNITION AND EMOTIONAL AGING IN PRIMATES
Lisa A Parr
Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor, Atlanta, Ga 30322
Abstract: This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. During the reporting period, we continued to study comparative aging from a cognitive and neurological perspective in chimpanzees, humans and rhesus monkeys. Chimpanzees continue to be trained on various components of this task. The first task, emotional priming, has been completed in 19 of 36 individuals
Keywords: Age; Aging; CRISP; Chimp; Chimpanzee; Cognitive; Comparative Study; Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects Database; Emotional; Funding; Grant; Human; Human, General; Individual; Institution; Investigators; Macaca mulatta; Mammals, Primates; Man (Taxonomy); Man, Modern; NIH; National Institutes of Health; National Institutes of Health (U.S.); Neurologic; Neurological; Pan; Pan Genus; Pan Species; Primates; Reporting; Research; Research Personnel; Research Resources; Researchers; Resources; Rhesus; Rhesus Macaque; Rhesus Monkey; Senescence; Source; Training; United States National Institutes of Health; senescent; social cognition
Project start date: 2009-05-01
Project end date: 2010-04-30
Budget start date: 1-MAY-2009
Budget end date: 30-APR-2010
5P51RR000165-49_8432 (2009): $43907
MAQFACS: MEASURING FACIAL MOVEMENT IN RHESUS MONKEYS
Lisa A Parr
Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor, Atlanta, Ga 30322
Abstract: This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This is a project to develop an objective coding system for measuring facial movement in rhesus monkeys involving a subcontract with University of Arizona Tucson. There are 3 main components. Our first objective is to stimulate the facial muscles of rhesus monkeys to verify the actions resulting from specific muscle contraction. Next, we will perform dissections of rhesus monkey facial muscles to validate the presence and general configuration of these muscles. Finally, we will verify the range of facial movements occurring naturally in this species from video and develop the MaqFACS coding system. The first two aims have been completed and the last aim is in its final stages
Keywords: Arizona; CRISP; Code; Coding System; Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects Database; DISSEC; Dissection; Face; Facial Muscles; Funding; Grant; Institution; Investigators; Macaca mulatta; Mammals, Primates; Measures; Movement; Muscle; Muscle Cell Contraction; Muscle Contraction; Muscle Tissue; Muscular Contraction; NIH; National Institutes of Health; National Institutes of Health (U.S.); Primates; Research; Research Personnel; Research Resources; Researchers; Resources; Rhesus; Rhesus Macaque; Rhesus Monkey; Source; Staging; United States National Institutes of Health; Universities; body movement; facial
Project start date: 2009-05-01
Project end date: 2010-04-30
Budget start date: 1-MAY-2009
Budget end date: 30-APR-2010
5P51RR000165-49_8467 (2009): $54800
Neuropsychology Of Primate Social Cognition
Lisa A Parr, Assistant Research Professor
Emory University 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor Atlanta, Ga 30322
Grant 1R01MH068791-01A1 from National Institute Of Mental Health IRG: BRLE
Abstract: This proposal aims to identify neuropsychological processes associated with social cognition in primates through a comprehensive comparison of the cognitive, behavioral and neuroanaomical substrates underlying face recognition and emotional processing, in two species closely related to humans, chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys. Providing a detailed comparison of cognitive and emotional processes in rhesus and chimpanzees will serve the long-term objective of helping to identify the best species to model some aspects of human behavior. These questions are critically important because of the numerous psychiatric, neurodegenerative, and developmental disorders present in humans that share face recognition and emotional processing impairments as part of their primary phenotype. Some aspects of face recognition and garnering emotional information from facial expressions are impaired in individuals with autism, schizophrenia, psychopathy, prosopagnosia, Fragile X, Alzheimer s, William s syndrome, major depression, and various forms of dementia. This project proposes five specific aims. Specific Aim 1 will examine what features monkeys and apes use to discriminate faces, including eye gaze, spatial orientation, facial features, and individual familiarity. Specific Aims 2 and 3 will examine the role of auditory and visual cues in individual recognition and the categorization of facial expressions. Specific Aim 4 will examine the ability of monkeys and apes to recognize kin relationships using the faces of unfamiliar individuals, and whether the heritability of physiognomic characteristics differers with maternal or paternal influences. Finally, integrating several of these questions is Specific Aim 5 that will compare patterns of regional cerebral glucose metabolism during face and facial expression processing using 18F-FDG positron emission tomography. The proposed studies go beyond previous studies on nonhuman primates in that they aim to compare social cognition processes in two different primate species that vary in their social organization, genetic similarity to humans, and cognitive abilities. Moreover, by using similar training and testing methodologies our work will extend these cognitive findings to comparisons of the patterns of neural specificity using functional neuroimaging.
Keywords: cue, face expression, neural information processing, neuropsychology, social perception, visual perception, auditory stimulus, brain metabolism, emotion, face, family, glucose metabolism, space perception, speech recognition, visual stimulus, Macaca mulatta, Pan, behavior test, behavioral /social science research tag, brain imaging /visualization /scanning, computer, deoxyglucose, positron emission tomography, videotape /videodisc
Project start date: 2004-04-01
Project end date: 2009-01-31
1R01MH068791-01A1 (2004): $225045
MAQFACS: MEASURING EXPRESSIVE MOVEMENT IN MONKEYS
Lisa A Parr
Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor, Atlanta, Ga 30322
Grant 5R03MH082282-02 from National Institute Of Mental Health
Abstract: In developing animal models for understanding affective disorders of the face, including emotional expression deficits, various modes of facial paralysis, and specific speech disorders, researchers must describe the motor-component of the deficit. To date there is no methodology for quantifying these movement deficits in a monkey, not to mention a means with which these deficits may be compared to those that characterize neurological conditions in humans, such as Parkinson´s disease, autism, depression or other affective disorders. Such a procedure, however, is critical, not only for documenting the severity of the deficit, but for quantifying resulting improvements after treatment. This project will develop a rigorous, objective and standardized tool for quantifying facial movement in the rhesus monkey, the species used most widely as a model for human biobehavioral, neurobiological, and affective disorders. This measurement tool is based directly on the human Facial Action Coding System (FACS), which is an anatomically-based system for quantifying facial movement according to the action of the underlying musculature. Therefore, we propose three specific aims to meet these goals. First, we will validate the location and organization of the facial musculature of the rhesus monkey using modern dissection techniques. Second, we will objectively qualify the facial appearance changes produced by stimulating each facial muscle in anesthetized monkeys using intramuscular electrical stimulation and then documenting the resulting facial movements. Third, once these basic components have been documented, we will establish a numerical system, using FACS criteria and terminology, to describe each individual component movement, i.e. a movement map, for the rhesus face. Finally, we will use existing video recordings of spontaneous behavior in rhesus to qualify the degree of intensity that is typical for each movement. These results will be packaged into a manual form, complete with photographic documentation of each movement at its varying levels of intensity for distribution to researchers in related areas of neuroscience and public health who work with animal models for clinical disorders. Not only with this system (MaqFACS) provide seminal data on the expressive facial repertoire of the rhesus monkey, benefiting those interested in natural ethology and communication, it will provide the standardization necessary for describing facial movement deficits, quantifying their degree of severity and range of improvement, in studies where monkeys are used as models for human affective and related disorders. Researchers using monkeys to model aspects of human affective and related disorders, including Parkinson´s disease and depression, currently have no standardized method for quantifying deficits in facial movement, although such deficits are prominent in the phenotypes of many human disorders. This project aims to develop an anatomically- based system for measuring facial movement in the rhesus monkey, the main primate model for human affective disorders that is objective, standardized, and directly comparable to methods used for quantifying human facial movement in clinical studies (Ekman, Friesen & Hagar, 2002). The development of this system is critical for researchers to quantify the severity of facial movement deficits and evaluate improvements after clinical treatment. Ultimately, this system will advance our ability to model and treat human affective diseases
Keywords: 3-D; 3-Dimensional; Affect; Affective; Affective Disorders; After Care; After-Treatment; Aftercare; Animal Model; Animal Models and Related Studies; Apoplexy; Appearance; Area; Autism; Autism, Early Infantile; Autism, Infantile; Autistic Disorder; Behavior; Bone structure of cranium; Cataloging; Catalogs; Cell Communication and Signaling; Cell Signaling; Cerebral Stroke; Cerebrovascular Apoplexy; Cerebrovascular Stroke; Cerebrovascular accident; Chimp; Chimpanzee; Clinical; Clinical Research; Clinical Study; Clinical Treatment; Clip; Code; Coding System; Communication; Computer Systems Development; Cranium; DISSEC; Data; Development; Development, Computer Systems; Disease; Disorder; Dissection; Documentation; Electric Stimulation; Electrical Stimulation; Ethology; Face; Facial Muscles; Facial Nerve Paralysis; Facial Palsy; Facial paralysis; Goals; Human; Human, General; Idiopathic Parkinson Disease; Image; Individual; Instruction; Interest Group; Intracellular Communication and Signaling; Intramuscular; Investigators; Kanner`s Syndrome; Lewy Body Parkinson Disease; Location; Macaca mulatta; Mammals, Primates; Man (Taxonomy); Man, Modern; Manuals; Maps; Measurement; Measures; Method LOINC Axis 6; Methodology; Methods; Methods and Techniques; Methods, Other; Modeling; Monkeys; Mood Disorders; Morphology; Motor; Movement; Muscle; Muscle Tissue; Names; Nature; Neurobiology; Neurologic; Neurological; Neurosciences; Nomenclature; Pan; Pan Genus; Pan Species; Paralysis Agitans; Parkinson; Parkinson Disease; Parkinson`s; Parkinson`s disease; Parkinsons disease; Patients; Phenotype; Primary Parkinsonism; Primates; Procedures; Public Health; Qualifying; Relative; Relative (related person); Research; Research Personnel; Researchers; Rhesus; Rhesus Macaque; Rhesus Monkey; Seminal; Severities; Signal Transduction; Signal Transduction Systems; Signaling; Skull; Speech; Speech Disorders; Speech Manifestations; Staging; Standardization; Stroke; Surface; System; System, LOINC Axis 4; Systems Development; Techniques; Terminology; Testing; Training; Vascular Accident, Brain; Video Recording; Videorecording; Work; base; biobehavior; biobehavioral; biological signal transduction; body movement; brain attack; cerebral vascular accident; cranium; depression; disease/disorder; emotional expression; expression of emotion; facial; human disease; imaging; interest; meetings; mimetics; model organism; neurobiological; neuromuscular; public health medicine (field); showing emotion; stroke; tool; trial regimen; trial treatment; video recording system
Project start date: 2008-01-09
Project end date: 2010-11-30
Budget start date: 1-DEC-2008
Budget end date: 30-NOV-2010
PFA/PA: PA-06-180
5R03MH082282-02 (2009): $93613
BEHAVIORAL AND NEURAL PROCESSING OF FACES AND EXPRESSIONS IN NONHUMAN PRIMATES
Lisa A Parr
Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor, Atlanta, Ga 30322
Grant 3R01MH068791-07S2 from National Institute Of Mental Health
Abstract: Face recognition is an essential part of social cognition. Despite all faces containing the same general set of features, e.g. eyes, nose, mouth, etc., arranged in the same overall configuration, face recognition is accomplished rapidly and is flexible to ongoing transformation in head orientation, gaze direction, and facial expression. This suggests the presence of a highly specialized cognitive system that is able to process accurately a wide variety of information from faces despite often unique, impoverished, and socially complex viewing situations. Although much is known about the perceptual and neural processes underlying face recognition in humans, very little is understood about the basic behavior and biology of face processing in other species. Those existing studies report conflicting results due, in part, to inconsistent methodologies and the use of poorly standardized stimuli. Therefore, it is unclear whether these cognitive and neural specializations for face processing are unique to humans, or whether they may be present in other socially complex, and cognitively advanced species. Five cohesive experiments are proposed that build on previous studies of social cognition. First, the ability of nonhuman species to process faces based on identity and expression type will be compared using two well-studied experimental methods. In the second and third experiments, the specific perceptual features important for facial expression processing will be compared, along with features important for processing faces based on identity and gender. The fourth experiment will examine whether facial expressions are processed categorically using a morphing procedure similar to that used in studies of human categorical perception. And finally, functional neuroimaging will be used to identify brain regions involved in processing facial expressions and these data will be compared to previous studies of face processing in these two species. Comparative studies of these basic processes in species related to humans are critical for understanding the evolution of social perception as well as for developing research models for studying the neurobiological factors associated with disorders of social cognition. This is important as basic deficits in face recognition and reading and interpreting facial expressions represent common phenotypes for a wide variety of neuropsychological and development disorders in humans, from Alzheimer´s disease to autism. Among humans, there are numerous disorders that include deficits of social cognition, such as face recognition and/or producing and responding to facial expressions. In order to better understand these disorders, nonhuman species are often used as models for the human condition. However, extremely little is known about the basic behavior and biology of socio-cognitive processes in these models. Therefore, it is the goal of these studies to examine the evolution of human face processing skills in order to better understand and treat human diseases
Keywords: 3D image; Accounting; Alzheimer; Alzheimer disease; Alzheimer sclerosis; Alzheimer syndrome; Alzheimer`s; Alzheimer`s Disease; Alzheimers Dementia; Alzheimers disease; Apes; Autism; Autism, Early Infantile; Autism, Infantile; Autistic Disorder; Back; Behavior; Behavioral; Biology; Brain region; Buccal Cavity; Categories; Cavitas Oris; Chimp; Chimpanzee; Cognitive; Cognitive Discrimination; Comparative Study; Complex; Computers; Conflict; Conflict (Psychology); Cues; Data; Dementia, Alzheimer Type; Dementia, Primary Senile Degenerative; Dementia, Senile; Development; Diagnostic; Discrimination; Discrimination (Psychology); Disease; Disorder; Dorsum; Emotional; Evolution; Eye; Eyeball; Face; Face Expression Recognition; Face Processing; Facial Expression; Facial Expression Recognition; Gender Identity; Goals; Head; Head and Neck, Buccal Cavity; Human; Human, General; Images, 3-D; Individual; Kanner`s Syndrome; Life Stress; Macaca mulatta; Mammals, Primates; Man (Taxonomy); Man, Modern; Method LOINC Axis 6; Methodology; Methods; Methods and Techniques; Methods, Other; Modeling; Monkeys; Mouth; Nasal; Nervous; Neurobiology; Neuropsychologies; Neuropsychology; Nose; Nose, Nasal Passages; Oral cavity; Paired Comparison; Pan; Pan Genus; Pan Species; Perception; Performance; Phenotype; Pongidae; Primary Senile Degenerative Dementia; Primates; Procedures; Process; Progress Reports; Reading; Reporting; Research; Respiratory System, Nose, Nasal Passages; Rhesus; Rhesus Macaque; Rhesus Monkey; Sampling; Seminal; Series; Social Perception; Stimulus; Study models; System; System, LOINC Axis 4; Techniques; Testing; Three-Dimensional Image; Visual; base; cognitive system; comparative; dementia of the Alzheimer type; disease/disorder; experiment; experimental research; experimental study; face expression; facial; flexibility; gaze; great ape; human disease; information processing; neural; neurobiological; neuroimaging; neuropsychologic; neuropsychological; non-human primate; nonhuman primate; primary degenerative dementia; public health relevance; relating to nervous system; research study; senile dementia of the Alzheimer type; skills; social cognition; visual process; visual processing
Relevance: Among humans, there are numerous disorders that include deficits of social cognition, such as face recognition and/or producing and responding to facial expressions. In order to better understand these disorders, nonhuman primates are often used as models for the human condition. However, extremely little is known about the basic behavior and biology of socio-cognitive processes in nonhuman primates. Therefore, it is the goal of these studies to compare directly the ability of monkeys and apes to process facial stimuli in order to better understand and treat human diseases
Project start date: 2003-09-01
Project end date: 2014-01-31
Budget start date: 30-SEP-2010
Budget end date: 31-JAN-2011
PFA/PA: PA-07-083
3R01MH068791-07S2 (2010): $52064
SOCIAL COGNITION AND EMOTIONAL AGING IN PRIMATES
Lisa A Parr
Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor, Atlanta, Ga 30322
Abstract: Aging is characterized by a paradox between mild to serious health-related deterioration including cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disorders and improved socioemotional functioning and well-being. This latter finding is characterized by subjective reports of increased general life satisfaction and psychological well-being in the elderly, decline in reported negative mood states, particularly among women, as good or improved positive moods compared to young adults and greater involvement in close social relationships, especially among females and kin. One of the primary theories put forth over the last few decades to explain this apparent paradox is the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST). According to this theory, reported emotional satisfaction among the aged is not simply due to lower expectations for social relationships or day- to-day mood quality, but to an active and selective management of social relationships and activities to maximize positive emotional interactions and minimize negative experiences. This project will use the SST to guide studies of age-related changes in social cognition among three species of female primates. This project will address 3 Specific Aims. First, we will examine age and species differences in processing familiar vs. unfamiliar conspecific´s faces and facial expressions. Second, we will examine age and species differences in the relationship between emotion and attention using reaction time measures in an emotional priming task. Finally, we will use both longitudinal and cross-sectional archival data from nonhuman primates to address whether the quality of social relationships changes with aging such that older females selectively associate with close friends and relatives compared to novel or less familiar individuals. Such a broad comparative study focusing on females will provide important insights into the unique aspects of human aging, the brain mechanisms that are most affected by age-related changes in cognition and emotion, and provide a means for understanding the impact these changes may have on the social organization of related species, which is largely influenced by females
Keywords: Address; Affect; Age; Aged 65 and Over; Aging; Alzheimer; Alzheimer disease; Alzheimer sclerosis; Alzheimer syndrome; Alzheimer`s; Alzheimer`s Disease; Alzheimers Dementia; Alzheimers disease; Amentia; Animal Model; Animal Models and Related Studies; Attention; Awareness; Awarenesses; Behavioral; Chimp; Chimpanzee; Cognition; Cognitive; Cognitive Disturbance; Cognitive Impairment; Cognitive decline; Cognitive function abnormal; Comparative Study; Data; Data Banks; Data Bases; Databank, Electronic; Databanks; Database, Electronic; Databases; Degenerative Diseases, Nervous System; Degenerative Neurologic Disorders; Dementia; Dementia, Alzheimer Type; Dementia, Primary Senile Degenerative; Dementia, Senile; Deterioration; Development; Disturbance in cognition; Elderly; Elderly, over 65; Emotional; Emotional well being; Emotions; Evolution; Face; Facial Expression; Feels well; Female; Friends; Goals; Grooming; Human; Human, General; Image; Impaired cognition; Individual; Investigators; Lead; Life; Location; Macaca; Macaca mulatta; Macaque; Mammals, Primates; Man (Taxonomy); Man, Modern; Measures; Mental well-being; Moods; Neuranatomies; Neuranatomy; Neuroanatomies; Neuroanatomy; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Neurodegenerative Disorders; Neurologic Degenerative Conditions; Neurologic Diseases, Degenerative; Normal mental condition; Normal mental state; Normal psyche; Pan; Pan Genus; Pan Species; Pb element; Personal Satisfaction; Primary Senile Degenerative Dementia; Primates; Procedures; Process; Programs (PT); Programs [Publication Type]; Psychological Well Being; Reaction Time; Relative; Relative (related person); Reporting; Research Personnel; Researchers; Response RT; Response Time; Rhesus; Rhesus Macaque; Rhesus Monkey; Sampling; Senescence; Sense of well-being; Social Network; Stimulus; Testing; Well in self; Woman; adult youth; advanced age; age dependent; age effect; age related; aged; aging brain; aging effect; behavior measurement; behavioral measure; behavioral measurement; biomarker; clinical data repository; clinical data warehouse; cognitive dysfunction; cognitive loss; cognitively impaired; computer monitor; data repository; dementia of the Alzheimer type; elders; emotional stimulus; expectation; experience; face expression; facial; geriatric; heavy metal Pb; heavy metal lead; imaging; improved; insight; late life; later life; mid life; mid-life; middle age; middle aged; midlife; mild cognitive disorder; mild cognitive impairment; mild neurocognitive disorder; model organism; negative mood; neurodegenerative illness; non-human primate; nonhuman primate; novel; older adult; older person; positive mood; preference; primary degenerative dementia; programs; psychological wellness; psychomotor reaction time; relational database; satisfaction; self wellness; senescent; senile dementia of the Alzheimer type; senior citizen; social; social cognition; social group; social organization; species difference; theories; touch panel; touch screen; touch screen panel; touchscreen; touchscreen panel; well-being; young adult
Budget start date: 1-APR-2010
Budget end date: 31-MAR-2011
5P01AG026423-04_0002 (2010): $256510
Sponsored Links Excellgen http://Excellgen.com
5P01AG026423-03_0002 (2009): $247953
A PILOT STUDY OF FACE PROCESSING IN CHIMPANZEES
Lisa A Parr, Assistant Research Professor
Emory University 1599 Clifton Road, 4th Floor Atlanta, Ga 30322
Grant 5P51RR000165-440170 from National Center For Research Resources IRG: RIRG
Keywords: Pan, animal colony, face expression, neural information processing, behavioral /social science research tag
Project start date: 2004-05-01
Project end date: 2005-04-30