Summary

Original source:
http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1318239.htm

Details

• Monkeys can deduce what other monkeys and humans think, want and see based on visual cues, according to a new paper.
• This inspired Jonathan Flombaum, a graduate student in the psychology department at Yale University and colleague Assistant Professor Laurie Santos to test the monkeys on their ability to assess the visual perspectives of others.
• All involved a human holding a grape next to a curious monkey.
• For the first experiment, the human grape holder stood either facing the monkey or turned away from it.
• For the final experiment, the human held up a small rectangular cut-out that blocked either the human's eyes or his mouth.
• Interacting with other monkeys Reading other monkeys' minds may help these primates to attract mates or protect offspring (Image: Laurie Santos) "We know that cells in the monkey superior temporal sulcus [part of the brain] encode this information.
• "If we are right that rhesus monkeys can 'mind read' in the ways that we say they can, then our own similar abilities probably did not evolve in us," Flombaum says.
• While Flombaum does not believe in true psychic phenomena, he thinks that humans experience intuition based on such deductions; for example, when a person gets a sudden feeling that a situation should be avoided, or when a bad vibe suggests that someone is lying or staring, even when the possible victim cannot be sure.
• People with autism appear to have a hyperactive amygdala, part of the brain that deals with emotions and negative feelings.
• Monkey traits This monkey research is also helping researchers to learn more about autism (Image: Laurie Santos) Dr Brian Hare, a researcher and postdoctoral associate at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, studies chimpanzees.

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