Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Charles Darwin proposed that facial expressions are an evolutionary adaptation for communication. He argued that these expressions are not influenced by culture but are universal across species. For example, a snarling expression with exposed teeth signals a threat in many animals, including humans. Darwin also suggested that displaying an emotion can intensify the feeling. Smiling, for example, could enhance one's sense of happiness. This idea laid the foundation for understanding the role...

Muscles for Facial Expressions

Muscles for Facial Expressions

The craniofacial muscles are a collection of approximately 20 thin skeletal muscles situated beneath the skin of the face and scalp. These muscles, primarily responsible for the vast array of human facial expressions, originate from the bones or fibrous structures of the skull and extend outwards to connect with the skin. While most skeletal muscles in the body are enveloped in thick fascia, facial muscles generally have a more delicate fascial covering, with the buccinator muscle being a...

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...

Nonconscious Mimicry

Nonconscious Mimicry

Nonconscious mimicry occurs when individuals alter their mannerisms to match the behaviors and expressions of those nearby, without intention.

Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is the inability to recognize faces. In severe cases, individuals with prosopagnosia may not recognize close family members, including parents and spouses, by their faces. For instance, someone with prosopagnosia might walk past their child in a crowd, only realizing their mistake upon noticing their child's distinctive backpack or favorite jacket. Prosopagnosia specifically impairs facial recognition, while the recognition of other objects or...

Therapeutic Communication

Therapeutic Communication

Communication is a lifelong learning process. Through therapeutic communication, nurses can collect relevant assessment data, provide education and counseling, and interact during nursing interventions. Sending and receiving messages occur through verbal and nonverbal communication techniques and can happen separately or simultaneously.
Verbal communication depends on language or a prescribed way of using words so that people can share information effectively. The critical aspects of verbal...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Spontaneous facial expressivity predicts real-world social network size and richness.

iScience·2026

Same author

Reward expectation drives dogs' choices in a prosocial test.

Animal cognition·2026

Same author

Making faces.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026

Same author

Facial expression is a group cohesion solution.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2025

Same author

Adapting the facial action coding system for chimpanzees (<i>Pan troglodytes</i>) to bonobos (<i>Pan paniscus</i>): the ChimpFACS extension for bonobos.

PeerJ·2025

Same author

Characterisation of facial expressions and behaviours of horses in response to positive and negative emotional anticipation using network analysis.

PloS one·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 15, 2026

Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

Published on: January 7, 2019

Facial expression recognition in crested macaques (Macaca nigra).

Jérôme Micheletta¹, Jamie Whitehouse, Lisa A Parr

¹Department of Psychology, Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, University of Portsmouth, King Henry Building, King Henry I Street, Portsmouth, PO1 2DY, UK, jerome.micheletta@port.ac.uk.

Animal Cognition

|March 31, 2015

Summary

Crested macaques can distinguish between different facial expressions, recognizing them regardless of the individual producing them. Functional similarities, not overall appearance, influence their perception of these primate communication signals.

More Related Videos

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Published on: August 1, 2018

Dynamic Digital Biomarkers of Motor and Cognitive Function in Parkinson's Disease

Dynamic Digital Biomarkers of Motor and Cognitive Function in Parkinson's Disease

Published on: July 24, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 15, 2026

Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

Published on: January 7, 2019

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Published on: August 1, 2018

Dynamic Digital Biomarkers of Motor and Cognitive Function in Parkinson's Disease

Dynamic Digital Biomarkers of Motor and Cognitive Function in Parkinson's Disease

Published on: July 24, 2019

Area of Science:

Primatology
Ethology
Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

Facial expressions are crucial for primate communication.
Understanding facial expression discrimination in primates is limited, especially in less-studied species.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate facial expression discrimination in crested macaques (Macaca nigra).
To determine if macaques categorize facial expressions independently of individual identity.
To explore factors influencing the confusion between different facial expressions.

Main Methods:

Matching-to-sample tasks using still photographs and dynamic video stimuli.
Discriminating target facial expressions from other expressions and neutral faces.
Analysis of error patterns using matrix correlations and multidimensional scaling.

Main Results:

Macaques performed significantly above chance in discriminating facial expressions.
They successfully categorized expressions regardless of the individual identity.
Error patterns suggested functional similarities, rather than overall morphological similarity (maqFACS), influenced expression confusion.

Conclusions:

Crested macaques possess the ability to discriminate and categorize facial expressions.
Perception is influenced by functional aspects of expressions, expanding knowledge to a new primate species.
Video stimuli offer a promising avenue for studying primate visual signal perception.