Monkeys engage in visual simulation to solve complex problems.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Comparative Psychology
• Primate Behavior

Background:

• Visual simulation, the ability to mentally project future events, is considered a highly complex human cognitive function.
• The extent to which nonhuman animals share this sophisticated capacity remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether nonhuman primates (monkeys) possess the ability for visual simulation.
• To compare the simulation strategies and neural underpinnings of this ability between monkeys and humans.

Main Methods:

• Monkeys were tested on the "Planko" game, a task designed to elicit visual simulation.
• Behavioral analysis, computational modeling using recurrent neural networks (RNNs), and awake functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were employed.

Main Results:

• Monkeys successfully employed a simulation strategy in the Planko game, exhibiting accuracy and behavioral patterns comparable to humans.
• Computational models showed monkeys' strategies aligned with RNNs using learned simulation.
• fMRI revealed activity in motion-sensitive brain regions during simulated periods, even without visual motion cues, mirroring human neural findings.

Conclusions:

• Nonhuman primates demonstrate visual simulation abilities, challenging the view of this capacity as uniquely human.
• Shared neural mechanisms for mental prediction and simulation may exist across primate species.
• This suggests a more complex cognitive landscape in nonhuman primates than previously understood.