The prefrontal neurons of monkeys and bats promote group communication｜Science Weekly Selection

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Researchers have reported in two studies that the activity of a single neuron in the frontal cortex or prefrontal cortex is sensitive to the identity of the individuals interacting with bats and monkeys
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Their work aims to find out how animals in complex social structures know how to interact with each other, including history based on previous interactions
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The ability of social animals, including humans, to interact and communicate as a group is vital to their survival
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Social interaction is complex.
Animals must not only remember all kinds of vocalizations and direct integration, but also their brains to remember their understanding of other people in the group and their personal history
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However, understanding the neuronal programs that can achieve such impressive cognitive skills has largely remained unexplored, especially in groups of interacting individuals
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In these two studies, Raymundo Báez-Mendoza and colleagues and Maimon Rose and colleagues evaluated the role of the prefrontal cortex and the frontal cortex in the social communication of rhesus monkeys and Egyptian fruit bats, respectively
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Mendoza et al.
evaluated the interaction between three rhesus monkeys sharing apples, and found that neurons in the prefrontal cortex represent the details of the interaction, including identity background and interaction history
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Rose et al.
remotely analyzed the cortical activity of Egyptian fruit bats that freely interact with each other, and also found that a single neuron in the frontal cortex is responsible for distinguishing individual vocalizations
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Julia Silwa wrote in the related "Perspectives" that the findings of Rose et al.
and Báez-Mendoza et al.
are the main steps to identify the neural mechanisms manipulated in complex social structures, which include interacting with others and understanding the specific identities of the interactors And the historical neural mechanisms of these interactions
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Silwa emphasized why it is important to study multiple brains as an interactive unit when studying social intelligence and communication
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Further research will evaluate other dynamic characteristics of animal and human collectives, including possible changes caused by virtual collectives on the Internet
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