Continuity of the conceptual system across species.
In a recent neuroimaging study of macaque monkeys, Gil-da-Costa and colleagues reported that a distributed circuit of modality-specific properties represents macaques' conceptual knowledge of social situations. The circuit identified shows striking similarities to analogous circuits in humans that represent conceptual knowledge. This parallel suggests that a common architecture underlies the conceptual systems of different species, although with additional systems extending human conceptual abilities significantly.
Barsalou
Lawrence W
LW
Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. barsalou@emory.edu
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity