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Nature 423, 937-938 (26 June 2003) | doi:10.1038/423937a

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Neuroperception: Facial expressions linked to monkey calls

Asif A. Ghazanfar & Nikos K. Logothetis

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Pulling a face to emphasize a spoken point is not seen as just a human prerogative.

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The perception of human speech can be enhanced by a combination of auditory and visual signals1, 2. Animals sometimes accompany their vocalizations with distinctive body postures and facial expressions3, although it is not known whether their interpretation of these signals is unified. Here we use a paradigm in which 'preferential looking' is monitored to show that rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), a species that communicates by means of elaborate facial and vocal expression4, 5, 6, 7, are able to recognize the correspondence between the auditory and visual components of their calls. This crossmodal identification of vocal signals by a primate might represent an evolutionary precursor to humans' ability to match spoken words with facial articulation.