Functionally analogous body- and animacy-responsive areas are present in the dog (Canis familiaris) and human occipito-temporal lobe

Magdalena Boch; Isabella C. Wagner; Sabrina Karl; Ludwig Huber; Claus Lamm

doi:10.1038/s42003-023-05014-7

Functionally analogous body- and animacy-responsive areas are present in the dog (Canis familiaris) and human occipito-temporal lobe

Magdalena Boch (Corresponding author)
, Isabella C. Wagner
, Sabrina Karl
, Ludwig Huber
, Claus Lamm

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

Comparing the neural correlates of socio-cognitive skills across species provides insights into the evolution of the social brain and has revealed face- and body-sensitive regions in the primate temporal lobe. Although from a different lineage, dogs share convergent visuo-cognitive skills with humans and a temporal lobe which evolved independently in carnivorans. We investigated the neural correlates of face and body perception in dogs (N = 15) and humans (N = 40) using functional MRI. Combining univariate and multivariate analysis approaches, we found functionally analogous occipito-temporal regions involved in the perception of animate entities and bodies in both species and face-sensitive regions in humans. Though unpredicted, we also observed neural representations of faces compared to inanimate objects, and dog compared to human bodies in dog olfactory regions. These findings shed light on the evolutionary foundations of human and dog social cognition and the predominant role of the temporal lobe.

Original language	English
Article number	645
Number of pages	15
Journal	Communications Biology
Volume	6
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05014-7
Publication status	Published - 23 Jun 2023

Funding

We thank Prof. Nancy Kanwisher for her helpful comments on the preliminary results and analysis plan. We also want to thank Morris Krainz, Anna Thallinger, Olaf Borghi, and Helena Manzenreiter for their help in collecting the data, Boryana Todorova for her support in preparing the stimulus set and all the dogs and their caregivers and human participants for taking part in this project. This project was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF): W1262-B29 and by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) [10.47379/CS18012], the City of Vienna and ithuba Capital AG, and the Messerli Foundation (Sörenberg, Switzerland). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We thank Prof. Nancy Kanwisher for her helpful comments on the preliminary results and analysis plan. We also want to thank Morris Krainz, Anna Thallinger, Olaf Borghi, and Helena Manzenreiter for their help in collecting the data, Boryana Todorova for her support in preparing the stimulus set and all the dogs and their caregivers and human participants for taking part in this project. This project was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF): W1262-B29 and by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) [10.47379/CS18012], the City of Vienna and ithuba Capital AG, and the Messerli Foundation (Sörenberg, Switzerland). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

501030 Cognitive science
301409 Neuroanatomy

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10.1038/s42003-023-05014-7Licence: CC BY 4.0

https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2072347Licence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

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abstract = "Comparing the neural correlates of socio-cognitive skills across species provides insights into the evolution of the social brain and has revealed face- and body-sensitive regions in the primate temporal lobe. Although from a different lineage, dogs share convergent visuo-cognitive skills with humans and a temporal lobe which evolved independently in carnivorans. We investigated the neural correlates of face and body perception in dogs (N = 15) and humans (N = 40) using functional MRI. Combining univariate and multivariate analysis approaches, we found functionally analogous occipito-temporal regions involved in the perception of animate entities and bodies in both species and face-sensitive regions in humans. Though unpredicted, we also observed neural representations of faces compared to inanimate objects, and dog compared to human bodies in dog olfactory regions. These findings shed light on the evolutionary foundations of human and dog social cognition and the predominant role of the temporal lobe.",

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Functionally analogous body- and animacy-responsive areas are present in the dog (Canis familiaris) and human occipito-temporal lobe

Abstract

Funding

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

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