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Biol Lett. 2010 June 23; 6(3): 311–313.
Published online 2009 December 16. doi:  10.1098/rsbl.2009.0864
PMCID: PMC2880047
Brain activity in an awake chimpanzee in response to the sound of her own name
Ari Ueno,* Satoshi Hirata, Kohki Fuwa, Keiko Sugama, Kiyo Kusunoki, Goh Matsuda, Hirokata Fukushima, Kazuo Hiraki, Masaki Tomonaga, and Toshikazu Hasegawa
Great Ape Research Institute of Hayashibara Biochemical Laboratories, Inc., 952-2 Nu, Tamano, 706-0316 Okayama, Japan
*Author for correspondence (aueno/at/shc.usp.ac.jp).
Received October 21, 2009; Accepted November 25, 2009.
Abstract
The brain activity of a fully awake chimpanzee being presented with her name was investigated. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured for each of the following auditory stimuli: the vocal sound of the subject's own name (SON), the vocal sound of a familiar name of another group member, the vocal sound of an unfamiliar name and a non-vocal sound. Some differences in ERP waveforms were detected between kinds of stimuli at latencies at which P3 and Nc components are typically observed in humans. Following stimulus onset, an Nc-like negative shift at approximately 500 ms latency was observed, particularly in response to SON. Such specific ERP patterns suggest that the chimpanzee processes her name differently from other sounds.
Keywords: ERPs, auditory processing, name, self, awake chimpanzee
Articles from Biology Letters are provided here courtesy of
The Royal Society