Simultaneous functional MRI of two awake marmosets

Authors

Kyle M. Gilbert, Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. kgilbert@robarts.ca.
Justine C. Cléry, Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Joseph S. Gati, Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Yuki Hori, Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Kevin D. Johnston, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Alexander Mashkovtsev, Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Janahan Selvanayagam, Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Peter Zeman, Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Ravi S. Menon, Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
David J. Schaeffer, Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Stefan Everling, Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-16-2021

Journal

Nature communications

Volume

12

Issue

1

First Page

6608

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.1038/s41467-021-26976-4

Abstract

Social cognition is a dynamic process that requires the perception and integration of a complex set of idiosyncratic features between interacting conspecifics. Here we present a method for simultaneously measuring the whole-brain activation of two socially interacting marmoset monkeys using functional magnetic resonance imaging. MRI hardware (a radiofrequency coil and peripheral devices) and image-processing pipelines were developed to assess brain responses to socialization, both on an intra-brain and inter-brain level. Notably, the brain activation of a marmoset when viewing a second marmoset in-person versus when viewing a pre-recorded video of the same marmoset-i.e., when either capable or incapable of socially interacting with a visible conspecific-demonstrates increased activation in the face-patch network. This method enables a wide range of possibilities for potentially studying social function and dysfunction in a non-human primate model.