Katalin M Gothard

Interests

Research

The neural basis of emotion and social behavior in primates

Teaching

Systems Neurophysiology;Human Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology;Autonomic neurophysiology;Social and emotional behavior in mammals;

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• Aucoin, A., Lin, K. K., & Gothard, K. M. (2024). Detection of latent brain states from baseline neural activity in the amygdala. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.
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  The amygdala responds to a large variety of socially and emotionally salient environmental and interoceptive stimuli. The context in which these stimuli occur determines their social and emotional significance. In canonical neurophysiological studies, the fast-paced succession of stimuli and events induce phasic changes in neural activity. During inter-trial intervals neural activity is expected to return to a stable and relatively featureless baseline. Context, such as the presence of a social partner, or the similarity of trials in a blocked design, induces brain states that can transcend the fast-paced succession of stimuli and can be recovered from the baseline firing rate of neurons. Indeed, the baseline firing rates of neurons in the amygdala change between blocks of trials of gentle grooming touch, delivered by a trusted social partner, and non-social airflow stimuli, delivered by a computer-controlled air valve. In this experimental paradigm, the presence of the groomer alone was sufficient to induce small but significant changes in baseline firing rates. Here, we examine local field potentials (LFP) recorded during these baseline periods to determine whether context was encoded by network dynamics that emerge in the local field potentials from the activity of large ensembles of neurons. We found that machine learning techniques can reliably decode social vs. non-social context from spectrograms of baseline local field potentials. Notably, decoding accuracy improved significantly with access to broad-band information. No significant differences were detected between the nuclei of the amygdala that receive direct or indirect inputs from areas of the prefrontal cortex known to coordinate flexible, context-dependent behaviors. The lack of nuclear specificity suggests that context-related synaptic inputs arise from a shared source, possibly interoceptive inputs that signal the sympathetic- vs. parasympathetic-dominated states characterizing non-social and social blocks, respectively.
• Cardenas, M. A., Le, R. P., Champ, T. M., O'Neill, D., Fuglevand, A. J., & Gothard, K. M. (2024). Interoceptive Signals Bias Decision Making in Rhesus Macaques. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.
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  Several influential theories have proposed that interoceptive signals, sent from the body to the brain, contribute to neural processes that coordinate complex behaviors. We altered the physiological state of the body using compounds that have minimal effect on the brain and evaluated their effect on decision-making in rhesus monkeys. We used glycopyrrolate, a non-specific muscarinic (parasympathetic) antagonist, and isoproterenol, a beta-1/2 (sympathetic) agonist, to create a sympathetic-dominated state in the periphery, that was indexed by increased heart rate. Rhesus monkeys were trained on two variants of an approach-avoidance conflict task. The tasks offered a choice between enduring mildly aversive stimuli in exchange for a steady flow of rewards, or cancelling the aversive stimuli, forgoing the rewards. The delay to interrupt the aversive stimuli was used as a measure of monkeys' tolerance for contact with a hot but not painful stimulus or airflow directed at their muzzle. Both drugs reduced tolerance for the aversive stimuli. To determine whether the drug-induced autonomic state reduced the subjective value of the reward, we tested the effects of glycopyrrolate on a food preference task. Food preference was unaltered, suggesting that the sympathetic dominated state in the periphery selectively reduces tolerance for aversive stimuli without altering reward-seeking behaviors. As the drugs used are expected to have little or no direct effect on the brain, the observed biases in decision making are likely induced by interoceptive afferents that signal to the brain the physiological state of the body.
• Gothard, K. M., & Bowrie, A. I. (2024). Natural behavior relaxes zoning divisions in the brain. Neuron, 112(21), 3515-3516.
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  Technological advances allow neurophysiologists to explore the brain during natural behaviors, revealing new functional principles and challenging old ones. In this issue of Neuron, Li and colleagues show that the traditional parcellation of the marmoset frontal cortex does not apply to naturalistic conversations.
• Lee, S., Rutishauser, U., & Gothard, K. M. (2024). Social Status as a Latent Variable in the Amygdala of Observers of Social Interactions. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.
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  Successful integration into a hierarchical social group requires knowledge of the status of each individual and of the rules that govern social interactions within the group. In species that lack morphological indicators of status, social status can be inferred by observing the signals exchanged between individuals. We simulated social interactions between macaques by juxtaposing videos of aggressive and appeasing displays where two individuals appeared in each other's line of sight and their displays were timed to suggest the reciprocation of dominant and subordinate signals. Viewers of these videos successfully inferred the social status of the interacting characters. Dominant individuals attracted more social attention from viewers even when they were not engaged in social displays. Neurons in the viewers' amygdala signaled the status of both the attended (fixated) and the unattended individuals suggesting that in third party observers of social interactions, the amygdala signals jointly the status of interacting parties.
• Lee, S., Rutishauser, U., & Gothard, K. M. (2024). Social status as a latent variable in the amygdala of observers of social interactions. Neuron, 112(23), 3867-3876.e3.
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  Successful integration into a hierarchical social group requires knowledge of the status of each individual and of the rules that govern social interactions within the group. In species that lack morphological indicators of status, social status can be inferred by observing the signals exchanged between individuals. We simulated social interactions between macaques by juxtaposing videos of aggressive and appeasing displays, where two individuals appeared in each other's line of sight and their displays were timed to suggest the reciprocation of dominant and subordinate signals. Viewers of these videos successfully inferred the social status of the interacting characters. Dominant individuals attracted more social attention from viewers even when they were not engaged in social displays. Neurons in the viewers' amygdala signaled the status of both the attended (fixated) and the unattended individuals, suggesting that in third-party observers of social interactions, the amygdala jointly signals the status of interacting parties.
• Ping, A., Wang, J., García-Cabezas, M. Á., Li, L., Zhang, J., Gothard, K. M., Zhu, J., & Roe, A. W. (2024). Brainwide mesoscale functional networks revealed by focal infrared neural stimulation of the amygdala. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.
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  The primate amygdala serves to evaluate emotional content of sensory inputs and modulate emotional and social behaviors; it modulates cognitive, multisensory and autonomic circuits predominantly via the basal (BA), lateral (LA), and central (CeA) nuclei, respectively. Based on recent electrophysiological evidence suggesting mesoscale (millimeters-scale) nature of intra-amygdala functional organization, we have investigated the connectivity of these nuclei using Infrared Neural Stimulation of single mesoscale sites coupled with mapping in ultrahigh field 7T functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (INS-fMRI). Stimulation of multiple sites within amygdala of single individuals evoked 'mesoscale functional connectivity maps', allowing comparison of BA, LA and CeA connected brainwide networks. This revealed a mesoscale nature of connected sites, complementary spatial patterns of functional connectivity, and topographic relationships of nucleus-specific connections. Our data reveal a functional architecture of systematically organized brainwide networks mediating sensory, cognitive, and autonomic influences from the amygdala.
• Champ, T. M., Lee, S., Martin, A. B., Bolles, C. M., Kim, S. W., & Gothard, K. M. (2022). Social engagement revealed by gaze following in third-party observers of simulated social conflict. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 952390.
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  Humans and non-human primates can allocate visual attention to areas of high interest in their visual field based on the behaviors of their social partners. Allocation of attention is particularly important for third-party observers of social interactions. By following the gaze of interacting individuals, the observer can obtain information about the mental states, emotions, and intentions of others. We presented three adult monkeys () with videos of simulated social interactions and quantified their eye movements to determine which observed behaviors were most conducive to gaze following. Social interactions were simulated by juxtaposing two videos depicting a threatening and an appeasing individual facing each other, with the timing of the facial and bodily displays adjusted to mimic an exchange of social signals. Socially meaningful facial displays combined with full body movements significantly enhanced the probability of gaze following and joint attention. Despite the synthetic nature of these interactions, the facial and bodily displays of the submissive individual elicited significantly more joint-attention than gaze-following saccades, suggesting a preferential allocation of attention to the recipients of threatening displays. Temporal alignment of gaze following and joint attention to the frames of each video showed numerous clusters of significant increases in the frequency of these saccades. These clusters suggest that some videos contained signals that can induce a quasi-automatic redirection of the observer's attention. However, these saccades occurred only on a fraction of the viewings, and we have documented large inter-individual variations. All viewers produced sequences of joint attention saccades (check-backs) shifting their attention between the two monkeys as though monitoring the simulated emitting-receiving cycle of social signals. These sequences reflect the viewer's interest in monitoring the ongoing exchange of agonistic and affiliative displays. It appears that in macaque monkeys, the scanpaths of third-party observers of simulated social interactions are informed by social-cognitive processes suggestive of mentalizing.
• Holly, N. L., Hasse, B. A., Gothard, K. M., & Fuglevand, A. J. (2022). Large-scale intramuscular electrode system for chronic electromyography and functional electrical stimulation. Journal of neurophysiology, 128(4), 1011-1024.
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  To understand how the central nervous system (CNS) enacts movements, it seems important to monitor the activities of the many muscles involved. Likewise, to restore complex movements to paralyzed limbs with electrical stimulation requires access to most limb muscles. Intramuscular electrodes are needed to obtain isolated recordings or stimulation of individual muscles. As such, we developed and tested the stability of large arrays of implanted intramuscular electrodes. We implanted 58 electrodes in 29 upper limb muscles in each of three macaques. Electrode connectors were protected within a skull-mounted chamber. During surgery, wires were tunneled subcutaneously to target muscles, where gold anchors were crimped onto the leads. The anchors were then deployed with an insertion device. In two monkeys, the chamber was fixed to the skull with a titanium baseplate rather than acrylic cement. In multiple sessions up to 15 wk after surgery, electromyographic (EMG) signals were recorded while monkeys made the same reaching movement. EMG signals were stable, with an average (SD) coefficient of variation across sessions of 0.24 ± 0.15. In addition, at 4, 8, and 16 wk after surgery, forces to incrementing stimulus pulses were measured for each electrode. The threshold current needed to evoke a response at 16 wk was not different from that at 4 wk. Likewise, peak force evoked by 16 mA of current at 16 wk was not different from 4 wk. The stability of this system implies it could be effectively used to monitor and stimulate large numbers of muscles needed to understand the control of natural and evoked movements. A new method was developed to enable long-lasting recording and stimulation of large numbers of muscles with intramuscular electrodes. Electromyographic signals and evoked force responses in 29 upper limb muscles remained stable over several months when tested in nonhuman primates. This system could be used effectively to monitor and stimulate numerous muscles needed to more fully understand the control of natural and evoked movements.
• Morozov, A., Parr, L. A., Gothard, K., Paz, R., & Pryluk, R. (2022). Automatic Recognition of Macaque Facial Expressions for Detection of Affective States. eNeuro, 8(6).
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  Internal affective states produce external manifestations such as facial expressions. In humans, the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) is widely used to objectively quantify the elemental facial action units (AUs) that build complex facial expressions. A similar system has been developed for macaque monkeys-the Macaque FACS (MaqFACS); yet, unlike the human counterpart, which is already partially replaced by automatic algorithms, this system still requires labor-intensive coding. Here, we developed and implemented the first prototype for automatic MaqFACS coding. We applied the approach to the analysis of behavioral and neural data recorded from freely interacting macaque monkeys. The method achieved high performance in the recognition of six dominant AUs, generalizing between conspecific individuals () and even between species (). The study lays the foundation for fully automated detection of facial expressions in animals, which is crucial for investigating the neural substrates of social and affective states.
• Gothard, K. M. (2017). Bridging the gap between rodents and humans: The role of non-human primates in oxytocin research. American Journal of Primatology.
• Morrow, J. K., Cohen, M. X., & Gothard, K. M. (2020). Mesoscopic-scale functional networks in the primate amygdala. eLife, 9.
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  The primate amygdala performs multiple functions that may be related to the anatomical heterogeneity of its nuclei. Individual neurons with stimulus- and task-specific responses are not clustered in any of the nuclei, suggesting that single-units may be too-fine grained to shed light on the mesoscale organization of the amygdala. We have extracted from local field potentials recorded simultaneously from multiple locations within the primate () amygdala spatially defined and statistically separable responses to visual, tactile, and auditory stimuli. A generalized eigendecomposition-based method of source separation isolated coactivity patterns, or components, that in neurophysiological terms correspond to putative subnetworks. Some component spatial patterns mapped onto the anatomical organization of the amygdala, while other components reflected integration across nuclei. These components differentiated between visual, tactile, and auditory stimuli suggesting the presence of functionally distinct parallel subnetworks.
• Putnam, P. T., & Gothard, K. M. (2020). Multidimensional Neural Selectivity in the Primate Amygdala. eNeuro, 6(5).
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  The amygdala contributes to multiple functions including attention allocation, sensory processing, decision-making, and the elaboration of emotional behaviors. The diversity of functions attributed to the amygdala is reflected in the response selectivity of its component neurons. Previous work claimed that subsets of neurons differentiate between broad categories of stimuli (e.g., objects vs faces, rewards vs punishment), while other subsets are narrowly specialized to respond to individual faces or facial features (e.g., eyes). Here we explored the extent to which the same neurons contribute to more than one neural subpopulation in a task that activated multiple functions of the amygdala. The subjects () watched videos depicting conspecifics or inanimate objects, and learned by trial and error to choose the individuals or objects associated with the highest rewards. We found that the same neurons responded selectively to two or more of the following task events or stimulus features: (1) alerting, task-related stimuli (fixation icon, video start, and video end); (2) reward magnitude; (3) stimulus categories (social vs nonsocial); and (4) stimulus-unique features (faces, eyes). A disproportionate number of neurons showed selectivity for all of the examined stimulus features and task events. These results suggest that neurons that appear specialized and uniquely tuned to specific stimuli (e.g., face cells, eye cells) are likely to respond to multiple other types of stimuli or behavioral events, if/when these become behaviorally relevant in the context of a complex task. This multidimensional selectivity supports a flexible, context-dependent evaluation of inputs and subsequent decision making based on the activity of the same neural ensemble.
• Doane, C. J., Zimmerman, P. E., Putnam, P. T., Gothard, K. M., & Besselsen, D. G. (2018). Silicon foreign body in the cerebrum of a rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). Comparative Medicine, 68(2), 1-5.
• Putnam, P. T., Young, L. J., & Gothard, K. M. (2018). Bridging the gap between rodents and humans: The role of non-human primates in oxytocin research. American journal of primatology, 80(10), e22756.
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  Oxytocin (OT), a neuropeptide that acts in the brain as a neuromodulator, has been long known to shape maternal physiology and behavior in mammals, however its role in regulating social cognition and behavior in primates has come to the forefront only in the recent decade. Many of the current perspectives on the role of OT in modulating social behavior emerged first from studies in rodents, where invasive techniques with a high degree of precision have permitted the mechanistic dissection of OT-related behaviors, as well as their underlying neural circuits in exquisite detail. In parallel, behavioral and imaging studies in humans have suggested that brain OT may similarly influence human social behavior and neural activity. These studies in rodents and humans have spurred interest in the therapeutic potential of targeting the OT system to remedy deficits in social cognition and behavior that are present across numerous psychiatric disorders. Yet there remains a tremendous gap in our mechanistic understanding of the influence of brain OT on social neural circuitry between rodents and man. In fact, very little is known regarding the neural mechanisms by which exogenous or endogenous OT influences human social cognition, limiting its therapeutic potential. Here we discuss how non-human primates (NHPs) are uniquely positioned to now bridge the gaps in knowledge provided by the precise circuit-level approaches widely used in rodent models and the behavioral, imaging, and clinical studies in humans. This review provides a perspective on what has been achieved, and what can be expected from exploring the role of OT in shaping social behaviors in NHPs in the coming years.
• Gothard, K. M. (2017). New perspectives on the neurophysiology of primate amygdala emerging from the study of naturalistic social behaviors. Wiley Interdisciplinary Review in Cognitive Sciene, 9(1). doi:10.1002/wcs
• Minxha, J., Mosher, C., Morrow, J. K., Mamelak, A. N., Adolphs, R., Gothard, K. M., & Rutishauser, U. (2017). Fixations Gate Species-Specific Responses to Free Viewing of Faces in the Human and Macaque Amygdala. Cell reports, 18(4), 878-891.
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  Neurons in the primate amygdala respond prominently to faces. This implicates the amygdala in the processing of socially significant stimuli, yet its contribution to social perception remains poorly understood. We evaluated the representation of faces in the primate amygdala during naturalistic conditions by recording from both human and macaque amygdala neurons during free viewing of identical arrays of images with concurrent eye tracking. Neurons responded to faces only when they were fixated, suggesting that neuronal activity was gated by visual attention. Further experiments in humans utilizing covert attention confirmed this hypothesis. In both species, the majority of face-selective neurons preferred faces of conspecifics, a bias also seen behaviorally in first fixation preferences. Response latencies, relative to fixation onset, were shortest for conspecific-selective neurons and were ∼100 ms shorter in monkeys compared to humans. This argues that attention to faces gates amygdala responses, which in turn prioritize species-typical information for further processing.
• Ballesta, S., Mosher, C. P., Szep, J., Fischl, K. D., & Gothard, K. M. (2016). Social determinants of eyeblinks in adult male macaques. Scientific reports, 6, 38686.
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  Videos with rich social and emotional content elicit natural social behaviors in primates. Indeed, while watching videos of conspecifics, monkeys engage in eye contact, gaze follow, and reciprocate facial expressions. We hypothesized that the frequency and timing of eyeblinks also depends on the social signals contained in videos. We monitored the eyeblinks of four male adult macaques while they watched videos of conspecifics displaying facial expressions with direct or averted gaze. The instantaneous blink rate of all four animals decreased during videos. The temporal synchrony of blinking, however, increased in response to segments depicting appeasing or aggressive facial expressions directed at the viewer. Two of the four monkeys, who systematically reciprocated the direct gaze of the stimulus monkeys, also showed eyeblink entrainment, a temporal coordination of blinking between social partners engaged in dyadic interactions. Together, our results suggest that in macaques, as in humans, blinking depends not only on the physiological imperative to protect the eyes and spread a film of tears over the cornea, but also on several socio-emotional factors.
• Mosher, C. P., Zimmerman, P. E., Fuglevand, A. J., & Gothard, K. M. (2016). Tactile Stimulation of the Face and the Production of Facial Expressions Activate Neurons in the Primate Amygdala. eNeuro, 3(5).
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  The majority of neurophysiological studies that have explored the role of the primate amygdala in the evaluation of social signals have relied on visual stimuli such as images of facial expressions. Vision, however, is not the only sensory modality that carries social signals. Both humans and nonhuman primates exchange emotionally meaningful social signals through touch. Indeed, social grooming in nonhuman primates and caressing touch in humans is critical for building lasting and reassuring social bonds. To determine the role of the amygdala in processing touch, we recorded the responses of single neurons in the macaque amygdala while we applied tactile stimuli to the face. We found that one-third of the recorded neurons responded to tactile stimulation. Although we recorded exclusively from the right amygdala, the receptive fields of 98% of the neurons were bilateral. A fraction of these tactile neurons were monitored during the production of facial expressions and during facial movements elicited occasionally by touch stimuli. Firing rates arising during the production of facial expressions were similar to those elicited by tactile stimulation. In a subset of cells, combining tactile stimulation with facial movement further augmented the firing rates. This suggests that tactile neurons in the amygdala receive input from skin mechanoceptors that are activated by touch and by compressions and stretches of the facial skin during the contraction of the underlying muscles. Tactile neurons in the amygdala may play a role in extracting the valence of touch stimuli and/or monitoring the facial expressions of self during social interactions.
• Putnam, P. T., Roman, J. M., Zimmerman, P. E., & Gothard, K. M. (2016). Oxytocin enhances gaze-following responses to videos of natural social behavior in adult male rhesus monkeys. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 72, 47-53.
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  Gaze following is a basic building block of social behavior that has been observed in multiple species, including primates. The absence of gaze following is associated with abnormal development of social cognition, such as in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Some social deficits in ASD, including the failure to look at eyes and the inability to recognize facial expressions, are ameliorated by intranasal administration of oxytocin (IN-OT). Here we tested the hypothesis that IN-OT might enhance social processes that require active engagement with a social partner, such as gaze following. Alternatively, IN-OT may only enhance the perceptual salience of the eyes, and may not modify behavioral responses to social signals. To test this hypothesis, we presented four monkeys with videos of conspecifics displaying natural behaviors. Each video was viewed multiple times before and after the monkeys received intranasally either 50 IU of OT or saline. We found that despite a gradual decrease in attention to the repeated viewing of the same videos (habituation), IN-OT consistently increased the frequency of gaze following saccades. Further analysis confirmed that these behaviors did not occur randomly, but rather predictably in response to the same segments of the videos. These findings suggest that in response to more naturalistic social stimuli IN-OT enhances the propensity to interact with a social partner rather than merely elevating the perceptual salience of the eyes. In light of these findings, gaze following may serve as a metric for pro-social effects of oxytocin that target social action more than social perception.
• Burke, S. N., Thome, A., Plange, K., Engle, J. R., Trouard, T. P., Gothard, K. M., & Barnes, C. A. (2014). Orbitofrontal cortex volume in area 11/13 predicts reward devaluation, but not reversal learning performance, in young and aged monkeys. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34(30), 9905-16.
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  The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and amygdala are both necessary for decisions based on expected outcomes. Although behavioral and imaging data suggest that these brain regions are affected by advanced age, the extent to which aging alters appetitive processes coordinated by the OFC and the amygdala is unknown. In the current experiment, young and aged bonnet macaques were trained on OFC- and amygdala-dependent tasks that test the degree to which response selection is guided by reward value and can be adapted when expected outcomes change. To assess whether the structural integrity of these regions varies with levels of performance on reward devaluation and object reversal tasks, volumes of areas 11/13 and 14 of the OFC, central/medial (CM), and basolateral (BL) nuclei of the amygdala were determined from high-resolution anatomical MRIs. With age, there were significant reductions in OFC, but not CM and BL, volume. Moreover, the aged monkeys showed impairments in the ability to associate an object with a higher value reward, and to reverse a previously learned association. Interestingly, greater OFC volume of area 11/13, but not 14, was significantly correlated with an animal's ability to anticipate the reward outcome associated with an object, and smaller BL volume was predictive of an animal's tendency to choose a higher value reward, but volume of neither region correlated with reversal learning. Together, these data indicate that OFC volume has an impact on monkeys' ability to guide choice behavior based on reward value but does not impact ability to reverse a previously learned association.
• Gothard, K. M. (2014). The amygdalo-motor pathways and the control of facial expressions. Frontiers in neuroscience, 8, 43.
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  Facial expressions reflect decisions about the perceived meaning of social stimuli and the expected socio-emotional outcome of responding (or not) with a reciprocating expression. The decision to produce a facial expression emerges from the joint activity of a network of structures that include the amygdala and multiple, interconnected cortical and subcortical motor areas. Reciprocal transformations between these sensory and motor signals give rise to distinct brain states that promote, or impede the production of facial expressions. The muscles of the upper and lower face are controlled by anatomically distinct motor areas. Facial expressions engage to a different extent the lower and upper face and thus require distinct patterns of neural activity distributed across multiple facial motor areas in ventrolateral frontal cortex, the supplementary motor area, and two areas in the midcingulate cortex. The distributed nature of the decision manifests in the joint activation of multiple motor areas that initiate the production of facial expression. Concomitantly multiple areas, including the amygdala, monitor ongoing overt behaviors (the expression itself) and the covert, autonomic responses that accompany emotional expressions. As the production of facial expressions is brought into the framework of formal decision making, an important challenge will be to incorporate autonomic and visceral states into decisions that govern the receiving-emitting cycle of social signals.
• Mosher, C. P., Zimmerman, P. E., & Gothard, K. M. (2014). Neurons in the monkey amygdala detect eye contact during naturalistic social interactions. Current Biology, 24(20), 2459-64.
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  Primates explore the visual world through eye-movement sequences. Saccades bring details of interest into the fovea, while fixations stabilize the image. During natural vision, social primates direct their gaze at the eyes of others to communicate their own emotions and intentions and to gather information about the mental states of others. Direct gaze is an integral part of facial expressions that signals cooperation or conflict over resources and social status. Despite the great importance of making and breaking eye contact in the behavioral repertoire of primates, little is known about the neural substrates that support these behaviors. Here we show that the monkey amygdala contains neurons that respond selectively to fixations on the eyes of others and to eye contact. These "eye cells" share several features with the canonical, visually responsive neurons in the monkey amygdala; however, they respond to the eyes only when they fall within the fovea of the viewer, either as a result of a deliberate saccade or as eyes move into the fovea of the viewer during a fixation intended to explore a different feature. The presence of eyes in peripheral vision fails to activate the eye cells. These findings link the primate amygdala to eye movements involved in the exploration and selection of details in visual scenes that contain socially and emotionally salient features.

Presentations

• Gothard, K. M. (2023, August). A context-dependent switch from sensing to feeling in the Primate Amygdala. Vanderbilt University. Nashville TN.
• Gothard, K. M. (2023, February 2). A context-dependent switch from sensing to feeling in the primate amygdala. University of Pittsburgh Biomedical Engineering Seminars. Pittsburgh: Biomedical Engoneering.
• Gothard, K. M. (2023, February). A context-dependent switch from the sensing to feeling in the monkey amygdala. NIDA Seminar series. National Institute of Drug Abuse, Baltimore: NIDA.
• Gothard, K. M. (2023, July). Eye-movement related neural activity in the amygdala of third-party observers of social conflict. Gordon Research Conference on Eye Movements. Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, United States.
• Gothard, K. M. (2023, September). A context-dependent switch from sensing to feeling in the primate amygdala. Simian Collective. Chicago, IL: Simian Collective.
• Gothard, K. M. (2021, August). From sensing to feeling; Is the swich in the amygdala?. The Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute Johns Hopkins University THE DAVID BODIAN VIRTUAL SEMINAR. Johns Hopkins UNiversity: The Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute Johns Hopkins University.
• Gothard, K. M. (2021, August). Multidimensional Processing in the Primate Amygdala. Cedars Sinai Neuroscience lectures. Cedar Sinai Hospital Los Angeles: Cedars Sinai Hospital.
• Gothard, K. M. (2021, Jan). Where and how is social status represented in the brain. Neuoscience GIDP. Tucson: GIDp Neuroscience.
• Gothard, K. M. (2021, October). From sensing to feeling; Is the swich in the amygdala?. Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Colloquium series. Duke University.
• Gothard, K. M. (2021, October). The role of the amygdala in processing social and affective touch.. Invited lecture. New York Univesity, Ichan School of Medicine: Ichan School of Medicine.
• Gothard, K. M. (2021, September). From sensing to feeling; Is teh swich in the amygdala. Cognitive Neuroscience Lecture Series. Psychology Department University of Arizona: Cognitive Neuroscience.
• Gothard, K. M. (2020, August). From Discriminative to Affective Touch. UC Irvine lecture series.
• Gothard, K. M. (2020, Janaury). A new view of the amygdala; insights from multidimentional processing. Neurology Grant Rounds.
• Gothard, K. M. (2020, July). From Discriminative to Affective Touch: COrtico-amygdala Processing loops. Federation of European Neuroscience Societies, Glasgow, 2020.
• Gothard, K. M. (2020, June). FRom DIscriminative to Affective Touch. Rodboud University, The Netherlands.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, April). Multidimensinal neural selectivity in the monkey amygdala. Psychology seminar series. Emory University: Dept of Psychology, Emory University.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, August). A role of the primate amygdala in social and afective touch. Gordn research Conference. Stonehill College MA: Gordon Research Conferences.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, February). The Mind-Body Dialoge. U of A Science Lecture Series. U of A campus: Centennial Hall: Collge of Science.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, March). Multidimensional responses in the monkey amgdala; what is hiding in the hidden layer?. Emerging neurotechnologies in non-human primats, Shenzhen, China. Shenzhen, China: MIT.
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  This was an invited lecture in a forum of neurotechnolgies for non-human primates
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, October). Neural Correlates of social Engagement elicited in Rhesus monkeys by videos with social content. Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Chicago, IL: Society for Neuroscience.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, September). An amygdala-centered neuroethological approach to social behavior. International School of Brain Evolution, Erice, Italy. Erice, Italy: International School of Brain Evolution.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, September). From sensing to feeling in the primate amygdala. International Association for the Study of Affective Touch. Linkoping Sweden: Linkoping University.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, September). From sensing to feeling; a somatosensory pathway to the amygdala. European Brain and Behavior Society. Prague, the Czech Republic: European Brain and Behavior Society.
• Gothard, K. M. (2016, Fall). The Magic of Emotional Touch. Distinctive Voices. UC Irvine: National Academy of Sciences.
• Gothard, K. M. (2016, Spring semester). Science Cafe public lecture in Tucson. Science Cafe. Tucson: University of Arizona.
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  Downtown Science Cafe @ Magpie's Gourmet Pizza
• Gothard, K. M. (2016, Summer). Lecture for Tucson Harvard CLub. Tucson Harvard Club. Tucson: Tucson Harvard Club.
• Gothard, K. M. (2016, Summer). Tactile stimulation of the face and the production of facial expressions activate neurons in the primate amygdala. Gordon Research Conference, The Neurobiology of Cognition,. Sunday River, ME: Gordon research Conferences.
• Gothard, K. M. (2016, summer). Attentional selection gates responses of face-selective cells in the human and macaque amygdala. 30-th Center for Visual Science Symposium, University of RochesterUniversity of Rochester.
• Gothard, K. M., Mosher, C. P., Zimmerman, P. E., & Fuglevand, A. J. (2016, May). The neural basis of the receiving-emitting cycle of facial expressions in macaques. The Neuroscience of Emotion. Erice Italy: University of Parma.
• Gothard, K. M. (2015, August). The social functions of the primate amygdala. Gordon Research Conference - The Amygdala in Health and Disease. Stonehill College MA: Gordon Research Conferences.
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  https://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?id=13511
• Gothard, K. M. (2015, July). Close-loop computations in the social circuits of the primate brain. Telluride workshop on Neuromorhic engineering. Telluride CO: National Science Froundation.
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  http://www.neuromorphs.net/nm/wiki/2015
• Gothard, K. M. (2015, July). Social cognition in rhesus macaQUES. NEUREX meeting on "Cognition in Primates". Strasbourg, France: NEUREX.
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  http://www.neurex.org/event/meeting-cognition-of-primates/The editors of Brain and Behavioral Sciences invited the speakers at this conference to contribute to a special issues of the journal. I will have to submit an article to this journal in August 2016.
• Gothard, K. M. (2015, June). Neural circuits of emotion and social cognition in hte primate brain. Intenatinal Summer school of Cognitive Neuroscience, Lyonn, France. Lyonn, France: CNRS France (equivalent to NIH, USA).
  More info

  I gave four lectures to faculty and students at this summer school.
• Gothard, K. M. (2015, October). The Neurophysiology of social cognition in rhesus macaQUES. Association of Primate Veterinarians Workshop. Scottsdale AZ: Assoiation of Primate Veterinarians.
  More info

  https://www.primatevets.org/workshop
• Gothard, K. M. (2014, December). Naturalistic social stimuli elicit eye-selective neural responses in the monkey amygdala. Seminar Series of the Scientific Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Washington DC: National Institute of Mental Health.
• Gothard, K. M. (2014, October). Oxytocin enhances social behaviors in macaques. Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Neuroscience. Washington DC: Society for Social Neuroscience.
• Gothard, K. M. (2014, Spring semester). The role of the primate amygdala in the receiving-emitting cycle of facial expressions. Research Seminar at the Vision Center University of Rochester. Rochester: University of Rochester.
• Gothard, K. M. (2014, fall). Primate models of emotion and social behavior. Kavli Frontiers of Science. Beijing, CHIna: National Academy of Science.
• Gothard, K. M. (2014, fall). The eyes: a window to the social brain. Johns Hopkins University: Special conference on neural recordings from the human brain.
• Gothard, K. M. (2014, summer). The central role of the amygdala in social behavior. International Workshop of Neuromorphic Engineering. Telluride, Colorado: UC San Diego.

Poster Presentations

• Gothard, K. M. (2019, October). Amygdalo-cortical networks revealed by high-field fMRI during infrared neural stimulation of amygdalar subnuclei in the macaque monkey. Annuala meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Chicago, IL: SFN.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, October). Blinks punctuate the sequence of cognitive states required by a social learning task. Society for Social Neuroscience. Chicago, IL: Society for Social Neuroscience.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, October). From discriminative to affective touch: a single-unit perspective of the somatosensory pathway to the amygdala. Society for Neuroscience. Chicago, IL: SFN.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, October). Statistically separable components of the local field potential show sensory-modality specific spike-field coherence in the primate amygdala. Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Chicago, IL: SFN.
• Gothard, K. M. (2019, October). The touch-processing pathway from the somatosensory cortex and the amygdala; a mezoscale perspective. SFN. Chicago, IL: SFN.