This work was supported by the Hakubi Project of Kyoto University, Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Pioneering) (No.22K18644), Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (No. 22K12745 ), Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (No. 21H02851), and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) (No. 19H01039). We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing.

All experiments were approved by the Animal Experimentation Committee of EHUB (No.2022-003, 2023-104) and conducted in accordance with the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Primates published by EHUB. Nine common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus, six males and three females, 2-12 years old, weighing 330-490 g) were used for the experiment. Four of the nine marmosets were housed in pairs or families, while five were housed individually. Marmosets in the colony typically remain in family housing until two years of...

Noninvasive EEG for Comparative Studies of Vocal Perception in Marmosets

Points to note about anesthesia 
Both ketamine and xylazine administration have been attempted, and while these are analgesic and therefore suitable for long painful tasks, marmosets tend to experience decreases in blood oxygen levels without oxygen inhalation44. In short, alfaxalon is probably best suited for painless tasks such as shaving or mask making. In addition, for shaving-, which takes only 10-15 min, inhalation anesthesia would be the most suitable. Isoflurane was n...

Primates use species-specific vocalizations to convey biologically important information, such as the caller&#39;s emotional state or intention to maintain social bonds, the presence of predators, or other dangerous situations. Investigation of the neural mechanisms underlying the perception of vocalization in vocal-rich nonhuman primates may provide us with critical clues to better understand the evolutionary origins of human language.
Common marmosets are small primates native to South America. In recent years, marmosets have been increasingly used as model animals, alongside macaque monkeys, because of their high reproductivity, ease of use owing to their small size, and the development of useful transgenic techniques1,2,3. In addition to their utility as disease models, rich vocal communication within groups is another unique characteristic of this species4,5,6,7. Marmosets routinely exchange vocal signals to communicate with invisible conspecifics in the forest. By examining the brain activity involved in vocal perception and production in marmosets, we can determine how they process the auditory information of their own or conspecific calls in the brain and identify which neural circuits are involved. Previous studies have demonstrated neural activity in the primary auditory cortex8,9,10,11,12 and frontal cortex13,14 involved in vocal production in marmosets. Furthermore, these excited and suppressed neuronal responses were modulated by auditory-vocal interactions in the primary auditory cortex8,10. These studies provided detailed neural activity data at the single-neuron level using invasive recording methods. Numerous studies have further examined the neural activity involved in marmoset vocal production; however, vocal perception remains poorly understood15,16.
Several noninvasive brain imaging studies have elucidated the neural mechanisms of vocal processing in marmosets17,18,19; their high spatial resolution is an advantage, however, keeping animals in the awake state during scanning requires advanced techniques. However, more recently, Jafari et al. identified frontotemporal regions involved in vocal perception in awake marmosets using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)19. Almost all experiments to elucidate the brain functions involved in vocal perception and production in humans have been conducted using noninvasive methods, such as scalp electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG)20,21, and fMRI22,23,24. Numerous studies in humans have investigated brain activity related to vocal perception using EEG. Most of these studies have focused on emotional information25,26,27 and the saliency of emotional words28, with the results revealing changes in event-related potentials during vocal perception29. Electrocorticography (ECoG) and single-neuron recordings using intracranially implanted electrodes in humans have only been conducted in a limited number of experiments in patients undergoing neurosurgical treatment30,31.
An evolutionary perspective comparing humans with monkeys is important when understanding the unique neural mechanisms underlying vocal perception and production that have developed in humans. To directly compare the neural mechanisms involved in speech perception and vocalization in vocal-rich nonhuman primates, such as the marmoset, with humans, it is important to compare data between the two species using the same method. Functional MRI allows whole-brain imaging and has a high spatial resolution. It has the advantage of recording activity perpendicular to the skull or in deep regions that are difficult to record with EEG or MEG. However, the MRI machine is expensive to install and maintain, and there are many restrictions on the stimuli that can be presented due to the nature of the device. In comparison, EEG, event-related potentials (ERPs), and MEG have a high temporal resolution, making them useful for analyzing time-series vocal processing. In particular, EEG has the advantages of high mobility and the ability to be used in a variety of experimental settings, relatively low cost, and the requirement for just a single operator.
Since a large amount of EEG data has already been obtained in humans, EEG measurement methods using non-invasive paradigms are needed for non-human primates. Our research group developed a unique noninvasive EEG recording method using tubes32 for macaques and marmosets. Here, we report several novel findings regarding auditory processing in nonhuman primates33,34,35,36,37. To characterize brain activity in response to species-specific vocalizations in marmosets, we constructed an experimental system to noninvasively record brain activity using electrodes placed on the scalp. In this study, we describe the EEG measurement method for marmosets.

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			<td>Alfaxalone</td>
			<td>Meiji Animal Health</td>
			<td>Alfaxan</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Amplifier</td>
			<td>Brain Products</td>
			<td>BrainAmp</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Atropine</td>
			<td>Fuso Pharmaceutical Industries</td>
			<td>Atropine Sulfate Injection</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Audio editor</td>
			<td>Adobe</td>
			<td>Adobe Audition</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Data processing software</td>
			<td>MathWorks</td>
			<td>MATLAB</td>
			<td>version R2023a</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Data processing toolbox</td>
			<td>University of California-SanDiego</td>
			<td>EEGLAB</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Data processing toolbox</td>
			<td>University of California-Davis</td>
			<td>ERPLAB</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Electric shaver</td>
			<td>Panasonic</td>
			<td>ER803PPA</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Electrode</td>
			<td>Unique Medical</td>
			<td>UL-3010</td>
			<td>AgCl coated (custom)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Electrode gel</td>
			<td>Neurospec AG</td>
			<td>V16 SuperVisc</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Electrode input box</td>
			<td>Brain Products</td>
			<td>EIB64-DUO</td>
			<td>64ch</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Glue</td>
			<td>3M</td>
			<td>Scotch 7005S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hair removering cream</td>
			<td>Kracie</td>
			<td>epilat for sensitive skin</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Isoflurane</td>
			<td>Bussan Animal Health</td>
			<td>ds isoflurane</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Liquid gum</td>
			<td>San-ei Yakuhin Boeki</td>
			<td>Arabic Call SS</td>
			<td>Gum arabic+water</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Liquid nutrition</td>
			<td>Nestl&#233; Health Science Company</td>
			<td>Isocal 1.0 Junior</td>
			<td>Polymeric formula</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Maropitant</td>
			<td>Zoetis&#160;</td>
			<td>Cerenia injectable solution</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Monitor Camera</td>
			<td>Intel</td>
			<td>RealSense LiDAR Camera L515</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Monkey pellets</td>
			<td>Oriental Yeast</td>
			<td>SPS</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Primate chair</td>
			<td>Natsume Seisakusho</td>
			<td>Order made</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pulse oximeters</td>
			<td>Covident</td>
			<td>Nellcor</td>
			<td>PM10N</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Skin prepping pasta&#160;</td>
			<td>Mammendorfer Institut f&#252;r Physik und Medizin</td>
			<td>NeuPrep</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Slicon tube</td>
			<td>AsONE</td>
			<td>&#934;4 x 7mm</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Speaker</td>
			<td>Fostex</td>
			<td>PM0.3</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Synchronization device</td>
			<td>Brain Vision</td>
			<td>StimTrak</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Thermoplastic mask</td>
			<td>CIVCO</td>
			<td>MTAPU Type Uniframe Thermoplastic Mask 2.4mm</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

electroencephalography measurements in awake marmosets listening to conspecific vocalizations 

Vocal communication plays a crucial role in the social interactions of primates, particularly in survival and social organization. Humans have developed a unique and advanced vocal communication strategy in the form of language. To study the evolution of human language, it is necessary to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying vocal processing in humans, as well as to understand how brain mechanisms have evolved by comparing them with those in nonhuman primates. Herein, we developed a method to noninvasively measure the electroencephalography (EEG) of awake nonhuman primates. This recording method allows for long-term studies without harming the animals, and, importantly, allows us to directly compare nonhuman primate EEG data with human data, providing insights into the evolution of human language. In the current study, we used the scalp EEG recording method to investigate brain activity in response to species-specific vocalizations in marmosets. This study provides novel insights by using scalp EEG to capture widespread neural representations in marmosets during vocal perception, filling gaps in existing knowledge.

Author Spotlight: Investigating Vocal Information Representation in Small Primates and Its Alteration by Psychiatric Disorders Using Noninvasive EEG

Electroencephalography Measurements in Awake Marmosets Listening to Conspecific Vocalizations 

We would like to know how vocal information is represented in the brain of small primates which are rich in vocal communications. We would like to illustrate how the representation will be altered by psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia in the future. We compared non-invasive EEGs across four primate species, and found that the latency of auditory cortex to respond to sounds is longer in humans than in other primates.This would have a significant impact on the perception of complex sounds, such as calls and speech sounds. Few experimental methods allow direct comparison of brain activity obtained from human and animals. We hope to quantify the process of human language evolution by direct comparison, or directly comparing data among various animal species using the non-invasive measurement method.We hope to address this challenge with our protocol.

First, we plotted the average event-related potentials (ERPs) for each auditory stimulus in the marmosets (Figure 2). The auditory evoked potential (AEP) was prominent in the Noise condition, reflecting the clear onset of the stimuli (see Figure 1D). To compare the averaged ERPs between call types and noise stimuli, we applied a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with stimuli as the between-subjects factor in Cz response. We found a significant main e...

To study the evolution of language, comparing brain mechanisms in humans with those in nonhuman primates is important. We developed a method to noninvasively measure the electroencephalography (EEG) of awake animals. It allows us to directly compare EEG data between humans and animals for the long term without harming them.

Vocal communication plays a crucial role in the social interactions of primates, particularly in survival and social organization. Humans have developed a ...

electroencephalography-measurements-awake-marmosets-listening-to