Do monkeys think like us…when they’re not doing anything?

When we are at rest without movement and without intellectual activity, at that moment, what do we think about? We tend to have thoughts of introspection, of planning, we look at our relationship to the world and to others. But not the monkeys, a priori.

An international team of researchers involving the CNRS analyzed resting human brain MRIs, but also images of three species of primates and found that the active areas of the brain are not the same. These resting monkeys are not activating the connections in the brain that allow us humans to think abstractly, but rather activating an area that mediates auditory and visual orientation. In other words, while we can have wandering thoughts, according to these MRI analyses, the monkeys themselves remain stuck in the present moment in an active rest while remaining attentive to their environment.

One can imagine that it is the same in all animals. The dog staring blankly or the cat staring out doesn’t plan anything. They are just in the moment. If the animals think, they do not use the same circuits as us. In any case, this study is formal. The macaque and the marmoset, which are nevertheless close to us genetically, do not activate this famous connection between the medial prefrontal cortex and another area which regulates the interactions of the brain. Now, this connection allows abstract thought in man.

So many lessons that are very useful for better understanding Alzheimer’s disease, according to Marc Dhenain, CNRS researcher who led this work. For these areas of abstract thought in man are generally the first to be affected by disease. This kind of study also allows us to better understand how our imagination works, which still gives us a huge advantage in anticipating and creating.

This work confirms in any case that our human brain is not wired like that of animals and that we have a different way of seeing the world.