Monkeys Spontaneously Sync Up Movements

 

Without even thinking, people often coordinate their movements with others around them, from clapping to walking to making facial expressions. 

New research shows monkeys might spontaneously sync up with their peers as well.

A group of Japanese scientists trained three macaques to press two buttons in front of them repeatedly and alternately with one hand. During the first set of trials, the monkeys were paired up and seated facing each other as the timing of their button-pushing was recorded. Then, instead a live partner, each monkey was seated across from a video screen that showed another monkey performing the button-pushing task, which allowed researchers to control the speed of the movements. In other experiments, the researchers cut either the audio or visual elements of the monkey's video-partner.

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