Rapid head movements in common marmoset monkeys

Gaze shifts, the directing of the eyes to an approaching predator, preferred food source, or potential mate, have universal biological significance for the survival of a species. Our knowledge of gaze behavior in primates is based primarily on visually triggered orienting responses, whereas head orientation triggered by auditory stimuli remains poorly characterized. Common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a diurnal, small-bodied (~350 g), New World monkey species, known for their rich behavioral repertoires during social interactions. We used a lightweight head tracking system to measure marmosets’ reflexive head orientations toward a natural stimulus presented from behind. We found that marmoset could rotate its head at angular velocities above 1000 degrees/second, and maintained target accuracy for a wide range of rotation amplitudes (up to 250 degrees). This unusual, saccadic head orienting behavior offers opportunities for understanding the many biological factors that have shaped the evolution of sensorimotor controls of gaze orientation by the primate brain.
This dataset contains all the original measurements of peak velocity and amplitude of head movements in two marmoset monkeys.

视线转移（gaze shifts）——即视线朝向接近的捕食者、偏好食物源或潜在配偶的行为——对物种存续具有普适性的生物学意义。目前我们对灵长类视线行为的认知主要基于视觉触发的定向反应，而听觉刺激引发的头部定向行为则尚未得到充分的特征描述。普通狨（Common marmoset，学名Callithrix jacchus）是昼行性、体型小巧（体重约350克）的新世界猴类，以其社交互动中丰富的行为谱著称。本研究采用轻量化头部追踪系统，测量狨猴对来自后方的自然刺激的反射性头部定向行为。研究发现，狨猴的头部旋转角速度可达1000度/秒以上，且在大范围旋转幅度（最高达250度）内均可保持目标瞄准精度。这种罕见的扫视式头部定向行为，为解析塑造灵长类大脑视线定向感觉运动控制演化的诸多生物学因素提供了研究契机。
本数据集包含两只狨猴头部运动的峰值速度与幅度的全部原始测量数据。