Monkey Cognition Test May Help Us Understand Autism Better Stephen Fung April 25, 2007 What do monkeys, infants, and autistic children have in common? The lack of proper communication means with us. A research team at Columbia University, New York, USA, has set up a test involving a touch-screen video game, designed to assess the cognitive faculties of rhesus macaques. They found that non-human primates are able to reflect on their thoughts and to assess their own performance. But – more importantly – the success of the test indicates that it can be used to study further the cognitive abilities of human subjects whose communication skills are either under-developed or pathologically impaired, namely babies and autism sufferers. Source: Science Blog Share This With The World!