BrainBlog

A TEDtalk by University of Cambridge neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert: TEDtalk From the webpage: "Neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert starts from a surprising premise: the brain evolved, not to think or feel, but to control movement. In this entertaining, data-rich talk he gives us a glimpse into how the brain creates the grace and agility of human motion."

New in the world of pig cognition research, interesting results: Pigs Prove to Be Smart, if Not Vain By NATALIE ANGIER The New York Times Published: November 10, 2009 "Recent discoveries from the nascent study of pig cognition offered evidence that pigs were quick learners, slow to forget and similar to humans in many ways." Read the article

From The New York Times : Brain Is a Co-Conspirator in a Vicious Stress Loop By NATALIE ANGIER Published: August 18, 2009 "Chronic stress changes the brain, but relaxation can change it back." Read the full article

From a National Institutes of Health (NIH) press release: Imitation Promotes Social Bonding in Primates Capuchin Monkeys Predisposed Toward Individuals Who Imitate Them Imitation, the old saying goes, is the sincerest form of flattery. It also appears to be an ancient interpersonal mechanism that promotes social bonding and, presumably, sets the stage for relative strangers to coalesce into groups of friends, according to a study by a team of scientists at the National Institutes of Health and two Italian research institutions. The study authors found that capuchin monkeys preferred the company of researchers who imitated them to that of researchers who did not imitate them. The monkeys not only spent more time with their imitators, but also preferred to engage in a simple task with them even when provided with the option of performing the same task with a non-imitator. Read the full press release

Tomorrow's Sunday New York Times Magazine is its annual new ideas of the past year issue. Among the many shiny ideas presented is telephone screening for dementia: Alzheimer’s Telephone Screening By RON FEEMSTER The New York Times Published: December 9, 2007 This year, researchers completed work on a 50-question telephone quiz to help them identify Alzheimer’s patients long before they exhibit typical symptoms. Such a quiz may soon become part of regular medical care. This new tool measures what the researchers call “cognitive vital signs” like short-term memory loss, which is the most important early sign of Alzheimer’s, and detects declines in everyday abilities like using a telephone, preparing meals or managing finances. The quiz also picks up behavioral warning signs including apathy, irritability and depression. “If somebody is failing these cognitive tests, they already have the characteristics of the disease,” says Jeffrey Cummings, director of the Alzheimer Disease Center...

Scientific American has created a courtesy weekly podcast to highlight research about the brain and behavior. The podcast can be accessed at this webpage: Scientific American webpage . Not a bad way to spend a minute! Which, by the way, reminds me to mention that if you are in Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania still has several of its outdoors 60-second lectures remaining over the next few weeks, which are always fun to attend!

From the Associated Press, a report of curious cooperative behavior ... or merely a fluke: Spiders Create Giant Web By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 30, 2007 Filed at 7:02 a.m. ET WILLS POINT, Texas (AP) -- Entomologists are debating the origin and rarity of a sprawling spider web that blankets several trees, shrubs and the ground along a 200-yard stretch of trail in a North Texas park. Officials at Lake Tawakoni State Park say the massive mosquito trap is a big attraction for some visitors, while others won't go anywhere near it. ''At first, it was so white it looked like fairyland,'' said Donna Garde, superintendent of the park about 45 miles east of Dallas. ''Now it's filled with so many mosquitoes that it's turned a little brown. There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs.'' Spider experts say the web may have been constructed by social cobweb spiders, which work together, or could be t...