Always fun to meet with friends and break bread
Here’s what we are reading today:
“The study looked at the entire nasal complex of Neanderthals and involved researchers with diverse academic backgrounds. Supported by funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, the research also indicates that the Neanderthal nasal complex was not adaptively inferior to that of modern humans, and that the Neanderthals’ extinction was likely due to competition from modern humans and not an inability of the Neanderthal nose to process a colder and drier climate.
Samuel Márquez, PhD, associate professor and co-discipline director of gross anatomy in SUNY Downstate’s Department of Cell Biology, and his team of specialists published their findings on the Neanderthal nasal complex in the November issue of The Anatomical Record, which is part of a special issue on The Vertebrate Nose: Evolution, Structure, and Function (now online).”
“According to senior study investigator and neurobiologist Regina Sullivan, PhD, who is scheduled to present her team’s findings at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, the research is believed to be the first to show the short-term effects of maternal caregiving in a distressed infant pup’s brain. The study was also designed to support her research into the long-term consequences of differences in how mammals, including humans, are nurtured from birth.
“Our study shows that a mother comforting her infant in pain does not just elicit a behavioral response, but also the comforting itself modifies — for better or worse — critical neural circuitry during early brain development,” says Sullivan, a professor at the NYU School of Medicine and its affiliated Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research.”
“One of the most surprising outcomes of the study was that those who underwent the training also saw their IQ jump by an average of 12 points, compared to a control group that didn’t undergo training.
Dr Daniel Bor, who co-led the study with Dr Nicolas Rothen, says: “The main implication of our study is that radically new ways of experiencing the world can be brought about simply through extensive perceptual training.”
““These results seem to suggest that males are selected to be aggressive toward females to increase their paternity success, which explains why male-female aggression is observed in so many chimpanzee populations,” says Joseph Feldblum of Duke University.
Chimpanzee males are known to direct surprising amounts of aggression toward their female group mates, according to the researchers, but previous studies of mating success had found evidence both for and against the presence of sexual coercion in wild chimps.”
“The scientists made their discovery as part of research in which they identified genes that are activated to make specific proteins in crucial stem cells in the brain known as radial glial cells. The discovery stems from a collaboration between the laboratories of leading radial glial cell scientist Arnold Kriegstein MD, PhD, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF, and Michael Oldham, PhD, who recently made a rapid career leap from graduate student to principal investigator and Sandler Fellow at UCSF.”
“”Previous research into facial structure of athletes has been primarily in the United States and Canada,” said Keith Welker, a postdoctoral researcher in CU-Boulder Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and the lead author of the paper. “No one had really looked at how facial-width-to-height ratio is associated with athletic performance by comparing people from across the world.”
FWHR is the distance between the cheekbones divided by the distance between the mid-brow and the upper lip. Past studies have shown that a high FWHR is associated with more aggressive behavior, with both positive and negative results. For example, high FWHR correlates with greater antisocial and unethical behavior, but it also correlates with greater success among CEOs and achievement drive among U.S. presidents.”
““In the future, robots must be able to solve tasks in deep mines on distant planets, in radioactive disaster areas, in hazardous landslip areas and on the sea bed beneath the Antarctic. These environments are so extreme that no human being can cope. Everything needs to be automatically controlled. Imagine that the robot is entering the wreckage of a nuclear power plant. It finds a staircase that no-one has thought of. The robot takes a picture. The picture is analysed. The arms of one of the robots is fitted with a printer. This produces a new robot, or a new part for the existing robot, which enables it to negotiate the stairs,” hopes Associate Professor Kyrre Glette who is part of the Robotics and intelligent systems research team at Oslo University’s Department of Informatics, Norway.”
28 Comments
rachaeldonahue · November 19, 2014 at 3:44 pm
I feel like it a slippery slope to begin predicting an athlete’s aggression based on their facial structure. However, this is what has been proposed by a study at CU Boulder. Though an interesting idea I think that the sample size is too small and over such a limited spectrum of individuals that it does not really have a strong correlation between face structure and aggression. If they were to do the study over a larger range of participants than just the World Cup soccer players from 2010, their study would gain exponentially more creditability. Unfortunately, if a correlation was found between the two it could create a bias towards individuals with high FWHR ratios for fear of their aggressive tendencies.
michelle.georgette · November 19, 2014 at 5:11 pm
I read the article regarding boosting your IQ based on colors and letter perceptions. Synesthesia seems like a complex and interesting condition. Given the fact that participants saw their IQ’s jump up after going through training, it seems as if people with this condition have a mind working a full speed and are, in general, more intelligent. I find it almost appealing to go through this training, and by just altering my perceptions of the world; I can experience the world differently. This overlap in senses could be a benefit to perceiving the world.
michelle.georgette · November 19, 2014 at 5:12 pm
I reveiwed the article discussing predictions and face structure. When thinking about an aggressive person, I tend to picture a man with broad shoulders, a thick neck, and a round face. The article regarding face ratios and the prediction of goals and fouls is rather interesting. The way we predict other’s success, vote for candidates, or predict aggression usually revolves around appearance. When bullies are portrayed in movies, they usually have a wide face and an intimidating persona. In terms of the participants in the study, World Cup soccer players are all usually built with more athletic profiles. However, it was interesting to read that in predicting fouls, higher facial ratios act more aggressively in a game.
anneke_bleeker · November 19, 2014 at 8:57 pm
I read the article, “Training can lead to synesthetic experiences: Does learning the ‘color of’ specific letters boost IQ?” and I am very surprised by this concept. I learned about Synesthesia for the first time last year, but I had no idea that it was found in about 1 in every 23 people. In fact there is a girl in one of my classes that told the class she sees numbers in colors. I am intrigued to find fro this study that training to think like syntesthetes can lead to some IQ benefits. That leads me to wonder what part in the processing of the brain does is helped by using paired numbers and colors, letters and personas, and how would this lead to a higher IQ? Also, are those that grow up with synesthesia naturally smarter than the average person? Maybe if we teach kids from a young age to “see numbers” we can cultivate higher IQs.
savannahsperry · November 20, 2014 at 5:36 pm
I read “Facial structure predicts goals, fouls among World Cup soccer players,” and found the article to be very fascinating. It’s intuitive to think that factors such as facial-width-to-height ratios and likelihood to commit fouls, score goals and make assists would be unrelated. However, a study by a researcher at Boulder seem to prove otherwise, and scientific findings like these never cease to amaze me. The evolution of these sort of findings will undoubtedly have an affect on our future, though I’m not sure if that affect will be entirely positive or negative.
savannahsperry · November 20, 2014 at 5:40 pm
I also read “Humans’ big brains might be due in part to newly identified protein.” Since there is so much speculation about why humans have a larger brain size relative to other animals, I find it interesting that the answer may be partly explained by a protein. Also, if larger brain size is associated with greater intelligence, then wouldn’t whales exceed us in intellectual capacity? Something to think about.
josephdaddabbo · November 20, 2014 at 6:21 pm
I read the article about chimpanzees and aggression. I think that it is rather suprising. I know that with humans this is not true. However, from the readings, men with “more testosterone” are favored for women for one night stands. One night stands are basically when women ARE promiscous. So the connection is there. Chimpanzees don’t have the cognitive abilities that humans do and don’t have monogous relationships, therefore, there are differences.
ACapanna · November 20, 2014 at 7:11 pm
I didn’t know before this class that the neanderthals were no longer believed to be our ancestors. It’s interesting that so much of the research is focused on their nasal structures. The clothes make the man, but the nose makes the neanderthal… Of course it’s more complicated than that. It’s sad that they probably died because of competition from homo sapiens. Are we the survivors because we are the more aggressive species? If neanderthals were alive today, I doubt that we would be very accepting of them, as we aren’t even very accepting of our differing ethnic groups.
ksomasek · November 22, 2014 at 10:42 am
In the article “Mother’s soothing presence makes pain go away, changes gene activity in infant brain” research revealed that motherly presence not only generates a more nurturing and comforting behavior environment, but also has biological effects. Effects in gene expression and activeness were seen among infant rat brains during maternal care. This conclusion and ongoing research can be extremely crucial since suffering infants cannot be treated with heavy dose drugs and medicine. If the mere presence and care of their mother can produce positive effects, this mode of treatment will be highly valuable and effective to cure deadly diseases and condition in infants. Although currently only short-term effects of motherly care are evident, the growing research in this field of study can possibly lead to solutions with long-term treatment effects which will be a monumental step in treating suffering infants.
ksomasek · November 22, 2014 at 11:11 am
In the article “Facial structure predicts goals, fouls among World cup soccer players” it was concluded that players with higher facial width-to-height ratios (FWHR) are more likely to make goals, fouls and assists in a soccer game. The study was conducted on the 2010 World Cup game consisting of 1,000 players from 32 countries. Forward players with higher FWHRs scored the most goals and were overall more aggressive in playing. The aggressive behavior of these higher FWHR individuals was also correlated with more antisocial and unethical behavior. Interestingly enough this higher aggression and higher FWHR was also evident in the most successful CEOs and U.S. presidents. Much more research and studies need to be conducted in this field to draw more conclusive statements and conclusions, however the data provided from the 2010 World Cup players does stand as valuable results and has provided scientists several more ideas to study FWHRs.
eengelsgaard · November 22, 2014 at 7:14 pm
I read the article “Training can lead to synesthetic experiences..” and I think this is a cool and interesting study. I had never heard of this rare condition before reading this article, and I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to see letters in color. I’m also wondering how training in this perceptual training can lead to an increase in IQ level.I wondering if this training would be available to everyone, or just people whom it could benefit. I noticed that they mentioned that the use of this train can eventually help support mental function in people with ADHD or dementia.This seems like it could be a promising study to help people with mental functions.
eengelsgaard · November 22, 2014 at 7:21 pm
I also read the article “Using 3D printers to print out self-learning robots”, and I really enjoyed learning about this study. 3D printers are at the forefront of providing advances in medicine and science that we never thought possible. I believe that the use of 3D printers can be out future. It is amazing that researchers are able to print out robots that can walk and maneuver through barriers. I hope that this researcher will be able to provide insight into how this technology can be useful in the future.
srvaldez · November 23, 2014 at 12:51 am
I read the “fathers through intimidation” article which was a very unusual article about an adaptive strategy where chimpanzees that used intimidation and sexual coercion had more offspring than males who did not intimidate their partners. The feminist inside me burns with the idea that the more intimidating, aggressive males are getting the most female mates. On a human-like view of it, the female chimpanzee could be scared and not resist the male chimpanzee so she can survive. Looking at it from an evolutionary perspective it might make more sense, though. The female chimpanzees could think this high-ranking male chimpanzee will pass on the best traits for her son to also achieve high-rank and survive longer. Hopefully these female chimpanzees do not endure too much abuse because that’s just not a fair world to live in, in my opinion. I’m glad these behaviors do not cross over into humans because it would be a tough world to live for males and females if we had to live like that.
aflor · November 23, 2014 at 5:30 pm
The article that I found interesting to read was “Mother’s soothing presence makes pain go away, changes gene activity in infant brain.” This article highlights that a mothers presence can create a nurturing and comforting behavior but can cause biological effects since it has impact on the part of early brain development that is involved in emotions. There are certain things that a motherly presence can change that makes a huge difference compared with treatments of drugs and medicine. Further research is to be made of how motherly care can have an infant on an infant’s pain as well as emotional impact in the long-run. I think it is very interesting, and research such as this is very important because it brings back the topic of nature vs. nurture and its importance from both areas during an infant’s development.
zk · November 23, 2014 at 6:10 pm
I read the article regarding the power of a mother’s touch to alter infant genes, and found it quite powerful-the fact that we have the power to alter the actual DNA of an infant is both soothing and frightening. It is soothing because, being the science-based thinker that I am, I always am happy when there is actual evidence to back up intangible concepts, such as a mother’s love for her child. It is hard for me to fully believe in such intangible concepts, for there are so many awful things in the world that make it hard for me to believe in such things, but when we can make such definite statements (as with evidence based things) I can always rely on science to refresh my faith. I find this frightening because it really shows how vulnerable young children are to their environment, and as I mentioned before, there’s so much awful in this world that I really don’t think a lot of children are in adequate environments to receive the positive reinforcement they truly need.
One part of the study which I was curious about was if the same DNA altering effects could be induced by a person other than the mother-if a complete stranger soothed and gave attention to young child, would we have the same results?
susannayu · November 23, 2014 at 7:57 pm
I read the article on training people to develop some characteristics of synesthesia, and I found it interesting that people who were trained had IQ’s that boosted by an average of 12 points. I think it’s hard to determine if it was specifically because of the synesthesia training–what if it was just because they were challenged mentally before taking the test, therefore warming them up and leading them to scoring better compared to those who received no training? Regardless, I can see how synesthesia training can lead to new connections in the brain (but didn’t we learn that those stop after a certain age? Can they still be developed and worked on later in life?). I could see it changing one’s perception on once basic concepts, from spatial ability and comprehension to just seeing the world differently. It’s exciting that this training could potentially be used for people with ADHD or dementia.
emilyventimiglia · November 23, 2014 at 8:58 pm
I read the article titled “your mother is messing with your genes.”
I think the article is very important because it stresses the idea of mothers being nurturing and present in their baby’s lives. I think that certain genes may also be turned on and off by how much a mother talks or sings to her child. A lot of research has gone into the increased development of a baby’s brain when parents consistently talk to the child, so this may also have to do with genetics. Although this article doesn’t mention epigenetics, I think it has a lot to do with what is occurring. There has been a lot of research on epigenetics and which environmental factors can turn on and off certain genes. I think that the care that a newborn recieves from a mother is a prime example of an external environmental factor that can impact a human. This article was good, however I would have loved some more information on which genes specificlly were turned off and what that means.
emilyventimiglia · November 23, 2014 at 9:13 pm
I read the article titled “fathers by intimidation.” This article explains how female chimps can be more receptive towards aggressive males during mating season. It seems to me that in most species aggressive males seem to often mate more frequently because they are able to assert their dominance over the more passive or weaker males. This article stresses the point that we cannot generalize these findings to humans because we have different mating patterns since human females generally mate with one male. However, I think human females can often be attracted to small levels of aggresssion in males as well. Aggression corresponds to increased levels of testosterone and females attract to males with these higher levels (at least initially for a hook up.) It could be that females are then attracted to aggressive males so these males may mate more frequently just like the chimps.
emmathompson95 · November 24, 2014 at 10:44 am
I read the article under the heading “Your mother is messing with your genes” and was very interested in the topic. I believe that it is very true that mothers’ have the ability to comfort their infants when they are distressed or in pain, simply by being in the same room as them. I think it is important for mothers to know this information, and to be aware that babies crave their mother’s comfort and love.
evaschung · November 24, 2014 at 6:07 pm
I read the study called “Facial structure predicts goals, fouls among World Cup soccer players”. I am surprised by such a study, I would not have believed or even thought that these two variables were related. When one thinks about how aggressive a person is, this characteristic is usually attributed to the way in which the individual was raised or the way that people within a society reacts to him or her. This could make sense in that a larger FWHR seems to be a result of the person being larger. People who are considered bigger than normal are often ridiculed throughout their lives, which could attribute to the aggression they feel towards others that can be seen on the soccer field.
evaschung · November 24, 2014 at 6:13 pm
I read the article called “Training can lead to synesthetic experiences: Does learning the ‘color of’ specific letters boost IQ?”. It does not surprise me that this new way of seeing letters as colors stimulates one’s cognitive abilities. It changes the persons perspective of what they already have recognized as a certain thing. For example, you and I recognize colors to be a completely separate category than alphabet letters. However, to make a interpret letters as colors, you are changing their perception of something that they have known to be true for a very long time. This change stimulates their brain causing new synapses to occur to connect the two ideas. A brain that has more stimulated neurons is one that has a higher cognitive ability, leading to a higher IQ.
sabrinayoukhane · November 24, 2014 at 7:42 pm
I read the article “Mother’s Soothing Presence Makes Pain Go Away…” I thought this article was very interesting because we all know that our moms are capable of making us feel better in an instance, but I never thought about it being a psychological function. With children, it makes sense that their mothers would make their pain go away because they maybe don’t quite understand what pain is and how technically, you can make your pain go away yourself, depending on what it is of course. You would think that adults would grow out of this habit, but I don’t think we do. When I am feeling sick, I do the same exact things that my mom would do for me to make me feel better, but for some reason, it just isn’t the same. Now I know it is due to the patterns trained in my amygdala!
sabrinayoukhane · November 24, 2014 at 7:51 pm
I also read the article “Facial Structure Predicts Goals, Fouls Among World Cup Soccer Players.” I find this article very interesting, yet confusing at the same time. I wonder, first, how the researchers even came up with the idea of this research study. Second, I find it hard to believe that the way your facial characteristics are shaped or positioned define or predict your capabilities as a soccer player. I would like to know what the definition of “more likely” is in this study. How much more often do the higher FWHRs commit fouls and goals than those with a lower FWHR. Also, how can we positively state that there is a correlation between FWHR and soccer capabilities?
emmathompson95 · December 1, 2014 at 10:52 am
I read the article; “Intimidating Chimpanzee males more likely to be fathers.” This article was interesting, because one would never expect aggression towards a partner to result in more children. However, I don’t believe this article would be relevant in a textbook because the article stated that this research wouldn’t be relevant in humans because our mating practices are very different.
ysolano · December 2, 2014 at 1:41 pm
I read the article titled “Mother’s soothing presence makes pain go away..” and I didn’t realize that there could be a biological effect on the infants. Growing up with baby sisters, I was able to witness the topics discussed in the article. As a teen I always felt I wasn’t able to stop my sisters from crying. I made sure they were burped, changed, fed, and cleaned, but nothing seemed to work. However, whenever my mom checked for these things, the babies would suddenly stop crying. Even if I cooed, nothing was enough to overpower the presence of my mom. Further reading of the article also interested me because it brought up a very good point. If babies become overly exposed to such a big genetic modification, how would that affect the relationship they have with their peers? If babies are only consoled with a security as powerful as the mother, how will their tolerance for pain be affected as they get older? Can another source fill in for a mom if she is not present? Also, is there another way for babies and infants to be consoled without jeopardizing genetics?
caitlinkc · December 5, 2014 at 3:05 pm
I read the article, “Using 3-D printers to print out self-learning robots,” because I have been curious about 3-D printing for awhile now. I thought it sounded like an interesting new invention and I was curious to see how the inventors could make the robots self-learning. It was interesting to read that although the robots are basically only different in appearance, they have different ways of completing tasks and strategizing. Since the robot has been programmed to self-learn and it has to learn how to walk, turn around, and even hop if it loses a leg, I wonder what role the inventors have in the robots’ movements. If they fall over do they have to pick themselves back up somehow? I would like to see how the experiment works out and if they can work through the kinks.
sarahdelossantos · December 5, 2014 at 10:24 pm
I read the article about facial structure and atheletes, and I agree with the above comment that predicting aggression by facial structure is a “slippery slope”. I understand that psychology, particularly neuropsychology, is interested in finding biological basis for everyday human behavior. However, the conclusion that individuals with a high FWHR ratio are more aggressive shouldn’t be taken to heart based on such a small sample size. The study’s implications are too similar to historic “biological racism” (i.e. the belief that different “facial/cranial structure” accounts for differences between “races”) for my taste. Those who aren’t wary of the small sample size may take this study to heart. Such assumptions, when made by those in power such as police officers, can be dangerous.
sarahdelossantos · December 5, 2014 at 10:29 pm
I also read the article about how “training” can lead to boosted IQ. I was particularly interested in the idea that perceptual training can lead to a cognitive boost that can be quantified by IQ increase. When we were children my older brother and I were encouraged by our parents to do endless books of puzzles and drills so we would be “smarter”. Sure enough, when we were given IQ tests, we (apparently; I don’t seem to remember these tests) scored “very high” in comparison to other children in our age group. This could vastly change our society’s perception of what “IQ” even means. “IQ” is thought to measure a person’s innate cognitive ability and power; if it’s discovered that one can be “trained” to have a high IQ, I suspect the societal value of a high IQ would go down. This would be similar to how, once it was discovered that the SAT was highly “trainable”, SAT scores were considered highly “inflated” and therefore no longer applicable for admission into MENSA (I’m still bitter about that!)