Female baboons that maintain closer ties with other members of their troop live substantially longer than do those whose social bonds are less stable, a recent study has found. The researchers say that the findings, reported online on July 1st in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, add to evidence in animals from mice to humans that social bonds have real adaptive value...
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July 3, 2010
February 25, 2010
On riding the mistake wave
I've just read a funny and insightful interview with neuroscientist Vincent Walsh from last November's Current Biology that's full of over-caffeinated anecdotes and understated wisdom.It's really worth reading in full but, unfortunately, the whole thing is locked behind a paywall (a bargain at only $31.50), but I've reproduced part of the piece below:What's the best advice you have ever given to
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January 5, 2010
Is beat induction special? (Part 7)
A recording of a lecture by dr Ani Patel from the Neuroscience Institute in San Diego, including an exposé on why beat induction (and/or synchronizing to a beat) might be special to 'musical animals':Patel, A., Iversen, J., Bregman, M., & Schulz, I. (2009). Experimental Evidence for Synchronization to a Musical Beat in a Nonhuman Animal Current Biology DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.03.038...
8 Vote(s)
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November 14, 2009
Human Expectation Of Pleasure Enhanced By Dopamine
Enhancing the effects of the brain chemical dopamine influences how people make life choices by affecting expectations of pleasure, according to new research from the UCL Institute of Neurology. The study, published in Current Biology, confirms an important role for dopamine in how human expectations are formed and how people make complex decisions. It also contributes to an understanding of h
10 Vote(s)
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November 11, 2009
November 2, 2009
Facial emotional expressions are universal and culturally specific
Earlier this year a piece of emotion research provoked a rather heated reaction in some quarters after it claimed to show that, contrary to the writings of Charles Darwin, Paul Ekman and others, facial emotional expressions are not universal after all. "Seriously, is this all that it takes to be published in Current Biology? Sheesh," was the verdict of one incredulous online commenter to Reddit (
20 Vote(s)
20 Vote(s)
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August 29, 2009
To the scent side
The New York Times covers an interesting study finding that if you smell different odours in each nostril the brain doesn't blend the scents, instead, your experience of smell alternates between the two.This nostril rivalry, as the researchers describe it in a paper in Current Biology, is similar to what happens when the eyes are presented with different images, or the ears with different tones.T
7 Vote(s)
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August 25, 2009
Actually, you ARE walking in circles
This post isn’t quite about ecology. But it’s about a phenomenon that many ecologists have ample experience with. A study out last week in Current Biology found that when people get lost in the wilderness, they actually do walk in circles.Jan Souman of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, and his [...]... Souman JL, Frissen I, Sreenivasa MN
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August 15, 2009
Racial Barriers In Facial Expressions
People from East Asia tend to have a tougher time than those from European countries telling the difference between a face that looks fearful versus surprised, disgusted versus angry, and now a new report published online in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, explains why. Rather than scanning evenly across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fixate their attention on the eyes.
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7 Vote(s)
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July 16, 2009
Tuning In To Your Cat
Anyone who has ever had cats knows how difficult it can be to get them to do anything they don't already want to do. But it seems that the house cats themselves have had distinctly less trouble getting humans to do their bidding, according to a report published in the July 14th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.
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