Carta - Center For Academic Research And Training In Anthropogeny (audio)

In this talk, Hillard Kaplan (Univ of New Mexico) presents a theoretical model linking ecology to male paternal investment. The basic argument is that there are three fundamental potential inputs into offspring fitness: genes, care, and energy. When this model is applied to humans, it is proposed that there is a modal human economy of food production and redistribution that evolved as part of the hunting and gathering lifeway. As human economies changed over the last ten thousand years, diversity in mating and parental investment has grown substantially. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28034]

Giving and sharing are central to understanding humanity and human evolution. In this talk, Barry Hewlett (Washington State Univ, Vancouver) examines reproductive (i.e., allomaternal care) and information (i.e., knowledge and skills) sharing among Aka hunter-gatherers of the Congo Basin. Particular attention is given to understanding the contexts of allomaternal nursing and teaching during infancy. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28033]

Sue Carter of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill examines the hypothesis that Homo sapiens, with their high level of dependence on social behavior and cognition, could not have evolved without the neuropeptide, oxytocin. Oxytocin pathways – which include oxytocin, the related peptide vasopressin, and their receptors – are at the center of physiological and genetic systems that permitted the evolution of the human nervous system and allowed the expression of contemporary human sociality. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28032]

Katie Hinde of Harvard University presents emerging research that addresses the magnitude, sources, and consequences of inter-individual variation of bioactive constituents in mother’s milk. A better understanding of variation in milk composition, especially for milk constituents linked to infant cognition, neurodevelopment, behavior, and metabolism, enhances an evolutionary biological perspective of parent-offspring dynamics. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28031]

Kim Bard of the University of Portsmouth, UK presents data on comparative development of infant states, that is, states of arousal, state regulation, emotion states, and engagement states in chimpanzee and human infants. Comparative developmental studies are valuable for understanding hominid evolution, and essential for delineating those characteristics that are uniquely human. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28030]

From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Barry Hewlett (Washington State Univ, Vancouver) begins with a discussion on Sharing Childcare and Knowledge in Infancy, followed by Kristen Hawkes (Univ of Utah) on Grandmothers and the Extended Family, and Hillard Kaplan (Univ of New Mexico) on Human Fathers. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28018]

From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Katie Hinde (Harvard Univ) begins with a discussion about Breast Milk and Breastfeeding, followed by Sue Carter (Univ of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) on Oxytocin Pathways and Human Evolution, and Melvin Konner (Emory Univ) on Hunter-Gatherer Childhood and Human Evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28017]

From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Wenda Trevathan (New Mexico State Univ) begins with a discussion about Birth and the Newborn Infant, followed by Kim Bard (Univ of Portsmouth) on the Infant State in Apes and Humans, and Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (UC Davis) on Born Human: How the Utterly Dependent Survive. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28016]

CARTA: Mind Reading: Human Origins and Theory of Mind: Question and Answer Session Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26085]

CARTA: Mind Reading: Human Origins and Theory of Mind: Wrap-Up: Terry Sejnowski Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26084]

In this talk, Elizabeth Spelke (Harvard Univ) asks whether studies of human infants provide insights into the origins and nature of uniquely human social cognitive capacities. Do the complex social judgments made by human adults develop from, and build on, simpler systems that are functional in infants? And do non-human animals share any of these systems, and therefore serve as models for studies of their development and functioning at multiple levels of analysis? Recent research on human infants suggests tentative answers to these questions. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26083]

Over the past two decades, research investigating the neural basis of social abilities suggests that the human brain has dedicated systems for understanding other minds. Jason Mitchell (Harvard Univ) reviews this brain imaging work and discusses the implications for the unique aspects of human social cognition. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26081]

Mirror neurons were first discovered in the brain of macaque monkeys – neurons active both when the monkey executed certain actions and when he observed others performing similar actions. Perhaps such neurons in humans could provide the key to linking our own experience to that of others. Michael Arbib (Univ of Southern California) explores this idea, but stresses that mirror neurons function only as part of much larger brain systems. In other words, human social interaction is not just a matter of registering the current actions or expressions of the other. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26080]

The ability to recognize oneself in a mirror, once considered a uniquely human attribute, is shared by great apes, dolphins, elephants and magpies. Diana Reiss (Hunter College, CUNY) discusses comparative studies of mirror self-recognition in dolphins and elephants, which show striking similarities to humans and great apes in regard to their behavior when exposed to a mirror. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26079]

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (Univ College London) discusses how the social brain, that is, the network of brain regions involved in understanding others, develops during adolescence. Adolescence is a time characterized by change – hormonally, physically, psychologically and socially. Yet until fairly recently, this period of life was neglected by neuroscience. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26078]

For many years, Tetsuro Matsuzawa (Kyoto Univ) has studied chimpanzees both in the laboratory and in the wild. In this talk he presents several examples of “mind reading” in chimpanzees based on his research in the lab and observations in the field. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26076]

Ralph Adolphs (Caltech) provides an overview on how best to define Theory of Mind, how to relate it to other similar terms, and how to study it. He closes by speculating on what aspects of mindreading might be unique to humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26075]

CARTA Symposium Co-Chair Donald Pfaff introduces the topic of Theory of Mind and how it differs from other studies of social behaviors. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26074]

CARTA Co-Director Ajit Varki welcomes the public and researchers to the CARTA symposium on Mind Reading: Human Origins and Theory of Mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26073]

This CARTA series explores the evolution of “Theory of Mind” (ToM), the ability to impute mental states such as beliefs, desires, and intentions to oneself and others, and how ToM makes us uniquely human. Elizabeth Spelke (Harvard Univ) begins with a discussion about What Makes Humans Different?, followed by Jason Mitchell (Harvard Univ) on Brain Imaging Studies, and Michael Arbib (Univ of Southern California) on Mirror Neurons and More. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 25936]