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

John Allman, Professor of Neurobiology at the California Institute of Technology, discusses the nerve cells called VENS (von Economo neurons) and their relationship to positive social emotions like bonding and trust, and negative emotions like disgust Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23230]

Fred H. Gage of the Salk Institute and the University of California, San Diego, describes how induced pluripotent stem cells are used to create functional, developing neurons of humans and chimps, which helps to identify and confirm gene expression differences between the species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23229]

Chet Sherwood, Associate Professor of Anthropology at The George Washington University, explains that while a bigger brain is clearly an important factor in our greater cognitive abilities, some of our cognitive function is likely and specifically related to particular psychological specializations, such as language and enhanced “mentalizing” abilities Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23228]

William Hopkins, Professor of Psychology at Agnes Scott College and research scientist at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, uses in vivo imaging technologies to assess hemispheric specialization. He talks about handedness in non-human primates as it relates to the evolution of coordination and manual gestures. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23227]

Wolfgang Enard, a junior group leader at the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, investigates the genetic and molecular basis of human speech. He uses a mouse model to explore language evolution in humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23226]

James K. Rilling, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Emory University, discusses non-invasive brain imaging techniques to compare brain structure and function in monkeys, apes and humans, with the goal of identifying human brain specializations and informing our knowledge of human brain evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23225]

Katerina Semendeferi, UC San Diego, explores the specializatons of the human social brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23224]

Mike Gazzaniga, UC Santa Barbara, explores the modular and specialized human brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23223]

Todd Preuss, Emory University, explores specialization of human physiology and the distinctiveness of human aging. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23222]

Leading brain researchers James Rilling, Wolfgang Enard and William Hopkins discuss unique specialization of the human brain, from molecular to structural, and their relation to language. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23062]

Leading brain researchers Todd Preuss, MIke Gazzaniga and Katerina Semendeferi explore unique specialization in the human brain that may be keys to the brain’s plasticity, our social nature, and the coordination of the functions in both sides of our brains. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20871]

Human-Specific Signaling Networks (Genevieve Konopka); Uniquely Human Gene Regulation (James Noonan); Human-Specific Changes in Siglec Genes (Ajit Varki) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21958]

Uniquely Human Gene Regulation (James Noonan); A Comparative Study of Immune Response in Primates (Yoav Gilad); Human-Specific Changes in Siglec Genes (Ajit Varki) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21957]

Evolution of Human Duplications: Genomic Instability and New Genes (Evan Eichler); Human Accelerated Regions in the Genome (Katherine S. Pollard) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21956]

Comparisons of Human and Ape Stem Cells (Alysson Muotri); The Neandertal and Denisovan Genomes (Ed Green) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21955]

Elaine Mardis explores the Orangutan genome, and Ed Green explains how and what we know about our relation to Neandertal. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21954]

Renowned paleoanthropologist Tim White of UC Berkeley who is widely credited for his role in the Ardi discovery gives a fascinating overview of the search for the origins of Hominids in Africa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 17357]

Eminent paleoanthropologist Ronald Clarke describes the find and implications of “Little Foot,” the oldest Australopithecine find in Southern Africa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20686]

Social Selection and the Notorious Free-Rider (Christopher Boehm); Social Evolution in Animals and Humans (Steve Frank); Ecology of Cooperation and Altruism (Christophe Boesch) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21110]

Mechanisms Underlying Behaviors That Obey the Golden Rule (Donald Pfaff); How Humans Became Such Other Regarding Apes (Sarah B. Hrdy); Tribal Social Instincts and Human Cooperation (Peter Richerson) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21109]