CARTA - Anthropogeny (Audio)

In this talk, Mirella Dapretto (UCLA) begins by describing the relevance of mirror neurons for social functioning. She then discusses the empirical evidence suggesting that the so-called ‘mirror neuron system’ may be hyporesponsive in autism. Dapretto concludes by highlighting critical questions for future research in these areas. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthr...

This lecture demonstrates how early screening at the 1st birthday can positively impact the search for biomarkers and lead to new discoveries regarding the study and treatment of autism. Karen Pierce (UC San Diego) emphasizes patterns of eye gaze as a potent early marker of autism and considers how fMRI can be used to examine neural functional organization in response to language in ASD toddlers....

Andrew Meltzoff (Univ of Washington) describes new research on the origins of ‘social cognition’ -- the mechanisms by which infants come to understand other people and interpret their actions and intentions before language -- and its implications for understanding children with autism spectrum disorders. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID...

Although the neurobiology of autism has been studied for more than two decades, the majority of studies have examined brain anatomy 10 or more years after the onset of clinical symptoms. The early neural defects that cause autism remain unknown, but their signature is likely to be most evident during the first years of life when clinical symptoms are emerging. In this lecture, Eric Courchesne (UC...

In this presentation, Jonathan Sebat (UC San Diego) points out that the biggest known risk factors for autism are genes. However, the mutations that have been firmly implicated in autism are unlike the genetic variants that explain common late-onset diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Most of the genes or genomic regions that are known to contribute to autism are “mutation hotspots”. Seri...

This fascinating and important series from CARTA explores the newest understandings of the roots of autism disorders from the foremost researchers in the world. In this episode, UCLA’s Daniel Geschwind, Simon Fraser University’s Bernard Crespi and Cambridge University’s Simon Baron-Cohen discuss The Evolutionary Biology of Autism Risk, Systems Biology of Autism Spectrum Disorders, and The Fetal An...

This fascinating and important series from CARTA explores the newest understandings of the roots of autism disorders from the foremost researchers in the world. In this episode, Karen Pierce and V.S. Ramachandran of UC San Diego are joined by UCLA’s Mirella Dapretto as they discuss The Early Identification of Autism, Mirroring in the Neurotypical and Autistic Brain, and Mirror Neuron Dysfunction i...

This fascinating and important series from CARTA explores the newest understandings of the roots of autism disorders from the foremost researchers in the world. In this episode, Jonathan Sebat and Eric Courchesne of UC San Diego are joined by Andrew Meltzoff of the University of Washington as they discuss Genetic Etiology, Surprising Findings in Autism: Insights into Anthropogeny and The 'Like-Me'...

How cultural traditions have shaped, and continue to shape, our genomes with presentations on Genetic Impact of Culturally-Based Mating Systems (Marcus Feldman), The Grandmother Hypothesis and Rates of Aging (Kristen Hawkes), and Do Genetic Differences Affect Language Evolution? (Mark Aronoff and Carol Padden) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [S...

How cultural traditions have shaped, and continue to shape, our genomes with presentations on Genomic Basis for Dietary Shifts during Human Origins (Gregory Wray), Adaptations to Human Adult Milk Intake (Sarah Tishkoff), and A Nutritional Basis for the Spread of Indo-European Languages (Henry Harpending) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID...

How cultural traditions have shaped, and continue to shape, our genomes with presentations on Origins of Modern Human Behavior (Alison Brooks), Culture-led Gene-culture Coevolution (Peter Richerson), and Human Adaptations to Diverse Environments (Anna Di Rienzo) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21015]

Why are we the only two-legged creature to develop an exclusively upright gait? And what did it mean to the development of the human species? CARTA brings you foremost experts to explore the many facets of these questions in this fascinating series with presentations from Dan Lieberman, Leslie Aiello and Matt Cartmill that explore the effect of running, walking and the upright gait on hominid evol...

Why are we the only two-legged creature to develop an exclusively upright gait? And what did it mean to the development of the human species? CARTA brings you foremost experts to explore the many facets of these questions in this fascinating series with presentations from Brian Richmond, Carol Ward and Chris Ruff that compare different evidence and aspects of hominid body form and what those tell...

Why are we the only two-legged creature to develop an exclusively upright gait? And what did it mean to the development of the human species? CARTA brings you foremost experts to explore the many facets of these questions in this fascinating series - starting with presentations from Steven Churchill, Jeremy DeSilva and Matt Tocheri that compare different aspects of hominid anatomy and their relati...

UC Santa Cruz’s Ed Green on the science of revealing the history of divergence of the human species from Neanderthal. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20870]

Leading brain researchers Chet Sherwood, Fred Gage and John Allman discuss unique specialization of the human brain on the cellular and micro-structural scale. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23063]

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...

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" [...

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: 2...

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]