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Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry Mar 2022Using the large datasets available with new gene sequencing and biobank projects, behavioral geneticists are developing tools that attempt to predict individual...
Using the large datasets available with new gene sequencing and biobank projects, behavioral geneticists are developing tools that attempt to predict individual intelligence based on genetics. These predictive tools are meant to enable a 'precision education' that will transform society. These technological developments have not changed the fundamental aims of a program with a long history. Behavioral genetics is continuous with previous attempts to match personal characteristics to heredity, such as sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, and threatens racial and other forms of bias. From these older paradigms, it inherits an understanding of intelligence as informational processing shaped by mechanistic and computational metaphors as well as a view of society and education organized around competition. Because of these influences, these models misdescribe fundamental aspects of human engagement with the world and disregard other concepts of intelligence, which creates problems for the precision education that researchers hope to construct using genetic knowledge.
Topics: Eugenics; Genetic Research; Genetics, Behavioral; Humans; Intelligence; Intelligence Tests
PubMed: 34448120
DOI: 10.1007/s11013-021-09747-0 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Sep 2022The endemic lemurs of Madagascar (Lemuriformes: Primates) exhibit great social and communicative diversity. Given their independent evolutionary history, lemurs provide...
The endemic lemurs of Madagascar (Lemuriformes: Primates) exhibit great social and communicative diversity. Given their independent evolutionary history, lemurs provide an excellent opportunity to identify fundamental principles in the coevolution of social and communicative traits. We conducted comparative phylogenetic analyses to examine patterns of interspecific variation among measures of social complexity and repertoire sizes in the vocal, olfactory and visual modality, while controlling for environmental factors such as habitat and number of sympatric species. We also examined potential trade-offs in signal evolution as well as coevolution between body mass or brain size and communicative complexity. Repertoire sizes in the vocal, olfactory and visual modality correlated positively with group size, but not with environmental factors. Evolutionary changes in social complexity presumably antedated corresponding changes in communicative complexity. There was no trade-off in the evolution of signals in different modalities and neither body mass nor brain size correlated with any repertoire size. Hence, communicative complexity coevolved with social complexity across different modalities, possibly to service social relationships flexibly and effectively in pair- and group-living species. Our analyses shed light on the requirements and adaptive possibilities in the coevolution of core elements of social organization and social structure in a basal primate lineage. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cognition, communication and social bonds in primates'.
Topics: Animals; Communication; Lemur; Phylogeny; Primates; Strepsirhini
PubMed: 35934963
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0297 -
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Dec 2022The scientific study of human behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective began in the 20th century with disciplines such as human ethology and behavioral ecology as... (Review)
Review
The scientific study of human behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective began in the 20th century with disciplines such as human ethology and behavioral ecology as well as sociobiology. This early work focused on the characterization of a universal human nature that could be observed across all societies and cultures, one believed to have emerged in part from evolutionary processes. With the passage of time a newer evolutionary discipline, evolutionary psychology, emerged in the early 1990 s and quickly flourished. The focus on human nature was retained from its forerunners, but the primary focus of the field underwent a decided shift. Gone was the emphasis on observable behaviors and in its place moved psychological and cognitive functioning. At the same time, the new field took an interesting departure from other branches of psychology by largely relegating the significance of individual differences across cognitive and personality styles (whether heritable or environmental in origin) to a minor role. In this paper, we review the primary original arguments for minimizing or ignoring the importance of individual differences in personality and cognition, all in the service of making the case that the study of human nature, and evolutionary psychology more generally, is not at odds with individual differences research. The two fields have always been complementary, with one serving as a frequent source of insight for the other.
Topics: Humans; Individuality; Human Characteristics; Personality; Biological Evolution; Psychology
PubMed: 36343690
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104946 -
American Journal of Primatology Feb 2023Depictions of and references to apes (tailless hominoids) are very limited in early historical written accounts. The first known published representations of ape-like... (Review)
Review
Depictions of and references to apes (tailless hominoids) are very limited in early historical written accounts. The first known published representations of ape-like primates appear in Medieval European books during the first century following the invention of printing. Considering the current knowledge of ape iconography, this article examines an unusual image of a couple of ape-like creatures rendered in a European manuscript and explores the possible links of this challenging illustration with historical accounts and contexts during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. The studied manuscript is known as "BL Sloane MS 4016" and is a medieval herbal manuscript (Tratactus de Herbis) of Lombardian origin dated c. 1440. The illustration in question, which also appears in similar manuscripts, represents two primates. However, these representations differ significantly from those in the other manuscripts. The individuals have physical features that suggest attribution to chimpanzees. The location and the date of the manuscript in relation to the extended merchant and travel network between Europe and Africa during the late Medieval times and earlier Renaissance most likely indicate that free-living or traded chimpanzees or their images may have been the visual source for the illustration. The examination of early depictions and descriptions of apes helps us to understand how we, humans, have represented our own closest zoological relatives. In doing so, this study also provides a review of early ape iconography and historical accounts about African primates during the so-called Age of Discoveries.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Hominidae; Pan troglodytes; Presbytini
PubMed: 36645020
DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23462 -
Berichte Zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte Jun 2022In the 1960s, scientists fascinated by the behavior of free-living animals founded research projects that expanded into multi-generation investigations. This paper...
In the 1960s, scientists fascinated by the behavior of free-living animals founded research projects that expanded into multi-generation investigations. This paper charts the history of three scientists' projects to uncover the varied reasons for investing in a "long-term" perspective when studying animal behavior: Kenneth Armitage's study of marmots in the Rocky Mountains, Jeanne Altmann's analysis of baboons in Kenya, and Timothy Hugh Clutton-Brock's studies (among others) of red deer on the island of Rhum and meerkats in the Kalahari. The desire to study the behavior of the same group of animals over extended periods of time, I argue, came from different methodological traditions - population biology, primatology, and sociobiology - even as each saw themselves as contributing to the legacy of ethology. As scientists embraced and combined these approaches, a small number of long-running behavioral ecology projects like these grew from short pilot projects into decades-long centers of intellectual gravity within behavioral ecology as a discipline. By attending to time as well as place, we can see how this long-term perspective was crucial to their success; they measured evolutionary changes over generations of animals and their data provided insights into how the animals they studied were adapting (or not) to changing local and global environmental factors.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Deer; Ecology; Ethology; Sociobiology
PubMed: 35258099
DOI: 10.1002/bewi.202100026 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Oct 2022Knowledge on the distribution and abundance of organisms is fundamental to understanding their roles within ecosystems and their ecological importance for other taxa....
Knowledge on the distribution and abundance of organisms is fundamental to understanding their roles within ecosystems and their ecological importance for other taxa. Such knowledge is currently lacking for insects, which have long been regarded as the "little things that run the world". Even for ubiquitous insects, such as ants, which are of tremendous ecological significance, there is currently neither a reliable estimate of their total number on Earth nor of their abundance in particular biomes or habitats. We compile data on ground-dwelling and arboreal ants to obtain an empirical estimate of global ant abundance. Our analysis is based on 489 studies, spanning all continents, major biomes, and habitats. We conservatively estimate total abundance of ground-dwelling ants at over 3 × 10 and estimate the number of all ants on Earth to be almost 20 × 10 individuals. The latter corresponds to a biomass of ∼12 megatons of dry carbon. This exceeds the combined biomass of wild birds and mammals and is equivalent to ∼20% of human biomass. Abundances of ground-dwelling ants are strongly concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions but vary substantially across habitats. The density of leaf-litter ants is highest in forests, while the numbers of actively ground-foraging ants are highest in arid regions. This study highlights the central role ants play in terrestrial ecosystems but also major ecological and geographic gaps in our current knowledge. Our results provide a crucial baseline for exploring environmental drivers of ant-abundance patterns and for tracking the responses of insects to environmental change.
Topics: Animal Distribution; Animals; Ants; Biomass; Earth, Planet; Ecosystem; Humans; Mammals; Population Density
PubMed: 36122199
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2201550119 -
American Journal of Physical... Dec 2020Evolution of human maternal investment strategies is hypothesized to be tied to biological constraints and environmental cues. It is likely, however, that the... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
OBJECTIVES
Evolution of human maternal investment strategies is hypothesized to be tied to biological constraints and environmental cues. It is likely, however, that the socioecological context in which mothers' decisions are made is equally important. Yet, a lack of studies examining maternal investment from a cross-cultural, holistic approach has hindered our ability to investigate the evolution of maternal investment strategies. Here, we take a systems-level approach to study how human life history characteristics, environments, and socioecology influence maternal investment in their children.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We test how infant age and sex, maternal age, parity, and child loss, and the composition of a child's cooperative breeding network are associated with maternal investment across three small-scale (hunter-gatherer, horticultural, and agropastoral), sub-Saharan populations (N = 212). Naturalistic behavioral observations also enable us to illustrate the breadth and depth of the human cooperative breeding system.
RESULTS
Results indicate that infant age, maternal age and parity, and an infant's cooperative childcare network are significantly associated with maternal investment, controlling for population. We also find that human allomaternal care is conducted by a range of caregivers, occupying different relational, sex, and age categories. Moreover, investment by allomothers is widely distributed.
DISCUSSION
Our findings illustrate the social context in which children are reared in contemporary small-scale populations, and in which they were likely reared throughout our evolutionary history. The diversity of the caregiving network, coupled with life history characteristics, is predictive of maternal investment strategies, demonstrating the importance of cooperation in the evolution of human ontogeny.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Africa South of the Sahara; Anthropology; Biological Evolution; Caregivers; Cooperative Behavior; Environment; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant Care; Infant, Newborn; Male; Middle Aged; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers; Social Support; Sociobiology; Young Adult
PubMed: 32955732
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24145 -
Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive... Dec 2020
Topics: Biomedical Research; Ethical Analysis; Ethnicity; Genetic Variation; Genetics, Population; Humans; Racial Groups; Sociobiology; Sociology, Medical
PubMed: 33136609
DOI: 10.1097/SPV.0000000000000979 -
Biomolecules Sep 2021The biogenic amines octopamine and tyramine are important neurotransmitters in insects and other protostomes. They play a pivotal role in the sensory responses, learning...
The biogenic amines octopamine and tyramine are important neurotransmitters in insects and other protostomes. They play a pivotal role in the sensory responses, learning and memory and social organisation of honeybees. Generally, octopamine and tyramine are believed to fulfil similar roles as their deuterostome counterparts epinephrine and norepinephrine. In some cases opposing functions of both amines have been observed. In this study, we examined the functions of tyramine and octopamine in honeybee responses to light. As a first step, electroretinography was used to analyse the effect of both amines on sensory sensitivity at the photoreceptor level. Here, the maximum receptor response was increased by octopamine and decreased by tyramine. As a second step, phototaxis experiments were performed to quantify the behavioural responses to light following treatment with either amine. Octopamine increased the walking speed towards different light sources while tyramine decreased it. This was independent of locomotor activity. Our results indicate that tyramine and octopamine act as functional opposites in processing responses to light.
Topics: Animals; Bees; Electroretinography; Feeding Behavior; Octopamine; Phototaxis; Statistics as Topic; Tyramine; Vision, Ocular
PubMed: 34572588
DOI: 10.3390/biom11091374 -
Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) Jan 2024The expression of GPCRs has been associated with schizophrenia, and their expression may induce morphological changes in brain regions responsible for schizophrenia and... (Review)
Review
The expression of GPCRs has been associated with schizophrenia, and their expression may induce morphological changes in brain regions responsible for schizophrenia and disease-specific behavioral changes. The articles included in this review were selected using keywords and databases of scientific research websites. The expressions of GPRs have different involvements in schizophrenia, some increase the risk while others provide protection, and they may also be potential targets for new treatments. Proper evaluation of these factors is essential to have a better therapeutic response with a lower rate of chronicity and thus improve the long-term prognosis.
PubMed: 38256919
DOI: 10.3390/ph17010085