jueves, 28 de febrero de 2008

Chimp and human communication trace to same brain region


An area of the brain involved in the planning and production of spoken and signed language in humans plays a similar role in chimpanzee communication, researchers report online on February 28th in the journal Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press.

“Chimpanzee communicative behavior shares many characteristics with human language,” said Jared Taglialatela of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. “The results from this study suggest that these similarities extend to the way in which our brains produce and process communicative signals.”

The results also suggest that the “neurobiological foundations” of human language may have been present in the common ancestor of modern humans and chimpanzees, he said.

Scientists had identified Broca’s area, located in part of the human brain known as the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), as one of several critical regions that light up with activity when people plan to say something and when they actually talk or sign. Anatomically, Broca’s area is most often larger on the left side of the brain, and imaging studies in humans had shown left-leaning patterns of brain activation during language-related tasks, the researchers said.

“We didn’t know if or to what extent other primates, and particularly humans’ closest ancestor, the chimpanzees, possess a comparable region involved in the production of their own communicative signals,” Taglialatela said.

In the new study, the researchers non-invasively scanned the brains of three chimpanzees as they gestured and called to a person in request for food that was out of their reach. Those chimps showed activation in the brain region corresponding to Broca’s area and in other areas involved in complex motor planning and action in humans, the researchers found.

The findings might be interpreted in one of two ways, Taglialatela said.

“One interpretation of our results is that chimpanzees have, in essence, a ‘language-ready brain,’ ” he said. “By this, we are suggesting that apes are born with and use the brain areas identified here when producing signals that are part of their communicative repertoire.

“Alternatively, one might argue that, because our apes were captive-born and producing communicative signals not seen often in the wild, the specific learning and use of these signals ‘induced’ the pattern of brain activation we saw. This would suggest that there is tremendous plasticity in the chimpanzee brain, as there is in the human brain, and that the development of certain kinds of communicative signals might directly influence the structure and function of the brain.”

###

The researchers include Jared P. Taglialatela, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA, Department of Natural Sciences, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA; Jamie L. Russell, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA; Jennifer A. Schaeffer, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA; and William D. Hopkins, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA, Department of Psychology, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA.

martes, 12 de febrero de 2008

Upcoming Primate Meetings

5TH ANNUAL ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF PAIN AND DISTRESS IN ANIMALS (ATOP V)
Date: February 8, 2008
Sponsor: The AWEN Group
Location: Massachusetts Medical Society Conference Center at Waltham Woods, Waltham, MA
Web Site: http://www.theawengroup.com/ATOPV_info.html

BEHAVIOUR AND INDIVIDUALITY IN PRIMATES AND OTHER MAMMALS
Dates: March 17, 2008 - March 18, 2008
Sponsor: Lusófona University
Location: Auditorium Agostinho da Silva, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal
Web Site: http://behavior-individuality.blogspot.com/

2ND BRITISH ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY TROPICAL ECOLOGY GROUP
Dates: March 18, 2008 - March 19, 2008
Sponsor: British Ecological Society Tropical Ecology Group
Location: University of Oxford, UK
Web Site: http://www.besteg.org/earlycareer.html

IACUC 101
Date: March 26, 2008
Sponsor: Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, NIH
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Web Site: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/iacuc101s.htm

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGISTS ANNUAL MEETING
Dates: April 7, 2008 - April 13, 2008
Sponsor: American Association of Physical Anthropologists
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Web Site: http://www.physanth.org/annmeet/

3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PRIMATE GENOMICS: PRIMATE GENOMICS AND HUMAN DISEASE
Dates: April 13, 2008 - April 16, 2008
Sponsor: University of Washington
Location: Seattle, Washington
Web Site: http://www.seattleprimategenomics.com

31ST MEETING OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PRIMATOLOGISTS
Dates: June 18, 2008 - June 21, 2008
Sponsor: American Society of Primatologists
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
Web Site: http://www.asp.org/asp2008/index.htm

REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT CONFERENCES: IPS 2008 PRE-TRAINING WORKSHOP
Dates: July 30, 2008 - August 3, 2008
Sponsor: Regional Environmental Enrichment Conferences
Location: Edinburgh Zoo, Edinburgh, Scotland
Web Site: http://www.reec.info/IPS2008.htm

XXIIND IPS CONGRESS
Dates: August 3, 2008 - August 8, 2008
Sponsor: Primate Society of Great Britain
Location: Edinburgh International Conference Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland
Web Site: http://www.ips2008.co.uk/index.html

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ANIMAL BEHAVIOR SOCIETY
Dates: August 14, 2008 - August 19, 2008
Sponsor: Animal Behavior Society
Location: Snowbird, Colorado
Web Site: http://abs.animalbehavior.org/

MEASURING BEHAVIOR 2008: 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON METHODS AND TECHNIQUES IN BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH
Dates: August 26, 2008 - August 29, 2008
Sponsor: Noldus
Location: Maastricht, The Netherlands
Web Site: http://www.noldus.webaxxs.net/mb2008/

2008 AAZK NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Dates: September 24, 2008 - September 28, 2008
Sponsor: American Association of Zoo Keepers
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Web Site: http://www.utahaazk.org/national.htm

ASSOCIATION OF PRIMATE VETERINARIANS
Dates: November 5, 2008 - November 8, 2008
Sponsor: Association of Primate Veterinarians
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Web Site: http://www.primatevets.org/

59TH AALAS NATIONAL MEETING
Dates: November 9, 2008 - November 13, 2008
Sponsor: AALAS
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

SCIENTISTS CENTER FOR ANIMAL WELFARE (SCAW) WINTER CONFERENCE
Dates: December 1, 2008 - December 2, 2008
Sponsor: Scientists Center for Animal Welfare (SCAW)
Location: San Antonio, TX
Web Site: http://www.scaw.com/conference.htm

THE 26TH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM FOR NONHUMAN PRIMATE MODELS FOR AIDS
Dates: December 9, 2008 - December 12, 2008
Sponsor: Wisconsin National Primate Research Center and Caribbean Primate Research Center
Location: The Ritz-Carlton, San Juan Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Web Site: http://nhp2008.primate.wisc.edu

miércoles, 6 de febrero de 2008

New Monkey Species Found in Remote Amazon


A new species of uakari monkey, seen above, was recently found in a mountainous region of the Amazon by a New Zealand primatologist. The animal, dubbed Cacajao ayresii, lives outside protected lands and is hunted by locals, prompting the expert to call the newfound creature "quite vulnerable."

Photograph by Italo Mourthe


Fuente: National Geographic

lunes, 4 de febrero de 2008

CURSOS ETOLOGIA DE PRIMATES


Cursos de Etología de Primates en Fundación Mona PRIMER SEMESTRE 2008

Fundación Mona (www.fundacionmona.org) organizará durante el primer semestre de 2008 nuevas convocatorias de cursos de Etología de Primates. El objetivo fundamental de estos cursos es estudiar y comprender el comportamiento de los primates no humanos, no tan solo desde una vertiente teórica sino también práctica. Así, dedicaremos el 45% del tiempo a la práctica de observación etológica de los animales alojados en el Centro de Recuperación de Primates de la Fundación Mona, y un 55% a la teoría.


Disponemos de tres niveles de formación: básico (nivel 1), intermedio (nivel 2) y avanzado (nivel 3). No se podrá acceder a los niveles 2 y 3 sin haber cursado previamente los niveles inferiores.

La duración estimada de cada curso es de 15 horas (8,5 de teoría y 6,5 de práctica) distribuidas en dos únicos días intensivos (viernes y sábado), y se llevarán a cabo a partir del próximo mes de marzo de 2008. El horario será de 10:00h a 18:30h. El precio de la inscripción incluye carpeta con libreta de campo, material en CD-ROM y certificado de aprovechamiento del curso.

Próximas convocatorias primer semestre de 2008 (Niveles 1 i 2):

Mes convocatoria

Nivel 1

Nivel 2

Nivel 3

Marzo

21-22

-

-

Abril

25-26

-

-

Mayo

23-24

30-31

-

Junio

20-21

27-28

-


Precios de la formación:


Tipo de tarifa

Nivel 1

Nivel 2

Nivel 3

General

94€

95€

Estudiante

83€

85€

Socio FM

73€

75€

Padrino FM

63€

65€

Voluntario, exvoluntario FM

31€

35€



Lugar de Formación:

Fundación Mona

Carretera de Cassà, 1km

17457 – Riudellots de la Selva, Girona

España



Para más información y reservas:

Persona de contacto: Miquel Llorente

Correo electrónico: recerca@fundacionmona.org (forma de contacto preferente)

tel: 972 477 618