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3D rendered illustration of a brain with signal waves in background to show the concept of consciousness
Book Excerpt from Feeling & Knowing
Antonio Damasio | Nov 1, 2021 | 4 min read
In Chapter 1, “On Being,” author Antonio Damasio outlines the dawn of consciousness.
Rendering of an iceberg
Opinion: Being, Feeling, and Knowing: Our Path to Consciousness
Antonio Damasio | Nov 1, 2021 | 3 min read
The idea that minds and consciousness might be generated by the nervous system alone is false.
Photo of newborn mouse pups
Retinal Activity Prepares Blind Newborn Mice for Vision
Ruth Williams | Jul 22, 2021 | 3 min read
Spontaneous waves of nerve impulses flowing across the retina help mouse pups practice motion detection for when they eventually open their eyes.
Early Humans’ Brains Were More Apelike than Modern
Abby Olena, PhD | Apr 8, 2021 | 3 min read
Impressions that ancient brains left in fossilized skulls reveal that the first human ancestors to migrate out of Africa had much more primitive brains than previously thought.
Cuttlefish, cephalopod, mollusk, mollusca, animal behavior, marshmallow test, cognition, intelligence, evolution
Cuttlefish Delay Gratification, a Sign of Smarts
Asher Jones | Mar 5, 2021 | 8 min read
The cephalopods resisted temptation for up to 130 seconds to earn their favorite food, hinting at sophisticated cognitive abilities such as planning for the future.
Shrew Brains Shrink During Winter
Abby Olena, PhD | Dec 3, 2020 | 4 min read
The animals kill off around one-quarter of the neurons in their somatosensory cortex, perhaps to save energy, and the cells appear to return the following summer.
Book Excerpt from When Brains Dream
Robert Stickgold and Antonio Zadra | Dec 1, 2020 | 8 min read
Ferreting out the biological function of dreaming is a frontier in neuroscience.
Opinion: The Biological Function of Dreams
Robert Stickgold and Antonio Zadra | Dec 1, 2020 | 3 min read
The scenarios that run through our sleeping brains may help us explore possible solutions to concerns from our waking lives.
animal learning, zebra finch, model organism, communication, fast mapping, individual recognition, cognition, evolution
Zebra Finches Recognize the Calls of Over 40 Fellow Finches
Amanda Heidt | Nov 13, 2020 | 5 min read
Their ability to distinguish between individuals is strong evidence for fast mapping, a learning tool generally thought to belong only to humans.
ogre-faced spider Deinopis spinosa metatarsal trichobothria evolution senses hearing vibration sound
This Ogre-Faced Spider Can Hear Prey Through Its Legs
Katarina Zimmer | Oct 29, 2020 | 5 min read
The tropical net-casting spider Deinopis spinosa joins several other arachnid species that can hear sounds from afar without the help of a web, or even ears—an ability that aids its unique hunting tactics.
Book Excerpt from The Nature of Fear
Daniel T. Blumstein | Oct 21, 2020 | 4 min read
In the book’s prologue, author Daniel T. Blumstein explains his introduction to the study of fear.
Opinion: What Animals Can Teach Us About Fear
Daniel T. Blumstein | Oct 1, 2020 | 3 min read
Fear binds us to our human and nonhuman ancestors. Understanding the emotion can help us grapple with challenges we face today.
Contributors
The Scientist | May 1, 2020 | 3 min read
Meet some of the people featured in the May 2020 issue of The Scientist.
How Evolution Made the Highveld Mole Rat Impervious to Ant Stings
Shawna Williams | Sep 1, 2019 | 5 min read
Researchers identify changes to a pain receptor and to an ion channel that appear to enable the rodents to colonize otherwise inhospitable burrows.
A section of a mouse piriform cortex, a layered structure important for smell processing
Image of the Day: Smell Circuits
Nicoletta Lanese | Jul 24, 2019 | 1 min read
The brain wiring behind scent processing seems to scale across mammalian species.
spinyfin Diretmus argenteus deep sea vision fish photopigment opsin
This Deep-Sea Fish Has the Most Types of Opsins Among Vertebrates
Katarina Zimmer | May 9, 2019 | 4 min read
The silver spinyfin has an extraordinary diversity of rod photopigments, which researchers propose may allow it to see color in the deep, dark sea.
Brain Surface Area Reveals Overlap in Genes, Intelligence, Evolution
Carolyn Wilke | Mar 4, 2019 | 5 min read
An analysis of the contours of more than 600 kids’ brains points to links between cerebral surface area and heritability in regions of the brain important in cognition.  
notebook
A Keen Sense of Smell Appears to Go Hand in Hand with Spatial Memory
Shawna Williams | Feb 1, 2019 | 3 min read
Authors of a small study say the two abilities likely evolved in tandem.
Can Viruses in the Genome Cause Disease?
Katarina Zimmer | Jan 1, 2019 | 10+ min read
Clinical trials that target human endogenous retroviruses to treat multiple sclerosis, ALS, and other ailments are underway, but many questions remain about how these sequences may disrupt our biology.
Why Human Speech Is Special
Philip Lieberman | Jul 1, 2018 | 10+ min read
Evolutionary changes in both the vocal tract and the brain were necessary for humans’ remarkable gift of gab.
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