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As Silbert spoke about her prom experience, the same areas lit up in her brain as in the brains of her listeners. In most brain regions, the activation pattern in the listeners’ brains came a few seconds after that seen in Silbert’s brain. But a few brain areas, including one in the frontal lobe, actually lit up before Silbert’s, perhaps representing listeners’ anticipating what she was going to say next, the team says. The study certainly comes with caveats: Its sample size is small, and scientists don’t know exactly what causes the synchronization, nor the exact function of the brain regions in question to any more specificity than “language.” But Stephens and Hasson argue that their findings speak to conceptual common ground people must meet to make conversation possible: “If I say, ‘Do you want a coffee?’ you say, ‘Yes please, two sugars.’ You don’t say, ‘Yes, please put two sugars in the cup of coffee that is between us,’” said Hasson. “You’re sharing the same lexical items, gram

"Turns out, somewhere between 130,000 to 190,000 years ago, the human species was reduced to less than 1000 breeding individuals--just a few thousand people in total. Ancient, naturally driven climate change pushed our species to the brink, said Curtis Marean, Ph.D., a professor with the Institute of Human Origins and the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. What saved us? According to Marean, the answer may be "shellfish"." - Alexander Kruel from Bookmarklet

Shellfish & the human bottleneck posted by Razib @ 12/16/2009 06:02:00 PM http://www.gnxp.com/blog... , 2 -12 Toba catastrophe theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Thomas Page

"Mind perception entails ascribing mental capacities to other entities, while moral judgment entails labeling entities as good or bad or actions as right or wrong. We suggest that mind perception is the essence of moral judgment. In particular, we suggest that moral judgment is rooted in a cognitive template of two perceived minds – a moral dyad of an intentional agent and a suffering moral patient. Diverse lines of research support dyadic morality. First, perceptions of mind are linked to moral judgments: dimensions of mind perception (agency and experience) map onto moral types (agents and patient), and deficits of mind perception correspond to difficulties with moral judgment. Second, not only are moral judgments sensitive to perceived agency and experience, but all moral transgressions are fundamentally understood as agency plus experienced suffering – i.e., interpersonal harm – even ostensibly harmless acts such as purity violations. Third, dyadic morality uniquely accounts for th

"From the moment they're born, babies are highly attuned to communicate and motivated to interact. And they're great listeners." - Maitani from Bookmarklet

:-))) - Maitani

"New research published today in the journal Science suggests it may be possible to use brain technology to learn to play a piano, reduce mental stress or hit a curve ball with little or no conscious effort. It's the kind of thing seen in Hollywood's "Matrix" franchise." - Spaceweaver from Bookmarklet

"Neuroscience has yet to frame anything like an adequate biological or “naturalistic” account of human experience — of thought, perception, or consciousness. We really ought to say that it is the normally embodied, environmentally- and socially-situated human animal that thinks, feels, decides and is conscious. But once we say this, it would be simpler, and more accurate, to allow that it is people, not their brains, who think and feel and decide. It is people, not their brains, that make and enjoy art. You are not your brain, you are a living human being." cf. Francis Crick and his “astonishing hypothesis.” - Adriano from Bookmarklet

The Beautiful Brain gives a paragraph by paragraph response to Noë:http://thebeautifulbrain.com/2011... - The Neurocritic

"Internet Rising is a digi-documentary investigating the evolving relationships between the Internet and collective consciousness of humanity. It provokes many questions about ancient and modern paradoxes of life, its pleasures and pains... and the gray area contrasts in between – but most of all it is meant to be an inspiring conversation starter; a launchpad for future remixes of collective consciousness. Internet Rising [#irise] is a labor of love comprising a rapid fire mashup stream of live interviews all conducted within the web sphere. The film’s participants include many profound personalities and key internet influencers ranging from professors, corporate academics, futurists, writers, bloggers, media, activists, gamers, educators and scientists, all of whom provide amazing insights into how our state of the world is changing and transforming via various forces of economic, social, geographic, political, philosophical development… all centered around technology’s... more... - Amira from Bookmarklet

very nice find thanks, will repost - Wildcat

"Much to humans' chagrin, bacteria have superior survival skills. Their decision-making processes and collective behaviors allow them to thrive and even spread efficiently in difficult environments." - Spaceweaver from Bookmarklet

“He lived at a little distance from his body, regarding his own acts with doubtful side-glances. He had an odd autobiographical habit which led him to compose in his mind from time to time a short sentence about himself containing a subject in the third person and a verb in the past tense.” — James Joyce, Dubliners http://amiquote.tumblr.com/post... - Amira

"What I give form to in daylight is only one per cent of what I have seen in darkness." — M. C. Escher - Amira

An overwhelming 95% of people around the world now own cell phones, according to a new nine-country study by SSI.  Hong Kong (99%), China (98%) and Sweden (98%) have the highest cell phone ownership rates, while the US (89%) has the lowest.  Findings show that, among cell phone owners, 42% currently have smartphones—and 58% are planning to make their next cell phone a smartphone. - Howard Rheingold

"Edward Harran shares his personal story into the knowmad movement: an emerging digital generation that has the capacity to work, learn, move and play - with anybody, anytime, and anywhere. In his energetic talk, Edward gives us a compelling insight into his story and highlights what the knowmads represent: the beginnings of the next renaissance." - Amira from Bookmarklet

"Renowned psychiatrist and writer Iain McGilchrist explains how the ‘divided brain’ has profoundly altered human behaviour, culture and society. (...) It is vital that the two hemispheres work together, but McGilchrist argues that the left hemisphere is increasingly taking precedence in the modern world, resulting in a society where a rigid and bureaucratic obsession with structure and self-interest hold sway. (...) Whatever the relationship between consciousness and the brain – unless the brain plays no role in bringing the world as we experience it into being, a position that must have few adherents – its structure has to be significant. It might even give us clues to understanding the structure of the world it mediates, the world we know. (…)" - Amira from Bookmarklet

+ - Amir