BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://bec.ucla.edu
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Los_Angeles
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20200308T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20201101T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20210314T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20211107T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20220313T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20221106T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20230312T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20231105T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20240310T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20241103T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20250309T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20251102T090000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240422T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240422T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141543
CREATED:20240410T181946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240521T222345Z
UID:7331-1713787200-1713792600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Michael Greenfield - Rhythm coordination in animal species\, including humans: Entrainment from bushcricket chorusing to the philharmonic orchestra
DESCRIPTION:Rhythm coordination in animal species\, including humans: Entrainment from bushcricket chorusing to the philharmonic orchestra.\nMichael Greenfield\nENES Bioacoustics Research Lab\, CRNL\, University of Saint-Etienne\, CNRS\nDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology\, University of Kansas\nRepetitive cycles of an activity or state\, generally known as rhythm\, are ubiquitous in living organisms\, occurring in all branches of the tree of life.  In animal species rhythms play prominent roles in physiology and behavior\, and they are commonly expressed as long-term (period > 12 h) cycles\, entrained to recurring astronomical phenomena\, at one end of the temporal spectrum\, or as very short (< 10 s) ultradian cycles at the other.  In behavior\, ultradian rhythms often involve movement or the broadcast of communication signals\, and in some species neighboring individuals coordinate their rhythms in time.  Such coordination fascinates us because of its flawless precision and complexity\, the horde of individuals that may participate\, and the resulting crescendo of the communal display.  But aesthetic sensibilities aside\, coordinated rhythms pose major questions concerning mechanisms and evolution :  How is coordination achieved\, which individuals in a local population participate\, why do neighbors bother to coordinate their activity and what is the phylogenetic distribution of these displays among animal taxa? \nThis seminar covers the diverse ways in which animals coordinate relatively fast behavioral rhythms.  We concentrate on the coordination of rhythms expressed in sexual advertisement and social communication\, as these tend to be conspicuous to observers and their parameters can normally be measured unambiguously.  We begin with the various timing schemes found in rhythm coordination\, noting the relative timing of the signaling by individual participants\, how those participants tend to be arranged in space\, and the signaling modalities used.  From the receiver’s perspective\, we ask who perceives the signals\, where these potential receivers are located (whether within or outside of the coordinated group)\, and how receivers may respond to the group display.  Because of moderate to extreme precision found in coordinated group displays\, we pay special attention to the mechanisms with which individual signaling rhythms are aligned in different animal species.  We show how an understanding of mechanism is critical for the next step : evaluating adaptive explanations for synchrony and other group coordinations.  Although our survey of rhythm coordination among animals is certainly incomplete and probably reflects sampling bias favouring signals and species that are readily observed and that have been studied traditionally\, some striking patterns emerge.  Rhythm coordination of both moderate and high precision appears mostly among certain arthropods and ‘lower’ vertebrates in the chordates\, but also in humans where synchronous coordination is central in music\, dance and other group activities.  We consider this curious\, disjunct phylogenetic distribution\, and specifically ask how and why strictly timed rhythmic synchrony operates in these very different organisms.  Importantly\, this comparative approach holds promise for unraveling the origins of human musicality. \n  \n 
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/michael-greenfield-rhythm-coordination-in-animal-species-including-humans-entrainment-from-bushcricket-chorusing-to-the-philharmonic-orchestra/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2024,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240415T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240415T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141543
CREATED:20240410T175739Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240521T222548Z
UID:7327-1713182400-1713187800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Kelsey Jorgensen - Surviving the heights: Environmental adaptations and multispecies genetics in the Andes
DESCRIPTION:Surviving the heights: Environmental adaptations and multispecies genetics in the Andes\nKelsey Jorgensen\nPostdoctoral Scholar\, Department of Anthropology\, UCLA\nHuman populations have thrived in the Peruvian Andes for thousands of years despite extreme environmental stressors of hypoxia\, cold temperatures\, and times of food scarcity. These evolutionary environmental pressures have shaped unique genetic adaptations and continue to influence health in human populations today. In this talk\, I bridge genotype-phenotype to identify genetic variants in modern Peruvians linked to diet and high-altitude resulting from evolutionary environmental adaptation. In addition\, I explore this intersection of biology\, culture\, and environment to infer ancient human migration patterns across the Andes in the absence of aDNA by using multispecies genetics.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/kelsey-jorgensen-surviving-the-heights-environmental-adaptations-and-multispecies-genetics-in-the-andes/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2024,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240408T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240408T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20240329T021007Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240410T175144Z
UID:7287-1712577600-1712583000@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Jazlyn Mooney - On the Number of Genealogical Ancestors: Tracing to the Source Groups of an Admixed Population
DESCRIPTION:On the Number of Genealogical Ancestors: Tracing to the Source Groups of an Admixed Population\nJazlyn Mooney\nDept. of Quantitative and Computational Biology\, University of Southern California\nIn genetically admixed populations\, admixed individuals possess ancestry from multiple source groups. Studies of human genetic admixture frequently estimate ancestry components corresponding to fractions of individual genomes that trace to specific ancestral populations. However\, the same numerical ancestry fraction can represent a wide array of admixture scenarios. Using a mechanistic model of admixture\, we characterize admixture genealogically: how many distinct ancestors from the source populations does the admixture represent? We consider African Americans\, for whom continent-level estimates produce a 75-85% value for African ancestry on average and 15-25% for European ancestry. Genetic studies together with key features of African-American demographic history suggest ranges for model parameters. Using the model\, we infer that if genealogical lineages of a random African American born during 1960-1965 are traced back until they reach members of source populations\, the expected number of genealogical lines terminating with African individuals is 314\, and the expected number terminating in Europeans is 51. Across discrete generations\, the peak number of African genealogical ancestors occurs for birth cohorts from the early 1700s. The probability exceeds 50% that at least one European ancestor was born more recently than 1835. Our genealogical perspective can contribute to further understanding the admixture processes that underlie admixed populations. For African Americans\, the results provide insight both on how many of the ancestors of a typical African American might have been forcibly displaced in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and on how many separate European admixture events might exist in a typical African-American genealogy.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/jazlyn-mooney-on-the-number-of-genealogical-ancestors/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2024,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240401T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240401T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20240329T013639Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240604T192502Z
UID:7281-1711972800-1711978200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:David Reby - What can deer tell us about our voice? How sexual selection may have shaped human vocal diversity
DESCRIPTION:What can deer tell us about our voice? How sexual selection may have shaped human vocal diversity\nDavid Reby\nProfessor of Ethology\, Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle\, Université Jean Monnet of Saint-Etienne\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMany animal species use vocal communication\, but humans are unique in the ability to control the vocal production of an incredible diversity of sounds\, enabling us to exchange information of extreme complexity. In this talk\, I will propose that sexual selection\, which is responsible for the evolution of astonishing visual and auditory signals in many animal species\, may have played a key role in the emergence of our vocal diversity. I will show that in a wide range of polygynous species\, sexual selection has modified the vocal apparatus of males to support the exaggeration of body size conveyed by vocalizations. These modifications have in turn opened up the acoustic space along a male/female continuum\, where low frequencies convey dominance and/or masculinity\, and high frequencies convey subordination and/or femininity. I will suggest that this widening of the vocal space\, which can be found in modern humans in the expression of gender in children’s and adults’ voices\, may have favored the evolution of vocal control by allowing us to play along this frequency continuum to signal emotions and motivations. I will also suggest that size exaggeration may even have shaped the evolution of mechanisms necessary for the production and perception of vowels in speech. \n\n\n 
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/david-reby-spring2024/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2024,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240226T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240226T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20240103T220024Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240228T080201Z
UID:6954-1708948800-1708954200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Michael Campbell - The effect of population history on patterns of genetic diversity at the TAS2R bitter taste receptor genes in West Central and Central African populations
DESCRIPTION:The effect of population history on patterns of genetic diversity at the TAS2R bitter taste receptor genes in West Central and Central African populations\nMichael Campbell\nUSC\nBitter taste perception is a highly variable trait in humans\, and the ability to detect bitter compounds has been largely attributed to genetic variants in 25 bitter taste receptor (TAS2R) genes. Furthermore\, bitter taste perception has been hypothesized to be a dietary adaptation in humans. However\, few studies have characterized patterns of diversity and signatures of selection at the TAS2R genes in distinct African populations. Given the extensive genetic substructure and evidence for local adaptation in Africa\, we hypothesized that Africans practicing diverse subsistence strategies could have distinct patterns of selection resulting from divergent diets. To test this hypothesis\, we examined sequence variation at 22 bitter taste receptor genes in rainforest hunter-gatherers and Bantu-speaking agriculturalists from Cameroon. Here\, we identified 353 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the TAS2R genes\, 35 of which have never been previously described. We also observed striking signatures of positive selection\, including unusually long haplotypes around alleles at the TAS2R genes. In addition\, some of these signals of selection were shared between rainforest hunter-gatherers and Bantu-speaking agriculturalists. To better understand these results\, we performed genomic genotyping in our African populations. Interestingly\, we observed varying proportions of ancestry originating from Bantu-speakers in hunter-gatherers with the highest levels of admixture occurring in the Bakola population. These findings demonstrate that gene flow from neighboring agriculturalists has also shaped patterns of diversity in hunter-gatherers\, including variation in the TAS2R genes. Overall\, this research provides new insights into the evolution of biologically relevant bitter taste genes in highly understudied African populations.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/michael-campbell-tas2r-bitter-taste-receptor-genes/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2024,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240212T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240212T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20240103T215859Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240215T071019Z
UID:6951-1707739200-1707744600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Eduardo Amorim - How Past Pandemics Shaped the Evolution of Human Immunity – Lessons from Ancient Genomes
DESCRIPTION:How Past Pandemics Shaped the Evolution of Human Immunity – Lessons from Ancient\nGenomes\nEduardo Amorim\nCal State Northridge\nPathogen exposure has played a pivotal role in shaping human evolution. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) reveal that the genetic predisposition to infections arises from the contribution of thousands of loci across the genome\, indicating a polygenic mode of inheritance. At California State University Northridge\, our research lab utilizes ancient DNA (aDNA) data to investigate the evolution of polygenic traits in humans\, focusing on phenotypes related to immunity and adaptation to extreme environmental conditions. In this presentation\, I will explore how past epidemics shaped the genetic makeup of our ancestors\, impacting various biological pathways relevant to human health. While addressing the limitations of our methods\, I will emphasize the growing potential of paleogenomics\, employing time-series genetic data built with aDNA to enhance our understanding of human adaptation and the evolution of polygenic traits. The talk will conclude with a brief overview of other ongoing projects in our lab\, including the study of high-altitude adaptation and the coevolution of the human host and the oral microbiome. \n 
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/eduardo-amorin-how-past-pandemics/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2024,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240129T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240129T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20240103T215619Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240131T010232Z
UID:6945-1706529600-1706535000@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Elsa Ordway	- Insights from the tropics: a social-ecological systems approach to understanding climate change
DESCRIPTION:Insights from the tropics: a social-ecological systems approach to understanding climate change\nElsa Ordway\nUCLA\nThe tropics are experiencing dramatic changes as a result of climate change and land-use change. Shifts in carbon flux dynamics\, water cycling\, and species composition are resulting in feedbacks with globally important consequences. However\, tropical forests are not a monolith. They vary enormously in terms of species diversity\, climate\, soils\, human interactions\, and much more. As a result\, tropical forest ecosystems are already beginning to show evidence of distinct responses to climate and land-use change. Yet\, these differences remain highly uncertain and poorly understood. An integrated social-ecological systems approach is critical for understanding drivers of and responses to change\, as well as for identifying solutions.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/elsa-ordway-insights-from-the-tropics/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2024,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240122T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240122T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20240103T215453Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240124T010814Z
UID:6942-1705924800-1705930200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Emily Lindsey - Dawn of the Anthropocene: How humans in a warming climate drove Pleistocene mammal extinctions and re-shaped California’s landscapes
DESCRIPTION:Dawn of the Anthropocene: How humans in a warming climate drove Pleistocene mammal extinctions and re-shaped California’s landscapes\nEmily Lindsey\nTar Pits/UCLA\n\nThe relative roles late-Quaternary climate changes and human actions played in the extinction of most of the world’s large mammals at the end of the Ice Age have been long-debated.  One key challenge is that the fossil record in most regions is too poorly-constrained to precisely pinpoint the disappearance times of different species and align these with environmental and anthropogenic phenomena.  In this talk\, I will describe how a large-scale\, interdisciplinary effort brought together several remarkable records from southern California to unveil a regional story of fire\, extinction\, and ecosystem state shift. This discovery has significant implications for global megafaunal extinctions research as well as modern conservation efforts.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/emily-lindsey-dawn-of-the-anthropocene/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2024,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231204T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231204T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20230925T205931Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231206T010358Z
UID:6870-1701691200-1701696600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Nikhil Chaudhary - Hunter-gatherers\, evolutionary mismatch and mental disorder
DESCRIPTION:Hunter-gatherers\, evolutionary mismatch and mental disorder\nNikhil Chaudhary\nLeverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies\, University of Cambridge\n*Note: This speaker will be remote; However\, we will still be meeting in Haines 352 to watch the talk and conduct the Q&A. \nHumans lived as hunter-gatherers for the vast majority of our evolutionary history\, therefore it has been proposed that aspects of our psychology may be adapted to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. There are several assumptions in this proposal\, however\, research with contemporary hunter-gatherers can offer a useful starting point for exploring the potential for evolutionary mismatch—when an organism faces conditions that differ from those that some trait of the organism is adapted to\, resulting in pathology or maladaptation. Drawing on my fieldwork and previous research\, I will discuss how discordances between the social organisation of hunter-gatherers and WEIRD (Western\, Educated\, Industrialised\, Rich\, Democratic) societies may affect vulnerability to mental disorders in the latter. I will pay particularly attention to differences in residence patterns\, hierarchical structures\, and social networks. I will also discuss differences in childcare strategies and their implications for psychological development.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/nikhil-chaudhary-hunter-gatherers-evolutionary-mismatch-and-mental-disorder/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2023,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231127T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231127T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20230925T174614Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231128T185939Z
UID:6867-1701086400-1701091800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Theo Samore - Traditionalism\, pathogen avoidance\, and competing tradeoffs during a global pandemic
DESCRIPTION:Traditionalism\, pathogen avoidance\, and competing tradeoffs during a global pandemic\nTheo Samore\nUniversity of Otago\nIndividuals vary in the extent to which they embrace their society’s traditions\, as well as in the perception of threats as salient and necessitating mitigation. Traditionalism and threat sensitivity may be linked if—over evolutionary time—traditions offered avenues for reliably addressing threats\, either through instrumental and/or ritual and cooperative benefits. Alternatively\, if traditionalists are attuned to group-destabilizing threats\, they may also exhibit greater threat sensitivity in certain domains. These possibilities – which are not mutually exclusive – suggest that greater traditionalism may associate with stronger mitigating responses toward some threats. However\, threat-avoidance motivations can conflict with competing priorities and epistemic commitments in the real world. The COVID-19 pandemic represented a moment in time in which people across the world undertook costly threat-mitigating behaviors\, providing an important test of the traditionalism-threat avoidance relationship under complex real-world conditions. We investigated the relationship between COVID-19 precautions\, traditionalism\, and perceptions of competing tradeoffs in both the U.S. and a large 27-country cross-cultural sample. Results indicated that\, across study sites\, traditionalism tended to positively correlate with behaviors intended to mitigate the threat of COVID-19. Further\, despite possible epistemic conflict between religion and science\, individuals tended to report engaging in both scientifically and religiously rooted precautions. Nevertheless\, at some study sites\, the relationship between public health precautions and traditionalism was suppressed by competing priorities\, such as lower trust in scientists and greater concerns about personal liberties.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/theo-samore-traditionalism-pathogen-avoidance-and-competing-tradeoffs-during-a-global-pandemic/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2023,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231113T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231113T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20230925T174330Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231115T031023Z
UID:6864-1699876800-1699882200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Zarin Machanda - Social aging in wild chimpanzees
DESCRIPTION:Social aging in wild chimpanzees\nZarin Machanda\nTufts University\, Departments of Anthropology and Biology\nHumans are living longer lives than ever before and so it is critical to understand the process of aging. It has become increasingly recognized that successful aging is not just about physical health but also about our social lives. Chimpanzees are our closest living relative and lead long and complex lives making them an ideal model to better understand our own patterns of social aging. In this talk\, Dr. Machanda will discuss the patterns of social aging in wild chimpanzees from her decades-long research project studying the Kanyawara chimpanzees living in Kibale National Park\, Uganda.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/zarin-machanda-social-aging-in-wild-chimpanzees/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2023,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231106T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231106T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20230925T174221Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231107T232918Z
UID:6861-1699272000-1699277400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Michael Wells - Exploration of human genetic and phenotypic diversity through cell villages
DESCRIPTION:Exploration of human genetic and phenotypic diversity through cell villages\nMichael Wells\nAssistant Professor\, UCLA Department of Human Genetics\nHuman genome variation contributes to diversity in neurodevelopmental outcomes and vulnerabilities; recognizing the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms will require scalable approaches. Here\, I will describe a ‘‘cell village’’ experimental platform we used to analyze genetic\, molecular\, and phenotypic heterogeneity across neural progenitor cells from 44 human donors cultured in a shared in vitro environment using algorithms (Dropulation and Census-seq) to assign cells and phenotypes to individual donors. Through rapid induction of human stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells\, measurements of natural genetic variation\, and CRISPR-Cas9 genetic perturbations\, we identified a common variant that regulates antiviral IFITM3 expression and explains most inter-individual variation in susceptibility to the Zika virus. We also detected expression QTLs corresponding to GWAS loci for brain traits and discovered novel disease-relevant regulators of progenitor proliferation and differentiation such as CACHD1. The village approach provides scalable ways to elucidate the effects of genes and genetic variation on cellular phenotypes\, and can help elucidate the mechanisms guiding brain development and associated diseases.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/michael-wells-exploration-of-human-genetic-and-phenotypic-diversity-through-cell-villages/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2023,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231030T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231030T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20230925T174018Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231107T233018Z
UID:6856-1698667200-1698672600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Katie Karlsgodt - Reward and Cognitive Function in Adolescent Psychopathology
DESCRIPTION:Reward and Cognitive Function in Adolescent Psychopathology\nKatie Karlsgodt\nUCLA Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry\nAdolescence is a time when exploration\, and even risk-taking\, can be considered an adaptive part of the typical developmental experience. This period of enhanced risk-taking allows for new learning\, particularly about the social world\, and is a critical part of establishing independence. Risk-taking is a complex behavior\, often considered to rely on many factors\, including reward sensitivity and reward behaviors\, response to punishment\, and executive function skills that allow the balancing of competing factors and the selection of choices. However\,  in addition to being a time of exploration and independence\, adolescence is also the period of onset for many psychological disorders including schizophrenia and depression. Many such disorders include alterations in both reward and executive function\, which has the potential to impact learning and exploration during this time\, with ultimate effects on social function\, and long term daily life function. In this talk\, I will address the existing literature in this area\, recent relevant work from my lab on reward function\, adolescence\, and psychopathology\, and future directions.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/katie-karlsgodt-reward-and-cognitive-function-in-adolescent-psychopathology/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2023,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231023T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231023T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20230925T173712Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231024T232020Z
UID:6851-1698062400-1698067800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Bridget Callaghan - Intergenerational impacts of adversity on mind-body health: pathways through interoception and the gut-brain axis
DESCRIPTION:Intergenerational impacts of adversity on mind-body health – pathways through interoception and the gut-brain axis\nBridget Callaghan\nAssistant Professor\, Department of Psychology\, UCLA\nChildren’s early experiences with caregivers impact their mental and physical health across the lifespan. Such early caregiving experiences can become biologically and psychologically embedded within an individual\, contributing to intergenerational transmission of adversity. My research program investigates the neurobiological mechanisms via which early caregiving experiences impact children’s mental and physical health\, and how those experiences may be transmitted to impact future generations. I will present data from several studies demonstrating how early life adversity gets ‘under the skin’ to influence children’s emotional health and physical health\, paying particular attention to gastrointestinal distress\, which is tightly connected to emotional wellbeing. Zooming in on the gastrointestinal and oral microbiomes\, I will show how adversity impacts biological systems tied to emotional and physical wellbeing. Finally\, I will show that mind-body adaptations to the state of pregnancy\, through changing interoception\, may be one pathway through which experiences of adversity are perpetuated across generations.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/bridget-callaghan-intergenerational-impacts-of-adversity-on-mind-body-health-pathways-through-interoception-and-the-gut-brain-axis/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2023,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231016T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231016T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20230921T222739Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231019T201655Z
UID:6846-1697457600-1697463000@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Caleb Finch - The Gero-Exposome\, a life history approach to diversity of human longevity
DESCRIPTION:The Gero-Exposome\, a life history approach to diversity of human longevity\nCaleb Finch\, PhD\nARCO and Kieschnick Professor\, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology\, USC\nFrom egg to exit\, human life history is determined by environmental interactions with our genome (GxE). The Gero-Exposome provides a framework for analyzing GxE interactions with life style\, biomes\, and systemic factors. Lifespans difference of 15 years across the socio-economic status (SES) have corresponding differences in the onset of cardiovascular disease and dementia. Moreover\, SES influences the development of brain and vasculature\, by greater gestational exposure to air pollution and cigarette smoke in low SES. Multiple postnatal phases have environmental influences throughout the lifespan. As an experimental model for these complexities\, mice were gestationally exposed to air pollution. Young adults had more body fat and glucose intolerance\, while brains had lower levels of hypothalamic neuropeptides and neuronal stem cells in the hippocampus. These findings are relevant to the multi-generational stability of SES differences in health and lifespan\, for which the GxE basis is undefined.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/caleb-finch-the-gero-exposome-a-life-history-approach-to-diversity-of-human-longevity/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2023,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231002T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231002T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20230921T195335Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231019T201745Z
UID:6840-1696248000-1696253400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Barbara Natterson-Horowitz - The 600-million-year history of human affective disorder
DESCRIPTION:The 600-million-year history of human affective disorder\nBarbara Natterson-Horowitz\nDivision of Cardiology\, UCLA School of Medicine\nDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology\, UCLA\nDepartment of Human Evolutionary Biology\, Harvard University\nDepartment of Global Health and Social Medicine\, Harvard Medical School\nFifty years ago this October\, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three animal behaviorists based on the belief that the emerging field of ethology could transform our understanding of human biobehavioral health. Unfortunately\, the promise was not realized within the lifetimes of the scientists themselves. In the decades that followed\, advances in biological psychiatry challenged psychoanalysis as the singular source of explanatory insights into mental illness. Regrettably\, highly reductive biological approaches that lack a broader\, integrated organismal and ecological context have not led to much needed transformational knowledge. \nToday\, broadly comparative and ecologically-informed studies of animal behavior are revealing: 1) the ancient origins of human affective systems and affective disorders in the social brain networks of early social animals\, 2) the important links between brain biology promoting adaptive behavior in chronically subordinated animals and neurovegetative symptoms in depressed human beings\, and 3) evidence that withdrawn behavior\, anhedonia\, and reduced cognitive and motoric activity in chronic subordinates increases survival in certain individuals. Recent studies connecting social defeat to severe depression point\, once again\, to animal behavior as a source of insights into human mental health. In fact\, phylogenetic perspectives can provide much needed scaffolding on which to layer\, with context\, the rapidly growing body of reductive knowledge about the human brain in health and illness. \nDr Natterson-Horowitz’s lecture will first survey the historical and scientific settings in which both insights were recognized and overlooked. She will then present an up-to-date summary of insights into human affective disorders emerging at the intersection of behavioral ecology\, neurobiology\, psychopharmacology\, and evolutionary biology.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/barbara-natterson-horowitz-the-600-million-year-history-of-human-affective-disorder/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
CATEGORIES:2023,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220131T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220131T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141544
CREATED:20211129T171849Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220211T041909Z
UID:6364-1643630400-1643635800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Jenny Tung - The social genome and primate evolution
DESCRIPTION:Jenny Tung\nDuke University\nhttp://www.tung-lab.org/
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/jenny-tung/
CATEGORIES:2022,Past Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220124T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220124T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20211129T171712Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220127T225519Z
UID:6361-1643025600-1643031000@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Gerry Carter - Cooperative Relationships in Vampire Bats
DESCRIPTION:Several birds and mammals form affiliative relationships with both kin and nonkin that involve multiple forms of cooperation. When individuals form these long-term cooperative relationships\, both the causes and consequences of each individual’s cooperative investments are difficult to study. To understand how individuals form and maintain cooperative relationships\, one must ultimately manipulate both associations and interactions to experimentally test for predicted changes in relationship dynamics. In this talk\, I will review what we have learned so far from 10 years of experiments with common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus). These blood-feeding vampire bats regurgitate food to help unfed bats in need\, and these costly donations occur reciprocally among both related and unrelated adult females. My work to date suggests that such food sharing has origins in extended maternal care and kin selection\, but now provides multiple kinds of direct and indirect fitness benefits through some combination of reciprocity and interdependence. New reciprocal food-sharing relationships form between strangers initially through escalating reciprocal allogrooming\, and new allogrooming relationships can be experimentally “seeded” by forcing bats into close spatial proximity. A key concept is that the amount of fitness interdependence in social relationships can change continuously over time\, blurring the lines between categorical models of cooperation such as reciprocity and ‘pseudo-reciprocity’. \n\nGerry Carter\nOhio State University\nhttps://eeob.osu.edu/people/carter.1640
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/gerry-carter/
CATEGORIES:2022,Past Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220110T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220110T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20220102T175847Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220117T225052Z
UID:6390-1641816000-1641821400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Ed Hagen - Homo medicus: The transition to meat eating\, increased pathogen pressure\, and the constitutive and inducible use of pharmacological plants in Homo
DESCRIPTION:Homo medicus: The transition to meat eating\, increased pathogen pressure\, and the constitutive and inducible use of pharmacological plants in Homo\n\n\n\nEdward H. Hagen\, Aaron D. Blackwell\, Aaron D. Lightner\, Roger J. Sullivan\n\n\n\nClick here for link to manuscript pre-print\n\n  \nThe human lineage entered a more carnivorous niche 2.6 mya. A range of evidence indicates this increased zoonotic pathogen pressure. This evidence includes increased zoonotic infections modern hunter-gatherers and bushmeat hunters relative to others living in the same environments\, exceptionally low stomach pH compared to other primates\, human-specific down-regulation in ANTXR2 that would have protected against increased exposure to zoonotic anthrax\, exceptional human immune responses to LPS compared to other primates\, and other divergent immune genes. These all point to change\, and likely intensification\, in the disease environment of Homo compared to earlier hominins and other apes. At the same time\, the brain\, an organ in which inflammatory immune responses are highly constrained\, begins to increase\, eventually tripling in size. \n\nWe propose that the combination of increased zoonotic pathogen pressure and the challenges of defending a large brain and body from pathogens across what would eventually become the longest lifespan of any mammal\, selected for intensification of the self-medication strategies already in place in apes and other primates\, resulting in a variety of plant-based pathogen defenses. In support\, there is evidence of medicinal plant use by hominins in the middle Paleolithic\, and all cultures today have sophisticated\, plant-based medical systems\, incorporate plant components high in secondary compounds (spices) into food\, and regularly consume psychoactive substances that are harmful to helminths and other pathogens in the CNS and other tissues. The computational challenges of discovering effective plant-based treatments\, and the economic challenges of benefiting from costly-to-acquire medical knowledge that would be more often useful to others than oneself\, were selection pressures for increased cognitive abilities and unique exchange relationships in Homo. In the story of human evolution\, which has long featured hunters\, shamans and healers had an equal role to play.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/ed-hagen/
CATEGORIES:2022,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220103T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220103T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20211129T171521Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220106T235313Z
UID:6358-1641211200-1641216600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Daniel Sznycer - Value Computation in Humans
DESCRIPTION:Valuing things comes naturally to us. But valuing things would be a forbidding task if we lacked the information-processing machinery that enables value computation and that needs to be understood. How does the human brain compute the value of things\, events\, and states of affairs? Things afford positive\, neutral\, or negative long-run effects on the replicative probability of the focal individual’s genes. At the most general level\, values are internal estimates of those effects. Value information steers physiology and behavior in the right direction: approach apple; avoid enemy. Therefore\, value computation is of paramount biological importance. In the first part of the talk\, I will discuss shame\, pride\, and other social emotions. These emotions function to recalibrate the social valuations held by self and others. For example\, shame functions to minimize the likelihood and cost of being devalued by others when negative information about the self spreads into the community. I will discuss findings my collaborators and I have published showing functionality and regularity in emotion across mass societies and small-scale societies and throughout history. The emotion–valuation nexus regulates interpersonal interactions. This nexus may also form the core of\, e.g.\, justice-making institutions. For example\, the shame laypeople report if they committed each of various offenses echoes the legal thinking of lawmakers—shame intensities retrodict the punishments provided for offenses by actual laws\, including laws from radically unfamiliar cultures (e.g.\, the Tang Code\, China CE 653; the Laws of Eshnunna\, Mesopotamia ca. 1770 BCE). In the second part of the talk\, I will focus on value computation. One wants to know: What features does a computational system need to be equipped with in order to value anything and everything that humans are known to value?—true friendship and self-transcendence\, but also: water\, rice\, honey\, obsidian\, harpoons\, the Cessna 172\, fire\, fire extinguishers\, double-entry bookkeeping\, sleeping\, explanations\, allies\, mates\, etc. I will present recent findings indicating accuracy and adaptive integration in value computation. For example\, the subjective food value imputed to a hot dog reflects the protein and carbohydrate content of the hot dog (accuracy); the intensity of gratitude aroused if someone gave you a hot dog reflects the food value imputed to the hot dog (integration). Task analysis suggests many additional features are involved in human value computation\, some of which have been mapped out (e.g.\, common neural representation of value) and some of which have not. More research is needed!
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/daniel-sznycer/
CATEGORIES:Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211129T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211129T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20211003T163754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220102T180155Z
UID:6310-1638187200-1638192600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Dominic Cram - Cooperation\, health and ageing: lessons from weaver-birds\, meerkats and honeyguides
DESCRIPTION:Cooperation in the natural world can\, at first glance\, appear puzzling: why should an animal cooperate when doing so is costly\, and would benefit a competitor? In this talk\, I will address this question by investigating links between cooperation and animal health using field studies of wild birds and mammals. I will first test whether cooperatively breeding societies (whereby ‘helpers’ forego breeding and instead assist raising others’ young) are maintained because cooperation lightens overall workloads\, improves health\, slows ageing\, and extends lifespans. I will focus on my studies of white-browed sparrow weavers (Plocepasser mahali) and meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in the Kalahari Desert. I will then contrast these findings with inter-species cooperation in greater honeyguides (Indicator indicator) in the Mozambican wilderness. In a remarkable human-wildlife mutualism\, these birds actively call to humans searching for honey and lead them to the location of bees’ nests in return for a beeswax meal. I will explore how this unique case of human- wildlife cooperation is resilient to cheating honeyguides that scrounge a free piece of wax\, and whether honeyguide cooperation is related to variation in individual health. Overall\, these results suggest that cooperation can influence\, and be driven by\, variation in animal health\, but that these effects must be viewed in the light of other ecological and social factors.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/dominic-cram-cooperation-health-and-ageing-lessons-from-weaver-birds-meerkats-and-honeyguides/
CATEGORIES:2021,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211122T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211122T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20211118T014552Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220102T180221Z
UID:6337-1637582400-1637587800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Bernard Koch - White Supremacist Trees in An Academic Forest: Does Anybody Hear Them?
DESCRIPTION:Bernard Koch\, UCLA Sociology\nIn this paper\, we quantify the enduring legacy of scientific racism both within academia and online. Hereditarian arguments correlating race and IQ have been used to justify regressive social policies since the 1950s\, and this literature remains active within academia today. We characterize a tight collaboration community of authors promoting these arguments within academia over decades\, and show that they are diverse with respect to gender\, age\, race\, and geography. Moreover\, while their papers are cited at lower rates than similar psychology papers\, we find that they have much broader public engagement\, as measured through Google searches\, Reddit\, and other social media platforms. Possible interventions for academics to better contain influential pseudoscience are discussed.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/bernard-koch-white-supremacist-trees-in-an-academic-forest-does-anybody-hear-them/
CATEGORIES:2021,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211115T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211115T120000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20211004T170000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220102T180246Z
UID:6316-1636977600-1636977600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Melissa Emery Thompson - The Gray Ape: What Can Chimpanzees Tell Us About Human Aging?
DESCRIPTION:Melissa Emery Thompson \nEvolutionary Anthropology\, University of New Mexico \nGiven their close evolutionary relationship to humans and lifespans that can extend into their 60s\, chimpanzees are a uniquely informative comparative model for the evolution of human aging. Here\, I will review early findings of the first focused study of aging in wild chimpanzees. Chimpanzees share key similarities in physiological\, physical\, and social aging with humans\, but they show a remarkable lack of evidence for aging pathologies. This evidence helps support and contextualize recent cross-cultural evidence from humans which suggests that common diseases of aging may be novel products of post-industrial environments.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/melissa-emery-thompson-the-gray-ape-what-can-chimpanzees-tell-us-about-human-aging/
CATEGORIES:2021,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211108T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211108T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20211003T163656Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211118T021218Z
UID:6307-1636372800-1636378200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:David Raichlen - Evolutionary links between physical activity and brain health
DESCRIPTION:Recent work suggests physical activity can have important beneficial effects on the aging brain\, however the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. An evolutionary-neuroscience approach may help us better understand these mechanisms and can provide a foundation for developing novel interventions to improve brain aging. Here\, we suggest that\, from an evolutionary perspective\, physical activity mainly occurred during foraging\, which combines aerobic activity with cognitively demanding tasks (e.g.\, spatial navigation and executive cognitive functions). Thus\, mechanisms linked to neuroplasticity\, including hippocampal neurogenesis\, may be triggered by physical activity as a way to enhance cognitive needs during foraging tasks. If correct\, simultaneous physical and cognitive challenges may lead to the strongest brain benefits. Using this evolutionary approach to brain health\, we can form a foundation for novel interventions to improve brain aging today.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/david-raichlen-evolutionary-links-between-physical-activity-and-brain-health/
CATEGORIES:2021,Past Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211101T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211101T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20211003T163615Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211118T021147Z
UID:6304-1635768000-1635773400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Cody Ross - Social networks\, network-structured economic games\, and a toolbox for fine-scale\, comparative research
DESCRIPTION:In this talk\, I review challenges of collecting and analyzing human social network data. I first discuss trade-offs between the use of roster-based and name-generator-based tools for studying cooperative networks\, and highlight the potential of roster-based\, network-structured economic games (e.g.\, the RICH economic games introduced by Gervais 2017) to address anthropological questions. I then introduce the DieTryin R package\, and illustrate its improved scalability over roster-based methods. In cases where network data are collected via self-reports\, rather than via experimental games\, reported ties may be seriously biased. Individuals may\, for example\, report making cooperative transfers that did not really occur\, or forget to mention real transfers. Many network-level properties are exquisitely sensitive to these biases\, and there remains a dearth of easily deployed statistical tools that account for them. To address this issue\, I introduce a latent network model\, and associated R package\, STRAND\, that allows one to jointly estimate parameters measuring reporting biases and a latent\, underlying true social network. Finally\, I present a case study in the use of these tools in a study investigating how inequality and perceptions of inequality influence expression of parochialism versus magnanimity in two mutli-ethnic Colombian communities.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/cody-ross-social-networks-network-structured-economic-games-and-a-toolbox-for-fine-scale-comparative-research/
CATEGORIES:2021,Past Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211025T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211025T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20211003T163502Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220102T180310Z
UID:6301-1635163200-1635168600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Sarah Hill - Cytokines as a mediator of condition-dependent behavioral strategies
DESCRIPTION:Sarah E. Hill \nDepartment of Psychology\, Texas Christian University \nA growing body of research finds that the activities of the immune system – in addition to protecting the body from infection and injury – also influence how we think\, feel\, and behave. Although research on the relationship between the immune system and psychological and behavioral outcomes has most commonly focused on the experiences of those who are acutely ill (i.e.\, sickness behavior)\, theory and research in the evolutionary sciences suggests that the immune system may also play a key role in modulating condition-dependent behavioral strategies. In this presentation\, I will go over recent research that suggests that inflammation – a key component of the immune response to pathogens and stressors – may play an important modulatory role in shaping emotions\, motivation\, cognition\, and behavior\, even among those without symptoms of acute illness. I close by discussing potential opportunities for integrating psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) into evolutionary approaches to human behavior.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/sarah-hill-cytokines-as-a-mediator-of-condition-dependent-behavioral-strategies/
CATEGORIES:2021,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211018T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211018T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20211003T163349Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220102T180333Z
UID:6297-1634558400-1634563800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Idan Blank - The relationship between language and executive functions
DESCRIPTION:Idan Blank \nUCLA Department of Psychology \nTwo cognitive capacities that “make us human” are our ability to communicate via language and our executive functions (working memory\, cognitive control\, inhibition\, etc.)\, both unparalleled in the animal kingdom. Language comprehension is mainly carried out by specialized mechanisms that are language-specific and are not engaged in other high-level cognitive functions; in contrast\, executive functions constitute a general resource that is shared across diverse cognitive domains. Are these two capacities related to one another? On the one hand\, much research has found that comprehension\, in addition to its reliance on domain-specific mechanisms\, is critically supported by executive functions. On the other hand\, those studies are overwhelmingly based on cleverly designed artificial tasks\, which effectively turn language into an “IQ test” and do not mimic real-world comprehension “in the wild”. In this talk\, I will describe studies that instead employ naturalistic paradigms in fMRI to test how executive functions contribute to comprehension. Through a combination of data-driven analyses\, psycholinguistic constructs\, and brain-behavior correlations\, the findings challenge two decades of research about the role of executive resources in comprehension.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/idan-blank-the-relationship-between-language-and-executive-functions/
CATEGORIES:2021,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211011T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211011T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20211004T152117Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220102T180355Z
UID:6313-1633953600-1633959000@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Damian Caillaud - Behavioral ecology: an important tool to protect threatened gorilla populations
DESCRIPTION:Behavioral ecology: an important tool to protect threatened gorilla populations. \nDamian Caillaud\, UC Davis \nConservation measures are often based on survey data and demographic projections\, rather than behavior ecology studies. However\, animal behavior research often provides key information explaining why some populations are threatened with extinction. For example\, aspects of the ranging behavior and social structure of mountain gorillas strongly reduce population growth\, even in the absence of feeding competition. In other studies\, we found that home range persistence hinders the recovery of low-density gorilla populations. Lastly\, the impact of infectious disease on gorilla populations cannot be explained without taking into account gorilla social organization and social behavior. We hope these examples (and others) contribute to make behavioral ecology a more systematic conservation tool.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/damian-caillaud-behavioral-ecology-an-important-tool-to-protect-threatened-gorilla-populations/
CATEGORIES:2021,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211004T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20211004T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20210922T152300Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220102T180423Z
UID:6293-1633348800-1633354200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:James Holland Jones -- Cultural Evolutionary Dynamics Under Structural Uncertainty and the Consequences for Coupled Diffusion Processes
DESCRIPTION:Cultural Evolutionary Dynamics Under Structural Uncertainty and the Consequences for Coupled Diffusion Processes\nJames Holland Jones\nEarth Systems Science\, Stanford University\nThe COVID-19 Pandemic has laid bare the social vulnerabilities that make epidemics larger\, more deadly\, and more difficult to control\, both within the US and internationally. Differential vulnerability by social attributes (e.g.\, race\, socioeconomic status\, gender) leaves the overall population at greater risk for severe outbreaks than would be the case in less unequal populations. While health researchers have noted the societal vulnerability brought about by structural inequality for years\, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed other surprising sources of structural vulnerability that exacerbate transmission and complicate control. In particular\, socio-political polarization has proven to be a pernicious problem for epidemic control. I will present results from a simple model that show how two social processes\, homophily and out-group aversion\, in a polarized population\, can produce complex transmission dynamics that qualitatively resemble the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. I will then present a cultural-evolutionary framework for understanding why such polarization arises in the context of a pandemic. At the outset of a pandemic of a novel pathogen\, people are suffused with uncertainty about the nature of the threat\, its origin\, the severity of disease\, the effectiveness of control\, timelines\, etc. We hypothesize that uncertainty is a key variable underlying increased socio-political polarization on the one hand\, and the response to crises such as pandemics on the other. Uncertainty is a fundamental feature not just of epidemics but of any existential crisis facing humanity more generally. Understanding how people respond to uncertainty\, and crucially\, what the aggregate effects of these responses are is therefore a critical need for research into existential threats. Conventional wisdom tells us that people employ social heuristics when faced with uncertainty. This is important since aggregation itself becomes a major source of structural uncertainty\, as the behavior of ensembles of decision-makers is characterized by substantial nonlinearity\, feedback\, and often surprising threshold effects. I will present new work on modeling decision-making under uncertainty and the aggregate effects for “coupled-contagion” processes of social learning and pathogen diffusion.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/james-holland-jones-cultural-evolutionary-dynamics-under-structural-uncertainty-and-the-consequences-for-coupled-diffusion-processes/
CATEGORIES:2021,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210927T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210927T133000
DTSTAMP:20260613T141545
CREATED:20210921T175935Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220102T180451Z
UID:6290-1632744000-1632749400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Herman Pontzer - Evolution\, Activity\, and Aging in Human Energy Expenditure
DESCRIPTION:Evolution\, Activity\, and Aging in Human Energy Expenditure\nHerman Pontzer\nDuke University\nMetabolic energy expenditure\, the combined activity of our 37 trillion cells\, and shapes our daily energy requirements and affects our health. Conventional wisdom\, born largely from clinical studies in industrialized populations\, has held that daily energy expenditures are similar for closely related species\, increase at a constant rate with body size through growth and development\, and are strongly affected by physical activity levels. Recent work\, including research with small-scale societies around the globe\, has challenged each of these views. In this talk\, I discuss these new insights and their implications for understanding human energy expenditure.
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/herman-pontzer-evolution-activity-and-aging-in-human-energy-expenditure/
CATEGORIES:2021,Past Presentation,Presentation
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR