Daniel Sznycer – Value Computation in Humans

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 […]

Ed Hagen – Homo medicus: The transition to meat eating, increased pathogen pressure, and the constitutive and inducible use of pharmacological plants in Homo

Homo medicus: The transition to meat eating, increased pathogen pressure, and the constitutive and inducible use of pharmacological plants in Homo Edward H. Hagen, Aaron D. Blackwell, Aaron D. Lightner, Roger J. Sullivan Click here for link to manuscript pre-print   The human lineage entered a more carnivorous niche 2.6 mya. A range of evidence […]

Gerry Carter – Cooperative Relationships in Vampire Bats

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 […]

Barbara Natterson-Horowitz – The 600-million-year history of human affective disorder

352 Haines Hall

The 600-million-year history of human affective disorder Barbara Natterson-Horowitz Division of Cardiology, UCLA School of Medicine Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School Fifty years ago this October, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three animal […]

Caleb Finch – The Gero-Exposome, a life history approach to diversity of human longevity

352 Haines Hall

The Gero-Exposome, a life history approach to diversity of human longevity Caleb Finch, PhD ARCO and Kieschnick Professor, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, USC From 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 […]

Bridget Callaghan – Intergenerational impacts of adversity on mind-body health: pathways through interoception and the gut-brain axis

352 Haines Hall

Intergenerational impacts of adversity on mind-body health - pathways through interoception and the gut-brain axis Bridget Callaghan Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, UCLA Children’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 […]

Katie Karlsgodt – Reward and Cognitive Function in Adolescent Psychopathology

352 Haines Hall

Reward and Cognitive Function in Adolescent Psychopathology Katie Karlsgodt UCLA Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry Adolescence 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 […]

Michael Wells – Exploration of human genetic and phenotypic diversity through cell villages

352 Haines Hall

Exploration of human genetic and phenotypic diversity through cell villages Michael Wells Assistant Professor, UCLA Department of Human Genetics Human 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, […]

Zarin Machanda – Social aging in wild chimpanzees

352 Haines Hall

Social aging in wild chimpanzees Zarin Machanda Tufts University, Departments of Anthropology and Biology Humans 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 […]