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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231113T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231113T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
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:20260418T215219
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:20260418T215219
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:20260418T215219
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:20260418T215219
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:20260418T215219
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:20230605T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230605T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20221119T145705Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221119T145811Z
UID:6671-1685966400-1685971800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Laurel Fogarty: Cultural rescue: avoiding extinction with gene-culture coevolution
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Laurel Fogarty\, Senior Scientist\, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology \nThis talk will be presented via Zoom. \nCultural rescue: avoiding extinction with gene-culture coevolution.  \nAbstract: It is often suggested that the adaptability and success of human populations is a direct result of our sophisticated cultural abilities. Previously\, we have suggested that in cases where lethal environmental shifts cause population decline\, culture may be able to rescue an otherwise doomed population — in other words cause a ‘cultural population rescue’. Innovation and cultural transmission together might provide behavioural adaptations that could compensate for the detrimental effect of an environmental change. To the extent that such innovations could spread and be maintained through cultural transmission\, such a process could indefinitely compensate for novel harsh environmental conditions. \nHowever\, such a scenario may be rare and culture might do more. Organisms with large body sizes and long generation times\, like humans\, are not typically thought to be able to undergo true ‘evolutionary rescue’\, where compensatory genetic mutations arise and allow the demographic recovery of a declining population. As a consequence of long waiting times for beneficial mutations\, where generation times are long\, and population sizes are relatively small\, populations are overwhelmingly likely to die out before such mutations arise and spread to high frequency. We suggest that where culture does not lead to a direct ‘cultural rescue’\, it might nevertheless slow population decline providing time in which compensatory genetic mutations may arise. This mechanism seems plausible. However\, the key to understanding the importance of culture in human population survival lies in describing how frequently such culturally-facilitated evolutionary rescues could occur and under what circumstances they are plausible\, likely\, or impossible. \nIn this talk I will describe a mathematical model of evolutionary rescue that allows for direct gene-culture interactive effects on biological fitness\, and examine the probability of population rescue in the presence and absence of culture. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/laurel-fogarty-cultural-rescue-avoiding-extinction-with-gene-culture-coevolution/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230522T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230522T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20230306T162603Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230317T131846Z
UID:6780-1684756800-1684762200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Caroline Schuppli: Skill acquisition and life history: towards a better understanding of cognitive evolution.
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Caroline Schuppli\, Max Planck Research Group leader\, MPI for Animal Behavior \nhttps://www.ab.mpg.de/person/110356/2736 \nThis talk will be presented via Zoom. \nTitle: Skill acquisition and life history: towards a better understanding of cognitive evolution \nAbstract: Cognitive capacity gets selected for via skills and abilities which provide individuals with fitness benefits. However\, strikingly\, the larger brained a species is\, the more incompetent its infants are at birth and the more they must learn to become functioning adults. This suggests that especially for large-brained species\, the developmental construction of intelligence critically depends on inputs during ontogeny. Therefore\, to understand the evolution of cognition\, we need to look at how skills and abilities develop in individuals. To shed light on these questions\, we conduct long-term research on orangutans as well as look at broader patterns across species using comparative analyses. Our results suggest that that extended developmental periods during which skills can develop as well as learning  mechanisms that allow for efficient skill acquisition are crucial for the evolution of high-level cognition. \nZoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/kristine-chua-title-tba/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230515T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230515T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20230306T161519Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230309T133313Z
UID:6764-1684152000-1684157400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Nicole Thompson-Gonzalez: Social paths to health and fitness in primates
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Nicole Thompson-Gonzalez\, Assistant Professor\, Dept of Integrative Anthropological Sciences\, University of California-Santa Barbara \nhttp://www.nicolethompsongonzalez.com/ \nThis talk will be presented live as well as via Zoom. \nTitle: Social paths to health and fitness in primates \nAbstract: Friendly social ties are important means to monopolize resources\, buffer risks\, and in turn increase health and fitness across an array of social animals. Although many studies suggest that more and stronger ties are better\, this is not always the case. The effectiveness of social strategies appears to vary by species ecology\, reproductive priorities\, and age. Here\, I discuss the variability of effective social strategies among adult females of one monkey species\, how social ties change with age in adult male and female chimpanzees\, and the relevance of both to human sociality and aging. I also discuss what new non-invasive measures we can use to evaluate health in the wild. I conclude with ongoing and future work that examines the influences of social ties on healthy aging and specific age-related disease. \nZoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/nicole-thompson-gonzalez-social-paths-to-health-and-fitness-in-primates/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230508T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230508T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20230306T162338Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230504T183327Z
UID:6777-1683547200-1683552600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Renee Hagen\, Common behaviors and moral codes: Applying cultural evolution and sexual conflict theory to model the dynamics of social norms
DESCRIPTION:Renee Hagen\, Ph.D. Candidate\, Dept. of Anthropology\, UCLA \nhttps://reneehagen.com/ \nTitle: Common behaviors and moral codes: Applying cultural evolution and sexual conflict theory to model the dynamics of social norms\n \nAbstract: \nHow do new social norms spread in social groups\, and how are norms maintained or change over time?  I will present two studies that investigate these questions by using evolutionary perspectives to understand cultural change. In one study I apply the framework of cultural evolution theory to examine what drives change in perinatal care norms among Himba women in the Kunene region of Namibia. Access to formal medical care is on the rise in this region\, and medical workers regularly visit communities to promote WHO-recommended perinatal care practices. Based on interviews with one hundred Himba mothers\, we examine how perceptions of group preferences\, prestige ascribed to outgroup conformers\, interaction with the outgroup and access to resources affect norm adoption. Here I found that women who perceive medical recommendations as common in their group prefer\, plan and practice these recommendations more often themselves. The observed shift toward medical recommendations regarding birth location and contraception use that was in line with conformity bias predictions. In another study\, I look at gender norms from a fitness perspective and ask why people sometimes support norms that seem to be against their own self-interest. Specifically I examine women’s support of patriarchal gender norms in China\, Taiwan\, Japan and South Korea\, and test whether their anticipated inclusive fitness benefits are reflected in their stated attitudes. I find that that part of the variation in attitudes towards gender norms can be explained through varying interests in such norms depending on gender and age. In contrast with previous studies\, I find little evidence that having more sons leads to higher support for patriarchal norms; only in China and South Korea is having more sons linked with a stronger son-preference\, but having more sons is unrelated to other gender norms. Higher social status correlates with egalitarian attitudes more so for women than for men. I suggest that higher social status might decrease the costs for women to contest the dominant gender ideology of their community. \nThis talk will be presented live as well as via Zoom. \nZoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/renee-hagen-title-tba/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230501T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230501T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20230306T162159Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230321T161252Z
UID:6773-1682942400-1682947800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:John Bunce and Caissa Revilla Minaya: Cultural dynamics in an Indigenous Amazonian population: An exploration of intra- and inter-ethnic causal mechanisms
DESCRIPTION:Dr. John Bunce & Dr. Caissa Revilla Minaya\, Culture\, Environment and Health Research Group\, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology \nhttps://www.eva.mpg.de/ecology/projects-and-research-groups/culture-environment-and-health-research-group/ \nTitle: Cultural dynamics in an Indigenous Amazonian population: An exploration of intra- and inter-ethnic causal mechanisms  \nAbstract: For several decades\, evolutionary social science theorists have devoted considerable attention to exploring various mechanisms that influence the adaptive\, and non-adaptive\, dynamics of human culture. However\, less attention has focused on the empirical study of such mechanisms in real-world human populations\, particularly in contexts of disempowered minorities\, for whom cultural change may co-occur with a desire to maintain an ethnic identity distinct from that of powerful neighboring groups. Here\, we present our recent efforts to better understand mechanisms driving cultural dynamics in an Indigenous Matsigenka population in a remote region of Amazonian Peru. Caissa uses Bayesian item-response theory models to characterize variation within the complex set of dietary restrictions (taboos) practiced by Matsigenka parents of young children. She combines this analysis with insights from extensive participant observation to develop a theory for the endogenous emergence of some such cultural practices among the Matsigenka. John uses Bayesian analysis of interview data to explore how cultural norms in domains such as child-rearing\, fairness\, and inheritance are influenced by inter-ethnic interactions between Matsigenka and neighboring Mestizos. He uses a longitudinal quantitative and participatory study of norm change among Matsigenka children attending Mestizo-run boarding schools to narrow the range of possible mechanisms responsible for generating individual-level variation in such ethnic-typical beliefs. Together\, we show how insights gained through both quantitative and qualitative empirical work can inform general theories of the intra- and inter-ethnic causal mechanisms influencing cultural dynamics in our species. \nThis talk will be presented via Zoom only. \nZoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/john-bunce-and-caissa-revilla-minaya-title-tba/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230424T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230424T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20230306T161933Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230420T022613Z
UID:6770-1682337600-1682343000@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Kristine Chua: Using Evolutionary and Biocultural Perspectives in the Study of Human Pregnancy in Diverse Communities
DESCRIPTION:Kristine Chua\, Postdoctoral Scholar\, Integrative Anthropological Sciences\, UCSB \nThis talk will be presented live as well as via Zoom. \nTitle: Using Evolutionary and Biocultural Perspectives in the Study of Human Pregnancy in Diverse Communities \n\nAbstract: Models of the social determinants of health have proliferated in recent years across multiple disciplines. Yet\, this surge in the literature within a small timeframe has led to ambiguities. Particularly unclear are the social determinants that should be focused upon in clinical applications. These and other important questions remain unresolved. For instance\, how do cultural norms\, political conditions\, and biological mechanisms interact to affect health? How are developmental trajectories facultatively calibrated to environments\, and how do these trajectories later shape health outcomes? To address these questions\, I work from a biocultural anthropology and evolutionary perspective that integrates evolutionary\, cultural\, and biological theories that offer insights into health disparities. I will describe my work that examines how pregnant Filipina and Latina American mothers respond to stress from their socio-political environment\, pathways for embodiment\, and my plans for extending this work.\nZoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/andrew-smith-title-tba/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230417T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230417T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20220919T203311Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230330T194317Z
UID:6624-1681732800-1681738200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Kim Hill: Human Uniqueness and the flow of goods and services in Samal “sea nomads” of the Philippines
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Kim Hill\, Professor\, School of Human Evolution and Social Change\, Arizona State University \nThis talk will be presented in person\, as well as via Zoom. \nDr. Hill will be presenting the Frank Marlowe Memorial Lecture for this year. \nHuman Uniqueness and the flow of goods and services in Samal “sea nomads” of the Philippines \nAbstract:  Humans are an extreme outlier species by many objective measures. How did we get to be so different from the other 9 million eukaryotic species on the planet?  Decades of research suggests that even in the most traditional human societies a combination of interacting factors makes us unique:  culture\, cooperation\, cognition\, communication.  This also lead to the co-evolution of a very unique life history\, that required economic interdependence in order to be successful.  In this talk I present new research from Sama “sea nomads” that examines transfers of material goods and services between households.  The pattern shows again the amazing interdependence of settlement households in order to successfully replicate.  We find that reciprocity seems to be the single most important driver of cooperation\, although reciprocity partners are preferentially close kin.  Age differences structure many types of helping that appear to be examples of cooperative helping to successfully raise multiple dependent juveniles. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/human-uniqueness-and-the-study-of-interdependence-in-samal-sea-nomads-of-the-philippines/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230410T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230410T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20230306T161725Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230410T164958Z
UID:6767-1681128000-1681133400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Kristine Chua\, - talk CANCELLED due to illness
DESCRIPTION:Kristine Chua\, Postdoctoral Scholar\, Integrative Anthropological  Sciences\, UCSB \nttps://boddylab.com/people/ \nTitle: Using evolutionary and biocultural perspectives in the study of human pregnancy in diverse communities \nAbstract: \nModels of the social determinants of health have proliferated in recent years across multiple disciplines. Yet\, this surge in the literature within a small timeframe has led to ambiguities. Particularly unclear are the social determinants that should be focused upon in clinical applications. These and other important questions remain unresolved. For instance\, how do cultural norms\, political conditions\, and biological mechanisms interact to affect health? How are developmental trajectories facultatively calibrated to environments\, and how do these trajectories later shape health outcomes? To address these questions\, I work from a biocultural anthropology and evolutionary perspective that integrates evolutionary\, cultural\, and biological theories that offer insights into health disparities. I will describe my work that examines how pregnant Filipina and Latina American mothers respond to stress from their socio-political environment\, pathways for embodiment\, and my plans for extending this work. \nZoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/theo-samore-title-tba/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230403T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230403T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20230306T161036Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230306T161036Z
UID:6760-1680523200-1680528600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Richard McElreath: The Problem with Cultural Evolution.
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Richard McElreath\, Director of the Department of Human Behavior\, Ecology\, and Culture\, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology \nTitle: The Problem with Cultural Evolution \nhttps://www.eva.mpg.de/ecology/index/ \nAbstract: The field of cultural evolution\, like any rapidly growing field\, has some pruning to do. In this talk I will outline some problems with the field and suggest some paths forward. Parts of cultural evolution are an undisciplined bandwagon characterized by vague theorizing or even worse no theorizing at all. It is methodologically chaotic\, and links between theory and evidence are often more metaphorical than logical. Some of the most prominent cultural evolution research is exaggerated story-telling sinking on a swamp of illogical and opaque data analysis. The field has tremendous potential as a scientific framework for the study of animal and human societies. But it must invest more in self-criticism and rigor\, if it is going to do more than produce entertainment for the college-educated. \nZoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/richard-mcelreath-the-problem-with-cultural-evolution/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230313T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230313T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20221119T165035Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230127T163047Z
UID:6704-1678708800-1678714200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Tom Kraft: Modeling the dynamics of infectious disease transmission in a small-scale subsistence population
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Tom Kraft \nDept. of Anthropology\, University of Utah \nhttps://thomaskraft.weebly.com/ \nTitle: Modeling the dynamics of infectious disease transmission in a small-scale subsistence population \nAbstract:​​​\nInfectious disease dynamics are governed by patterns of contact that vary by geography\, social organization\, mobility\, network structure\, and cultural factors. Based on speculation about these parameters in contemporary subsistence populations\, voluntary collective isolation (VCI) has been proposed to mitigate the impact of global disease transmission into relatively isolated\, largely self-sufficient\, small-scale indigenous groups\, most recently with respect to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. To assess the vulnerability of small-scale populations to epidemics and the viability of VCI and other interventions\, I simulated disease transmission among Amazonian forager-horticulturalists (Tsimane) using a stochastic network metapopulation model parameterized with a wealth of high-resolution data on social behavior\, mobility\, and population structure. Findings indicate that relative isolation and Tsimane social organization offer little protection from disease introduction and widespread transmission\, even in the most remote communities\, and that VCI is unlikely to be effective under contemporary socioeconomic conditions. The occurrence of a local SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in this region in mid-2020 afforded an opportunity to test this model; comparison of model results to empirical outcomes measured using serological assays shows good model fit amidst very high rates of transmission. These results demonstrate the applied utility of anthropological data\, and suggest that VCI alone is unlikely to be a viable intervention strategy. Pandemic policies should instead aim to protect small-scale communities by delivering distributed health care resources across remote areas. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/tom-kraft-modeling-the-dynamics-of-infectious-disease-transmission-in-a-small-scale-subsistence-population/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230306T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230306T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20221119T164722Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230127T163610Z
UID:6701-1678104000-1678109400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Sean Prall: Perceptions that matter: using peer evaluations and dyadic data to explore behavior in rural Namibia
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Sean Prall \nDept. of Anthropology\, University of Missouri \nhttps://sprall.github.io/ \nTitle: Perceptions that matter: using peer evaluations and dyadic data to explore behavior in rural Namibia \nAbstract: Reputation and social status are central to research on mating\, social learning\, and cooperation. However\, evolutionary social scientists face significant methodological difficulties in accurately measuring people’s perceptions of others. As a result\, most studies in anthropology and psychology rely on hypotheticals or experimental paradigms in lab-based settings. While this work has yielded insight into how people think about these domains\, these approaches are limited in their ecological validity\, ability to capture a dynamic and competitive social environment\, and may recapitulate social norms instead of yield novel information about social dynamics. An alternative approach\, which I will explore in this talk\, is the use of dyadic peer evaluations. Using two unique datasets\, each with more than 10\,000 ratings from a single community in Namibia\, I will explore two case studies: 1) mating market competition\, and 2) women’s status. I will highlight the benefits and potential drawbacks of dyadic peer evaluations and explore how these methods can be used as part of a larger toolkit to explore cultural and behavioral attributes of human populations. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/sean-prall-perceptions-that-matter-using-peer-evaluations-and-dyadic-data-to-explore-behavior-in-rural-namibia/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230227T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230227T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20221119T164429Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230127T122427Z
UID:6697-1677499200-1677504600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Ainash Childebayeva: Population Genetics and Signatures of Selection in Early Neolithic European Farmers
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Ainash Childebayeva \nDept of Biological Anthropology\, University of Kansas \nWe are hoping that this talk will be both in person and via Zoom. \nTitle: Population Genetics and Signatures of Selection in Early Neolithic European Farmers \nAbstract: Throughout our evolutionary history\, humans have encountered different environmental and cultural changes that left a mark in our genomes. One such event is associated with the transition from hunting and gathering to a more sedentary farming lifestyle\, also known as the Neolithic transition. In the last ten years\, human expansion and migration in the course of the Neolithic transition in western Eurasia has been one of the major topics in ancient DNA research. Studies have shown that the spread of agriculture from the Near East to Europe was associated with a large-scale human migration. The changes in subsistence and lifestyle associated with the Neolithic\, and specifically a more sedentary lifestyle\, living in larger groups\, and the change in the diet\, have been hypothesized to involve genetic adaptation as well. I will present genome-wide ancient DNA results from an early Neolithic farming community from Central Germany\, together with available published data. The genetic profile of the Neolithic farmers of Europe shows a primarily Anatolian Neolithic-like ancestry with a small degree of admixture with the local hunter-gatherers. Moreover\, genetic data show that the Neolithic farmers of Central Germany lived in large communities that did not show strong signatures of either patri- or matrilocality. Increasing the cohort size of the early farmers to almost 100 individuals made it possible to perform frequency- and haplotype-based scans of selection. Based on the results of the test\, selection signals in pathways linked to metabolism and immune system especially stood out\, suggesting the effect of the cultural transition on the genomes of the early farmers. These findings shed light on the evolutionary pressures\, such as infectious disease and changing diet\, that were faced by the early farmers of Western Eurasia. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/ainash-childebayeva-title-tba/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230213T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230213T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20221119T162059Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221119T162059Z
UID:6685-1676289600-1676295000@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Tina Lasisi: Hair\, skin\, and the racialization of human variation.
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Tina Lasisi\, Quantitative and Computational Biology\, USC \nhttps://anth.la.psu.edu/research/research-labs/jablonski-lab/dr-tina-lasisi/ \nDr. Lasisi will present in person\, as well as via Zoom. \nTitle: Hair\, skin\, and the racialization of human variation. \nAbstract: After decades of broadcasting the message that race is a social construct\, we find uncritical taxonomic groupings of humans creep back into discussions across disciplines. The terms “race\,” “ethnicity\,” and “ancestry group” are used alongside typological descriptors of traits like skin and hair\, often distorting their variability in a way that reinforces racial typologies. The adoption of quantitative phenotyping  methods vastly improved our understanding of skin pigmentation and its evolutionary function while providing a novel non-racialized vocabulary for discussing variation in this trait. The study of hair lags behind in the exploration of phenotypic variation with a similar level of complexity. This talk will discuss the impact of methods and racialized perceptions on our understanding of the evolutionary biology of various traits and the implications of this knowledge in healthcare\, forensics\, and emerging technologies. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/tina-lasisi-hair-skin-and-the-racialization-of-human-variation/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230206T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230206T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20221119T163213Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230127T121720Z
UID:6694-1675684800-1675690200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Sriram Sankararaman\, The role of archaic admixture in human evolution
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Sriram Sankararaman \nUCLA Departments of Computer Science\, Human Genetics\, and Computational Medicine \nhttp://web.cs.ucla.edu/~sriram/ \nThis talk will be in person as well as being accessible via Zoom. \nTitle: The role of archaic admixture in human evolution \n                                                                                                                                                                                                     \nAbstract: Over the past decade\, the ability to sequence genomes from both present-day   \nand archaic humans (including our closest evolutionary relatives\, the Neanderthals) has transformed our understanding of human history. Analyzing these genome sequences paints a picture of human history in which present-day humans migrated out of Africa but exchanged genes with multiple archaic human populations. I will describe statistical methods that identify segments of DNA inherited from archaic humans that are surviving in our genomes today and how these maps of introgressed archaic DNA are providing insights into human migration and biology.  Despite this progress\, our understanding of the contribution of archaic introgression to populations in Africa remains limited\, in part due to the challenges in obtaining ancient DNA in Africa. Leveraging recently developed approaches that enable inferences about archaic populations without access to their genome sequences\, we show that west African populations today inherit substantial genetic ancestry from an as-yet-unidentified archaic ghost population that diverged prior to the split of modern humans and Neanderthals. Finally\, we combine maps of introgressed Neanderthal DNA with phenotypic datasets collected in hundreds of thousands of individuals to assess the contribution of introgressed Neanderthal DNA to complex traits.    \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/sriram-sankararaman-title-tba/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230130T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230130T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20221119T163041Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221128T021025Z
UID:6691-1675080000-1675085400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Asher Rosinger\, title: Water needs\, water insecurity\, and nutritional adaptations: The intersecting pathways to human biology
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Asher Rosinger \nDepartment of Biobehavioral Health\, Penn State \nhttps://hhd.psu.edu/contact/asher-rosinger \nThis talk will be presented via Zoom. \nAbstract: Dr. Asher Rosinger will discuss one of humanity’s oldest and increasingly important questions\, how do populations meet their water needs in areas with water problems and how do these strategies affect health and well-being. This talk will discuss how physical and nutritional environments shape variation in human water needs including in early life\, how experiences with water become embodied in health and disease patterns\, and how humans cope with these environmental stressors through their diets and behavior. It will feature work from the Bolivian Amazon\, Northern Kenya\, and the US. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/asher-rosinger-title-tba/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230123T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230123T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20221119T153310Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221119T162230Z
UID:6682-1674475200-1674480600@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Amanda Lea: Lifestyle change and  health in the Turkana of northwest Kenya
DESCRIPTION:Dr Amanda Lea\, Department of Biological Sciences\, Vanderbilt University \nhttp://lea-lab.org/index.html \nTitle: Lifestyle change and health in the Turkana of northwest Kenya \nAbstract: The environments experienced by individuals living “modern”\, “urban”\, or “Western” lifestyles are deeply diverged from the ancestral selection pressures that have shaped human genomes through evolutionary time. Consequently\, many have hypothesized that this “mismatch” —between evolved human phenotypes and modern life—is responsible for increasing rates of non-communicable diseases worldwide. However\, despite the popularity and intuitive appeal of this idea\, it has been difficult to test in practice. In particular\, we lack direct evidence that health issues emerge when populations adapted to subsistence-level practices encounter modern\, urban environments. Further\, we lack an understanding of how the many factors that change during urban transitions\, including physical activity\, diet\, early life conditions\, and the social environment\, interact to ultimately impact health. My research aims to address these gaps\, by working with the Turkana people of Northwest Kenya who are currently transitioning from a traditional\, pastoralist lifestyle to an urban\, market-integrated lifestyle. Using genomic\, transcriptomic\, anthropological\, and biomedical data collected from across this lifestyle gradient\, my work centers on understanding 1) how the Turkana have adapted through evolutionary time to their pastoralist lifestyle\, 2) the degree to which physiology and health are altered when individuals from this locally adapted genetic background move to cities\, and 3) how early life experiences\, social environmental conditions\, diet\, and other key factors contribute to lifestyle effects on health. Together\, this work aims to bring attention to non-communicable disease emergence in transitioning societies\, and to more generally shed new light on our evolutionary interpretation of environmentally-induced disease. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/amanda-lea-lifestyle-change-and-health-in-the-turkana-of-northwest-kenya/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230109T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230109T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20221119T151435Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221119T151435Z
UID:6676-1673265600-1673271000@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Marina Davila-Ross:  Laughter and Smiles: Towards understanding the Complexity and Phylogenetic Continuity of Positive Communication in Hominids
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Marina Davila-Ross\, Reader in Comparative Psychology\, University of Portsmouth \nThis talk will be presented via Zoom. \nLaughter and Smiles: Towards understanding the Complexity and Phylogenetic Continuity of Positive Communication in Hominids \nAbstract: Laughter and smiles are arguably the strongest behavioural indicators of positive emotional states in humans and they also represent pervasive tools of social communication\, help to develop and maintain social relationships\, and affect individuals‘ health and wellbeing. It\, thus\, may not come to a surprise that these important behaviours are deeply rooted in human biology. More specifically\, empirical research on hominids suggests that laughter and smiles are evolutionarily continuous\, going back to at least the past 13 million years. As a result\, an in-depth evaluation of laughter and smiles in great apes may provide a better understanding of why humans\, a highly social-cognitive species\, behave the way they do. This talk attempts to reconstruct the evolution of laughter and smiles in great apes and humans by assessing form and function of these expressions in their natural social interactions. Comparative and phylogenetic approaches are applied that include acoustic analyses\, FACS (Facial Action Coding System) specifically designed to study great apes\, and the coding of bodily actions. \nZoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/94813693836?pwd=ZWx5Tnl5UStac0RSZUZCSlFyMTl2UT09 \nZoom Meeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/marina-davila-ross-laughter-and-smiles-towards-understanding-the-complexity-and-phylogenetic-continuity-of-positive-communication-in-hominids/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221128T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221128T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20220919T203703Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221128T020849Z
UID:6631-1669636800-1669642200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Skill acquisition and life history: towards a better understanding of cognitive evolution - postponed till spring quarter
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Caroline Schuppli\, Max Planck Research Group leader\, MPI for Animal Behavior \nThis talk will be presented via Zoom on some date yet to be determined in spring of 2023. \n Skill acquisition and life history: towards a better understanding of cognitive evolution \nAbstract: Cognitive capacity gets selected for via skills and abilities which provide individuals with fitness benefits. However\, strikingly\, the larger brained a species is\, the more incompetent its infants are at birth and the more they must learn to become functioning adults. This suggests that especially for large-brained species\, the developmental construction of intelligence critically depends on inputs during ontogeny. Therefore\, to understand the evolution of cognition\, we need to look at how skills and abilities develop in individuals. To shed light on these questions\, we conduct long-term research on orangutans as well as look at broader patterns across species using comparative analyses. Our results suggest that that extended developmental periods during which skills can develop as well as learning  mechanisms that allow for efficient skill acquisition are crucial for the evolution of high-level cognition. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/skill-acquisition-and-life-history-towards-a-better-understanding-of-cognitive-evolution/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221121T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221121T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20220919T203500Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221119T150025Z
UID:6628-1669032000-1669037400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Cultural rescue: avoiding extinction with gene-culture coevolution. THIS TALK WILL BE RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 5\, 2023
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Laurel Fogarty\, Senior Scientist\, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology \nThis talk will be presented via Zoom. \nCultural rescue: avoiding extinction with gene-culture coevolution.  \nAbstract: It is often suggested that the adaptability and success of human populations is a direct result of our sophisticated cultural abilities. Previously\, we have suggested that in cases where lethal environmental shifts cause population decline\, culture may be able to rescue an otherwise doomed population — in other words cause a ‘cultural population rescue’. Innovation and cultural transmission together might provide behavioural adaptations that could compensate for the detrimental effect of an environmental change. To the extent that such innovations could spread and be maintained through cultural transmission\, such a process could indefinitely compensate for novel harsh environmental conditions. \nHowever\, such a scenario may be rare and culture might do more. Organisms with large body sizes and long generation times\, like humans\, are not typically thought to be able to undergo true ‘evolutionary rescue’\, where compensatory genetic mutations arise and allow the demographic recovery of a declining population. As a consequence of long waiting times for beneficial mutations\, where generation times are long\, and population sizes are relatively small\, populations are overwhelmingly likely to die out before such mutations arise and spread to high frequency. We suggest that where culture does not lead to a direct ‘cultural rescue’\, it might nevertheless slow population decline providing time in which compensatory genetic mutations may arise. This mechanism seems plausible. However\, the key to understanding the importance of culture in human population survival lies in describing how frequently such culturally-facilitated evolutionary rescues could occur and under what circumstances they are plausible\, likely\, or impossible. \nIn this talk I will describe a mathematical model of evolutionary rescue that allows for direct gene-culture interactive effects on biological fitness\, and examine the probability of population rescue in the presence and absence of culture. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/cultural-rescue-avoiding-extinction-with-gene-culture-coevolution/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221107T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221107T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20220919T203137Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220919T211340Z
UID:6620-1667822400-1667827800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Female counterstrategies to infanticide in lactating gelada females: adaptive\, but not cost-free
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Amy Lu\, Asst. Professor\, Dept. of Anthropology\, Stony Brook University \nThis talk will be presented via Zoom. \nFemale counterstrategies to infanticide in lactating gelada females: adaptive\, but not cost-free \nAbstract: Adverse socioecological conditions can have pervasive effects on health and fitness. For mothers\, adverse conditions can trigger cost-cutting strategies that limit investment in reproduction. These strategies can further impact the health and fitness of current and future offspring. Geladas are an ideal species in which to investigate the intersection between maternal and offspring responses to adversity. Gelada females reside in one-male units where a “leader” male has sole reproductive access to 2-13 adult females. Males without reproductive units must challenge and depose an existing leader to gain reproductive opportunities\, and such “takeover” events are known to lead to infanticide\, elevated glucocorticoids (GCs)\, and increased injury risk for all natal individuals within the group. Takeover risk also impacts gelada female reproductive physiology: immature females accelerate reproductive maturation\, gestating mothers experience fetal loss (“Bruce effect”)\, and lactating mothers are suspected of producing immediate signals of fertility (sex skin swellings) that deter the likelihood of infanticide. Here\, we draw on over 10 years of data from the Simien Mountains Gelada Research Project to examine the potential costs and benefits associated with this presumed strategy observed in lactating females. We found that lactating gelada females that experienced a takeover produced sex skin swellings earlier than those that did not. However\, females with younger infants were less likely to produce such swellings and infant age at maternal swelling was correlated with the subsequent interbirth interval\, suggesting that mothers that swell earlier divest in current offspring. Finally\, infants that experienced a takeover were more likely to survive when mothers produced swellings\, but also when they were simply older at takeover. Taken together\, our results suggest that although the production of sex skin swellings by lactating females increases infant survival in geladas\, they are not cost-free and may lead to downstream developmental consequences for infants. Furthermore\, mothers of the youngest gelada infants are constrained: they are less able to produce swellings\, yet their infants are more likely to die of infanticide. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/female-counterstrategies-to-infanticide-in-lactating-gelada-females-adaptive-but-not-cost-free/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221031T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221031T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20220919T202807Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220919T211239Z
UID:6603-1667217600-1667223000@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:The Brain's Crescendo; How Music Training Impacts Child Development
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Assal Habibi\, Assoc. Professor of Psychology\, University of Southern California \nThis speaker will be presenting in person. \nThe Brain’s Crescendo; How Music Training Impacts Child Development  \nAbstract: In an ongoing multi-year longitudinal study\, we have been investigating the effects of a group-based music training program on development of children\, beginning at age 6\, using behavioral\, neuroimaging and electrophysiological measures. The target group of children have been participating in the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA) program. This music program is based on the Venezuelan system of musical training known as El-Sistema and offers free music instruction 6–7 hours weekly to children from underprivileged and under-resourced areas of Los Angeles. The children in the music program have been compared with two groups of children\, one involved in a community-based sports program and another not enrolled in any systematic afterschool training. At the onset\, we established that there were no pre-existing differences among the groups.  Over the course of 5 years\, we have observed that children in the music group had better performance than comparison groups in musically relevant auditory skills (pitch and rhythm discrimination) and showed an accelerated maturity of auditory processing as measured by cortical auditory evoked potentials. We also observed that children in the music group showed a different rate of cortical thickness maturation between the right and left posterior superior temporal gyrus and higher fractional anisotropy in the corpus callosum\, specifically in the crossing pathways connecting superior frontal\, sensory\, and motor segments. For nonmusical skills\, children with music training\, compared with children without music training\, showed stronger neural activation during a cognitive inhibition task in brain regions involved in response inhibition and decision making (bilateral pre-SMA/SMA\, ACC\, IFG). Finally\, we observed that parents of children involved in music training\, after four years\, rated their children higher on the emotional stability personality trait and lower on aggression and on hyperactivity compared to children not involved in music activities despite no differences in these measures before children’s entry into the program. Considering a general reduction in art education specifically in the communities that there is limited access to art exposure in general\, and specifically to music education\, the findings from this study is providing compelling answers to the ongoing discussion about music’s role in the education curriculum. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/the-brains-crescendo-how-music-training-impacts-child-development/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221024T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221024T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20220919T201122Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220919T210325Z
UID:6592-1666612800-1666618200@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Growing up in a dynamic social world: early-life effects on behavior and neuroendocrine function
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Tessa Solomon-Lane\, Asst. Professor of Biology\, Keck Science Dept.\, Claremont McKenna\, Pitzer & Scripps Colleges \nMore info: https://tessasolomonlane.com/ \nThis speaker will be presenting in person. \nGrowing up in a dynamic social world: early-life effects on behavior and neuroendocrine function  \n Abstract: Why\, and how\, do individuals behave the way they do? Social behavior has long captivated researchers from diverse fields. Social behavior is common to a remarkably wide range of species\, its expression is complex and patterned\, and it has deeply conserved effects on evolutionary fitness and health. Similarly\, the neuroendocrine signaling pathways that regulate social behavior are also evolutionarily ancient. Early-life experiences are a powerful source of individual variation in adult behavior\, yet fundamental questions remain about the development of social behavior and its underlying mechanisms. In my lab\, we use the highly social Burton’s Mouthbrooder cichlid fish (Astatotilapia burtoni)\, a model system in social neuroscience\, to investigate the social\, behavioral\, and neuroendocrine mechanisms regulating the development of social behavior. This species is known for the mixed-sex\, hierarchical communities formed by adults\, in which individuals express social behaviors common across vertebrates\, such as aggression\, affiliation\, courtship\, parenting\, and cooperation. As is the case in primates\, juveniles are social from the earliest life history stage. I will present the results of a series of experiments that demonstrate that juveniles form nuanced\, complex social relationships\, and how early-life social environments sculpt social behavior\, nonapeptide signaling\, and neuroendocrine stress axis function. I will discuss how this work expands our understanding of behavioral development and the origins of individual variation in adult phenotypes\, from fish to humans \nZoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/94813693836?pwd=ZWx5Tnl5UStac0RSZUZCSlFyMTl2UT09 \nZoom Meeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/growing-up-in-a-dynamic-social-world-early-life-effects-on-behavior-and-neuroendocrine-function/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221017T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221017T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215219
CREATED:20220919T200839Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220919T211107Z
UID:6588-1666008000-1666013400@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Laughter and Smiles: Towards understanding the Complexity and Phylogenetic Continuity of Positive Communication in Hominids
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Marina Davila-Ross\, Reader in Comparative Psychology\, University of Portsmouth \nThis talk will be presented via Zoom. \nLaughter and Smiles: Towards understanding the Complexity and Phylogenetic Continuity of Positive Communication in Hominids \nAbstract: Laughter and smiles are arguably the strongest behavioural indicators of positive emotional states in humans and they also represent pervasive tools of social communication\, help to develop and maintain social relationships\, and affect individuals‘ health and wellbeing. It\, thus\, may not come to a surprise that these important behaviours are deeply rooted in human biology. More specifically\, empirical research on hominids suggests that laughter and smiles are evolutionarily continuous\, going back to at least the past 13 million years. As a result\, an in-depth evaluation of laughter and smiles in great apes may provide a better understanding of why humans\, a highly social-cognitive species\, behave the way they do. This talk attempts to reconstruct the evolution of laughter and smiles in great apes and humans by assessing form and function of these expressions in their natural social interactions. Comparative and phylogenetic approaches are applied that include acoustic analyses\, FACS (Facial Action Coding System) specifically designed to study great apes\, and the coding of bodily actions. \nZoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/94813693836?pwd=ZWx5Tnl5UStac0RSZUZCSlFyMTl2UT09 \nZoom Meeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/laughter-and-smiles-towards-understanding-the-complexity-and-phylogenetic-continuity-of-positive-communication-in-hominids/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221003T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20221003T133000
DTSTAMP:20260418T215220
CREATED:20220919T200539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220919T211021Z
UID:6583-1664798400-1664803800@bec.ucla.edu
SUMMARY:Aspects of competition and cooperation in the genus Pan
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Martin Surbeck\, Asst. Professor\, Dept. of Human Evolutionary Biology\, Harvard University \nThis talk will be presented via Zoom. \nAspects of competition and cooperation in the genus Pan. \nAbstract: I will talk about aspects of competition and cooperation in our closest living relatives\, bonobos and chimpanzees. Firstly\, I will explore how differences in female sexuality and male mate competition potentially contribute to observed species differences. There will be a specific focus on the role of mothers during mate competition in male philopatric species and I will speculate about potential implications for life histories. Secondly\, I will explore aspects of between group competition in bonobos and discuss the implications of the new findings for the emergence of cooperative relationships between groups. \nZoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09 \nMeeting ID: 928 2643 6236 \nPasscode: BEC
URL:https://bec.ucla.edu/event/aspects-of-competition-and-cooperation-in-the-genus-pan/
LOCATION:352 Haines Hall
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR