“... there is definitely something special about the bond we have with dogs. Their ability to read our communicative gestures makes them seem “in tune” with us. And their attentiveness to our every move can’t help but make us feel special. There is one study that shows that dogs would prefer to spend time with humans than their own species, which is unusual for an animal. Every dog owner is familiar with that rise in spirits as a thumping tail greets you at the door, and from the enthusiasm dogs have for us, it’s hard to believe the feeling isn’t mutual.”
—Dog behavioral scientist Brian Hare
I think “dog behavioral scientist” is probably in the running for coolest job of all time. Humans and dogs have evolved hand in hand, with our ancestors selecting (on purpose and accidentally) the particular traits in these descendants of wolves that helped our tribes and villages hunt, stay safe, and be happy. No other species is so deeply in tune with what we want.
Brian Hare has also developed an online program called Dognition. For a small fee, you get a set of games to test your dog’s particular cognitive talents, helping to advance dog science while getting to know your best friend’s mind that much better.
Check out the full interview with Brian Hare: The Brilliance of the Dog Mind at Scientific American
If you really want to dig into the mind of your drooly companion, Brian and his co-researcher wroteL The Genius of Dogs.
This is finally canon: Animals conscious say leading neuroscientists
mindhacks.comvia the always wonderful MindHacks:
A group of leading neuroscientists has used a conference at Cambridge University to make an official declaration recognising consciousness in animals.
The declaration was made at the Francis Crick Memorial Conference and signed by some of the leading lights in consciousness research, including Christof Koch and David Edelman.
The main part of the declaration reads:
We declare the following: “The absence of a neocortex does not appear to preclude an organism from experiencing affective states. Convergent evidence indicates that non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of conscious states along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviors. Consequently, the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness. Non- human animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses, also possess these neurological substrates.”
While it feels like a “well, duh” moment, it does remove the eons-old notion that “consciousness” comes from the higher cortex. And it does/could have implications on our understanding of the universality of memory, emotion, and self-awareness.
“The next time we want to run the race toward closure, to be the first to tweet or post or report, to follow the first thing we hear because it seems so believable, we’d do well to consider the lessons of Boston….The need for cognitive closure is a powerful force. But a need is neither a mandate nor an excuse.”
—Maria Konnikova explains why human beings quickly seek closure in a crisis, and what we can learn from the misinformation that plagued professional news outlets during the Boston bombingsTrends in Cognitive Sciences | Uncovering the genetic underpinnings of cognition
cell.comNo one today can ignore the genetic approach to cognition and behavior, given the huge achievements of the Human Genome Project. The initial impact of studies of individual differences in genetic polymorphisms, such as the catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) gene, and their relationship to such core cognitive concepts as working memory (in this case via its modulation by prefrontal dopamine [1]) has been immense, catching the imagination of many cognitive neuroscientists. Here is a way, for example, to evaluate the effect of individual differences in neurotransmitter function without the need to administer drugs. Alternatively, possible heterogeneity in behavioral performance or patterns of neural network activation revealed through functional neuroimaging, may be resolved by taking into account genetic factors.
Taken together, the contributions in this special issue address the genetic underpinnings of key aspects of cognition, such as memory, intelligence, reward processing, as well as emotion and personality, in the context of both healthy populations and in key disorders, such as schizophrenia, autism, and addiction. Collectively, the articles discuss evidence from a variety of perspectives and different approaches, including twin, linkage, candidate gene, genome-wide association, imaging genetics, gene×environment interaction, and gene expression studies, providing insight into the strengths and challenges for each approach.
