Octopus Arms Have a Mind of Their Own
Octopuses and their relatives stand out from other invertebrates in terms of their cognitive complexity and the range of their behaviors. Despite their evolutionary distance from humans and other vertebrates, these animals can use tools, solve complex puzzles, recognize individual people, and explore objects through play. They do all this and more with a completely unique nervous system.
Read more at my Animal Minds blog: Octopus Arms Have a Mind of Their Own.
How the BRAIN Initiative is Changing Neuroscience
The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, a large-scale, public-private research program launched in 2014, aims to be ambitious and transformative. Its overarching goal is to revolutionize our understanding of the human brain, driven by the development and application of breakthrough technologies. Such a bold vision requires changes in the practice of science, from grant writing to data sharing.
As we approach the halfway mark of this 10-year effort, we can evaluate how scientists are responding to this challenge.
Read my article in Neuroscience Quarterly: The BRAIN Initiative: Changing Neuroscience.
Brain Imaging Bipolar Disorder in High-Risk Children
Researchers report a potential neural marker of individual risk in those with a family history of bipolar disorder. The study, published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, points to particular patterns of brain connectivity as future potential targets for early intervention. Patterns in connectivity in a portion of the frontal lobe called the inferior frontal gyrus appears to be an early biomarker in children of parents with bipolar disorder.
Read more about the study here: Can Brain Imaging Help Predict Bipolar Disorder in High Risk Children?
Emotional Mirror Neurons in Rats
Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have demonstrated that specific neurons in the rat brain are active both when a rat experiences pain itself and when it observes another rat in pain. The results, published today in Current Biology, suggest that sharing the emotions of others is a common mammalian trait.
Read my article on the study here: Rats Feel One Another's Pain.
How Whip Spiders Smell Their Way Home
Whip spiders, or amblypygids, are arachnids, but only six of their eight legs are for walking. The front two are elongated sensory structures that process, among other things, smells. Whip spiders use these sensory legs to sniff their way back home after a night of hunting.
Read all about it in my latest Animal Minds post: The Arachnid That Smells With Its Legs