Fascinating synthesis examining uncertainty reduction as a primary reinforcer across behavioural domains. Explains the role of cortico-cerebellar loops in cross-domain sequence processing. A fundamental role for curiosity in natural behaviour. 4087/2/3/10.20935/AcadNeurosci8451

Uncertainty reduction as a candidate primary reinforcer: an evolutionary and neural account

This integrative review proposes that the reduction in uncertainty may function as a candidate primary reinforcer in humans. The proposed mechanism is positive prediction error coding by the mesolimbi...

academia.edu

“modular evolution of neocortical size in primates is closely linked to the evolution of the visual system” (i.e., “enhanced visual processing, not expansion of the frontal lobe, drove the major increases in neocortical size”) 🧪🧠 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Fossil evidence favors a role for vision in the modular evolution of the primate neocortex

Neocortical expansion is a key innovation of crown primates, although fossil evidence for how the neocortex has evolved remains elusive. We studied neocortical evolution using virtual brain endocasts ...

science.org

The Visual Brain Hypothesis: my Perspective article in Science on a new paper by Richard Kay et al. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/.... DM me for access if required

The visual brain hypothesis

Virtual models of primate crania support visual system influence on brain size

science.org

My talk on embodied cognitive evolution as part of the workshop on 'Topics in Intelligence' at The Simons institute UC Berkeley: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH9u.... Many thanks to @shiryginosar.bsky.social and Gily Ginosar for organising

Embodied cognitive evolution

YouTube video by Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing

youtube.com

A small contribution to an important topic, in Nature Reviews Biodiversity. I highlight @howbrainsevolve.bsky.social and Harvey's work in 2000 and illustrate it's pivotal role in our understanding into the principles of brain evolution. Have a read - it's short! www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Macroevolutionary brain scaling is a microevolutionary metaphenomenon - full text of our new paper now available www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Today sees the publication of the Theme Issue featuring the CES Transformation Fund grant scheme. Enjoy! royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3... @durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social

Yes! www.nature.com/articles/d41...

@royalsociety.org MUST strip Musk of his fellowship to retain credibility. He has brought the society into disrepute in the gravest manner. Calling on all FRSs, please act swiftly

New paper: Human dexterity and brains evolved hand in hand www.nature.com/articles/s42...

A new study co-authored by @howbrainsevolve.bsky.social gives new insight into how human hands & minds evolved together. The research is published in Communications Biology & was led by Dr Joanna Baker of @uniofreading.bsky.social. Read more:👉 bit.ly/4myXT4c #DUresearch #DUinspire

Primate thumbs and brains evolved together, new study finds - Durham University

bit.ly

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Pathway to Independence – an interview with Max Farnworth

Max Farnworth completed his PhD in Gregor Bucher's lab at the University of Göttingen, Germany, where he explored how heterochrony shapes the evolution and development of insect brains. He then joined...

journals.biologists.com

Delighted to see this work out in PNAS. The idea that got me into butterflies, started on it in 2011 but took the intellectual energy of @benitoexplains.bsky.social, and the support of a great team, to develop it and put it all together. Thanks to #NERC @ukri.org for funding 🙏🏻

Benito Wainwright@benitoexplains.bsky.social · last yr.

So very excited for the magnum opus of my #PhD to finally be out in @pnas.org. 🎉🎉 We demosntrate that mutualistic co-mimicking tropical butterflies not only converge in light microhabitat but, as a consequence, have also converged in visual system morphology! 1/n😀 www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Humans may not have a uniquely specialised memory for sequences - it may be more to do with how tasks are culturally scaffolded and what they “mean” to participants. New paper

Rachel Kendal@rachkendal.bsky.social · last yr.

New comparative paper on sequence cognition led by the wonderful @missdaffodil.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Interesting new study demonstrates "cerebellar connectivity to higher-order networks at birth, which generally strengthen with age, emphasizing the cerebellum’s early role in cognitive processing beyond sensory and motor functions" www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Functional development of the human cerebellum from birth to age five - Nature Communications

Using over 1,000 early childhood fMRI scans, the authors mapped cerebellocortical connectivity, revealing early integration with higher-order networks and age-related refinement, gradients, asymmetry,...

nature.com

Interesting new @medrxivpreprint.bsky.social study, bearing on the interpretation of GWAS results: 
“Common and rare genetic variants show network convergence for a majority of human traits” 🧪🧬 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Common and rare genetic variants show network convergence for a majority of human traits

While both common and rare variants contribute to the genetic etiology of complex traits, whether their impacts manifest through the same effector genes and molecular mechanisms is not well understood...

medrxiv.org

Selection Shapes Diverse Animal Minds: our special issue of @royalsocietypublishing.org Phil Trans B on the diverse evolutionary processes underlying cognitive evolution is out today. Thanks to all our contributors! royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1929

royalsocietypublishing.org

Embodied cognitive evolution and the limits of convergence - Louise Barrett and me on comparative psychology eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

Constructing language: a framework for explaining acquisition

Explaining how children build a language system is a central goal of research in language acquisition, with broad implications for language evolution, adult language processing, and artificial intelli...

cell.com

Trump on embodied cognition (via ChatGPT)

Quite happy to see the website we made for #Darwin’s 200th birthday is alive and well once more, and more extensive than i remembered! darwin200.christs.cam.ac.uk

One week left to apply!

Stephen Montgomery@ebablab.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨Anyone want a job?🚨 We have two #postdocs up for grabs! 🧪 - cell developmental biology/#evodevo/#neuroevodevo - bioinformatics and molecular biology Both working on brain evolution in Heliconiini butterflies Details below! Please repost 🙏 1/n

Interesting Science Advances study probing the genetics of human brain geometry (beyond volume), using data from @ukbiobank.bsky.social 🧪🧠🧬

Beyond volume: Unraveling the genetics of human brain geometry

Multivariate association study reveals a genetic basis of brain shape beyond volume and relations to neurodegenerative diseases.

science.org

Thrilled for the upcoming TIBBE online talks &discussions with the amazing @howbrainsevolve.bsky.social & Susan Healy around how do we better connect brain structure, function & behaviours? Next Wednesday, May 28, 2pm UTC, 4pm Paris 🧠🐒🦜Join us www.crowdcast.io/c/linking-br... @compcogsoc.bsky.social

The Integrative Biology of Brain Evolution (TIBBE)- Network@tibbe-evolneuro.bsky.social · last yr.

🤩 Join us for the next TIBBE seminar: Linking brain and behaviour. May 28, 2–3pm UTC This event brings together 2 outstanding evolutionary and cognitive neuroscientists who will present their work, followed by an interactive discussion with the audience: www.crowdcast.io/c/linking-br...

“males invest more on locomotor control, flight stability and sky-compass navigation which may have evolved in response to sex-specific behaviours, like courtship display…females have larger mushroom bodies that strongly and positively covary with the optic lobes…” Lovely work!

International Society for Neuroethology@neuroethology.org · last yr.

Micro-CT has revealed that orchid bee sexes invest differently in their brain regions 🧠. These differential investments correlate with behavioral differences in the sexes and imply a causal link between brain architecture and sex-specific behavior! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I made this slide during his first presidency. It illustrates how not to make evolutionary inferences from comparative data (dashed red line, although that could also be stock markets). Today more than ever it seems like an insult to chimpanzees

This year marks 360 years since the first edition of #PhilosophicalTransactions, launching the world’s longest-running scientific journal. Join us as we take a 360° view of publishing, exploring its history, reflecting on its present impact, and imagining its future. royalsociety.org/journals/pub...