DailyDirt: Smarter Than The Average Bear Cat... Bird?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Animals aren't as dumb as you might think, and the more we study our pets -- the more we find that we may not just be anthropomorphizing our favorite animals. Some animals definitely have personalities, and some can exhibit some pretty complex cognitive skills. If we can understand more and more animal brains, maybe we'll be able to figure out our own brains, too, someday. Here are just a few things to remember about cats, fish and birds.

• Cats are pretty smart pets, and they may understand more than you think -- like cause and effect. Okay, that ability isn't exactly surprising, but cats might also understand a bit of physics, too -- but it probably won't help them when they're trapped in a box with a radioactive source connected to trigger a release of poison.
• How long does a fish's memory really last? Finding Dory makes a joke out of fish having short term memory loss, but some researchers have measured some fish with memory spans that can last 3 months.
• Bird brains are surprisingly packed with more neurons per pound than mammals (including primates). This might explain how some birds can make tools, pass the mirror test, understand cause and effect, and even be said to be as smart as a 5-year-old human child.

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Filed Under: animal cognition, biology, birds, brains, cats, fish, intelligence, smart animals, tool

DailyDirt: Measuring Human Intelligence

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The measurement of human intelligence is far from a settled science. IQ tests are very misleading, and unfortunately, some people assign far too much importance to IQ scores. There's plenty of room for improvement, but brain scans or a battery of cognitive skill tests probably shouldn't be used for employment or educational opportunities -- no matter how advanced we might think the tests might be. Still, there will probably be plenty of other misguided ideas for any data we have on people's intelligence.

• Human intelligence may be difficult to measure quantitatively, but fMRI brain scans might be able to capture "brain fingerprints" that could serve to estimate various cognitive abilities. Obviously, there would be ethical issues surrounding a brain scan for predicting any individual's talents or lack thereof -- but imagine instead of taking an SAT exam, just sitting for an fMRI scan. That wouldn't be as stressful as making sure you had no.2 pencils at all, would it? [url]
• The whole idea that there's a single test for general intelligence is flawed. The IQ myth persists because it's a simple-sounding way to gauge intelligence, but IQ scores are very rough estimates of a particular kind of cognitive ability. [url]
• How much of a brain does a person really need to function normally? Doctors have discovered a few people with hydrocephalus or other conditions where patients have lost brain matter volume who were still able to lead regular lives. [url]

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Filed Under: brain fingerprints, brains, cognition, fmri, human intelligence, iq

DailyDirt: Artificial Intelligence Is Here To Help Us...

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Computers are getting smarter all the time. Even though science fiction sometimes tends to paint artificial intelligence in an evil light, humans are building these intelligent machines -- and presumably, we'll have some control over how dangerous they'll ultimately become (but maybe not). People are building artificial brains without really knowing how brains work, but that's how we're learning. Maybe we should be breeding hyper-intelligent parrots, instead?

• Virginia Tech scientists have a mathematical model for using bacteria to function as a robot brain. Complex emergent behaviors can arise from bacteria-bots and create interesting cyborgs with capabilities that might be attributed to higher order animals. [url]
• Computerphobia doesn't seem like a common term or actual fear these days, but in the 1980s, when computers were much less familiar, it wasn't crazy to see people approach PCs with anxiety. Computers are just waiting for us to let our guard down before they attack us.... [url]
• RoboBrain is an online artificial intelligence that any robot might tap into for some cognitive help. Robots might develop more quickly if they can help each other learn via 'cloud robotics' and distributed processing/intelligence resources. Hello, Skynet! [url]

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Filed Under: ai, artificial intelligence, bacteria, brains, cloud robotics, cognitive computing, computerphobia, cyborgs, emergent behavior, robobrain, skynet, terminators

DailyDirt: Connecting Brains To Other Stuff

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

If artificial intelligence doesn't seem to be making as much progress as we'd like, there are some other ways to try to create more intelligent beings on demand. If we can't breed smarter animals, perhaps we can make some animal cyborgs to do our bidding. We'll need some better brain interfaces, and it looks like plenty of folks are already working on them.

• Neurobiologists have figured out how to connect multiple brains together by implanting microwire electrode arrays in animals -- and proving two heads are actually better than one. Researchers accomplished this feat with rat and monkey brains (not mixing the species, mind you, that would be crazy...), and they found multiple brains could perform tasks that single brains could not. These 'brainets' could someday be used on human brains... so imagine a Beowulf cluster of human brains? [url]
• A low-cost headset called the Brainwriter can control digital interfaces with thought-detection and eye tracking sensors. It's not exactly a finished product yet, but... similar gadgets could become much more useful in the near future. [url]
• Brain implants might be far less invasive with injectable electrode meshes that can unfurl onto various kinds of nerve or brain cells. Injecting flexible electronics into mice brains via a syringe has been a demonstrated way to monitor brain activity, and researchers might be able to create a brain interface -- so we could create a super-intelligent rat brain network to take over the world. [url]

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Filed Under: ai, animal intelligence, animals, brainet, brains, brainwriter, cyborg, hmi, implants, intelligence, lab rats, smart animals

DailyDirt: Keep Your Head On...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Some surgeries that were really risky just a couple decades ago are nearly routine now -- though the risk of death and/or complications is always going to exist. However, the idea of a head transplant is more than a little "out there" when it comes to extreme medical procedures. There are some people working on transplanting heads (or switching bodies, depending on your point of view), but early adopters aren't expected to get any life extension benefits just yet.

• Head transplants have been tried in a bunch of different animals over the last few decades, but one surgeon has performed about 1,000 head transplants on mice since 2013. These mice have lived as long as one day after the procedure, so this doctor is going to try primates next. IANAD, but maybe he should stick to mice.... [url]
• Monkey head transplant surgery has been done before, but the animals didn't live for too long, either. Brain grafts and nerve tissue regeneration might be a more promising research approach, but figuring out how to keep brains alive (without the original body) seems like an idea that won't go away. [url]
• James Boysen had a partial skull and scalp transplant -- an extreme way to get a new head of hair. Actually, doctors did this surgery because he needed a pancreas and kidney transplant and also had cancer damage to his skull. [url]

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Filed Under: brains, frankenstein, head transplant, james boysen, life extension, medicine, organ transplants

DailyDirt: Messing With Mice Brains

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The genes that make humans distinct from other animals are being narrowed down. We have a lot in common with other mammals and especially other primates, but relatively tiny differences in a set of genes could explain how human language and intelligence evolved and developed. Understanding the complexity of human intelligence and genetics will likely take decades or longer -- and we may never fully understand every aspect of consciousness. However, we're making some progress and creating some smarter mice along the way. Check out a few of these experiments.

• Injecting human astrocytes (the most abundant cells found in the brain) into a mouse brain actually makes mice measurably smarter. This isn't exactly the beginnings of the rats of NIMH, but the researchers are going to try rats next.... [url]
• Activating a certain gene called HARE5 ("human-accelerated regulatory enhancers") leads to the development of bigger brains in humans -- and perhaps other mammals like mice and chimpanzees. A mouse embryo treated with a human HARE5 sequence developed a 12% larger brain than a mouse embryo with a chimpanzee HARE5 gene. [url]
• Hundreds of mice have been genetically engineered to express the human version of the FOXP2 gene -- a gene linked to speech and language. The resulting mice were able to learn a maze faster than control mice. And are you pondering what I'm pondering? [url]
• The ARHGAP11B gene could be a unique gene for developing modern humans' massive neocortex. Adding this gene in mice gave them larger neocortices and brain folds (mice brains are usually tiny and smooth) -- but the mice weren't necessarily more intelligent. [url]

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Filed Under: animals, arhgap11b gene, astrocytes, brains, dna, evolution, foxp2 gene, genes, genetics, hare5 gene, intelligence, mice, neocortex, nihm

DailyDirt: Keeping Your Memories

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

If you're only a couple decades old, you probably haven't experienced too many problems with your memory. But if you're more than a few decades old, you might have started to get "senior moments" as some call them -- where you forget why you went upstairs to your bedroom as soon as you get there, or you can't remember your ATM PIN, or the name of that guy is just on the tip of your tongue but you can't seem to recall it. These could be early signs of more serious memory loss, but the medical science is only just about to start really understanding how memory and aging works. Here are some links you might want to check out (and bookmark so you don't forget them).

• Resveratrol has been associated with a lot of benefits related to minimizing the effects of aging. It's not a cure yet -- or even an approved drug -- but a study with aging rats shows that it could help improve cognitive functions and memory. [url]
• There are some people who are "SuperAgers" -- people over 80yo who have the memory capabilities of those decades younger. Researchers are studying these SuperAgers and comparing their brain images to those of other seniors. They've found some significant differences which could lead to a better understanding of how these SuperAgers retain their cognitive abilities. [url]
• People with an AB blood type are more at risk for cognitive problems as they age. Fortunately, this isn't a common blood type, but if you've got it, there's not much comfort in this correlation. [url]

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Filed Under: aging, blood, blood type, brains, cognitive skills, health, medicine, memory, resveratrol, senior moments, superagers

DailyDirt: Growing Brains

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

There's little point waxing philosophical about the human brain — it's a near-miraculous mystery, and we all know it. Every study, at best, makes mere baby steps towards a fuller understanding of what's going on inside our skulls — and these three, focusing on how the brain develops and changes over time, are no different... and no less fascinating:

• We don't form conscious memories as babies — but it seems we do form subconscious memories of faces. The study showed that kids at three-and-a-half years responded differently to the faces of people they'd met, even briefly, years prior. [url]
• As young children we form clear, complex memories only to lose them a few years later — but why? Researchers can track the phenomenon of "childhood amnesia" as it happens from age three to about nine, but are still unsure of the exact cause. [url]
• Our brains remain sharp and youthful until around age 24, when age-related decline begins. The study focused on cognitive motor performance, tested by pitting thousands of Starcraft 2 players against each other in comparative matches based on age and skill. [url]

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Filed Under: brains

DailyDirt: For The Birds

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Birds have long been a source of fascination for humankind, and remain one of the few classes of animals with an entire hobby community dedicated to simply watching them. Of course, there are a hell of a lot of types of birds, and most come with complex and intriguing behaviours and characteristics that are unique to them, and which we keep discovering whenever we watch a little longer. Here are just a few examples.

• It turns out parrots name their children, and those names stick for life. Parrots aren't the first animals discovered to use names, but their unique ability to mimic human speech seems to make everything they do doubly interesting. [url]
• Lots of birds choose long-term mates — but lots of them get divorced, too. The albatross is the most faithful, while flamingo couples break up 99% of the time. [url]
• Researchers have sequenced the golden eagle's genome, and made new discoveries about how it sees and smells. The mapping will aid conservation efforts, both by helping develop strategies to reduce deaths from things like wind turbines and by providing genetic marker data for tracking populations. [url]

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Filed Under: animal cognition, biology, birds, brains, intelligence, parrot, smart animals, tool

DailyDirt: Animal Brains Aren't So Different...

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If you watch pets closely enough and for long enough, you might get a sense that animals can understand certain cues from people and that they sometimes try to communicate their wishes to people. Certainly not all pets are intelligent, but it's a common experience for many people. Wild animals aren't so different from their domesticated cousins, so it should maybe not be surprising that various wild animals are intelligent in some ways. Here are just a few links on the growing evidence of advanced animal cognition.

• A bunch of dogs were trained to sit still in a functional magnetic resonance imaging brain scanner, and their brain scans show that dog brains have a special area dedicated to processing voices and meaningful sounds. Dogs and people have remarkably similar brain reactions to happy sounds (eg. baby giggles) and unhappy sounds (eg. coughing) which could partly explain why our species get along so well. [url]
• PBS has a 3-part NOVA series -- Inside Animal Minds -- on the intelligence of animals. The 3-hour series covers tool use, communication skills, emotional intelligence, problem-solving abilities and social behaviors of a variety of wild and domesticated animals. [url]
• Pigeons can learn to categorize various items and exhibit selective attention. Laboratory pigeons were able to distinguish computer-generated images and respond with appropriate pecking on a touchscreen. [url]

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Filed Under: animal cognition, animal intelligence, behavior, biology, brains, fmri, intelligence, mind, pigeons, smart animals