Omni Brain on Science Blogs

Well... we're making the move. I'm going to start exclusively posting on scienceblogs now.
I'm trying to migrate the archives over there - but we'll see how that goes ;)
There will be all new art in the next month or two as well.

The new website address is: http://www.scienceblogs.com/omnibrain
The new feed address without the daily links is: http://scienceblogs.com/omnibrain/index.xml
The feed address (feedburner which we use now) with daily links is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/OmniBrain

mmmmmm.....tasty......Neanderthal mmmm.....

Well it seems that Neanderthals may have had a taste for.. well... other Neanderthals.

Neanderthals suffered periods of starvation and may have supplemented their diet through cannibalism, according to a study of remains from northwest Spain.

Paleobiologists studied samples from eight 43,000-year-old Neanderthal skeletons excavated from an underground cave in El Sidrón, Spain since 2000. The study sheds light on how Neanderthals lived before the arrival of modern humans in Europe.

Researchers found cut marks and evidence that bones had been torn apart, which they say could indicate cannibalism

The researchers don't say whether the bones were torn apart by other Neanderthals - or perhaps... humans. Perhaps we've discovered why the Neanderthals disappeared - The humans ate them! mmmm....tasty.

Predicting homocide

I'm still not sure how I feel about someones behavior being fed into a computer, have a few 1's and 0's moved around, and then out comes some judgment about what you're going to do in the future.
On one hand it's probably never going to be me and it might protect me... but - eh... I've seen to many movies. Hmm... maybe I could be a cool guy on the run from the cops and fighting the man!

Via Slashdot & Philadelphia Inquirer:

University of Pennsylvania criminologist Richard Berk, a trained statistician, never met a data set he didn't like.

Now, using fresh data from the Philadelphia probation department, Berk and three colleagues have built an innovative model for predicting which troublemakers already in the system are most likely to kill or attempt a killing.

With the homicide rate in Philadelphia outpacing last year's by at least 7 percent, a computer model for "forecasting murder" is in the works, Berk said, to be delivered to the probation department in the new year, with clinical trials of the new tool to begin in the spring.

Just don't let the NJ police department get a hold of something like this - they might start including things like race in the calculations.

chimp boy

Ok perhaps the title should be chimp AND boy - but a chimp boy is a little more exciting.
In the early 1930's the Kellogg's, after seeing feral children, decided that they wanted to see what the influence of environment had on the development on humans.

One way to test this hypothesis would be to place a human infant of normal intelligence in an uncivilized environment and to observe systematically its 'development' in that environment. Kellogg noted that while such an experiment would be both morally outrageous and illegal, there was another way, albeit somewhat indirect, to test the environment-heredity question. That was to take a wild animal and place it in the civilized environment of a human home (Kellogg & Kellogg, 1933). Thus began the attempt to produce this unusual experiment. (B&B p. 466)

This article is a pretty great summary with pictures and videos. Check it out!

Like the logo? Have extra money? Buy stuff!

So I was procrastinating tonight (a usual Sunday for me - I've been so unmotivated since the conference and Thanksgiving) and decided to put the Omni Brain logo on a bunch of t-shirts, mugs, and thongs.

Another note... things should be changing a bit around here when we move over to scienceblogs.com, for one we should have all new graphics thanks to my wonderful cousin Erin Henderson, who is a graphic artist. More information in the near future...

First MRI

From Heavier Things:

I have to admit that I am thoroughly in love with my brain. It's so pretty. Look at all the sexy structures! Can you name some of them that you see here? I can!

Corpus callosum
Pons
Brain stem
Cerebellum
Pituitary gland
Hypothalamus/Thalamus

Oh we loves it!

A behavioural neuroscience grad student talks about her first anatomical MRI in a post titled My Gorgeous Sexy Brain. It IS cool to look at your own brain, and her enthusiasm is contagious. (But not in a prion disease kind of way.)

We do loves it, thanks Joanna!

PS. Congrats on the three-year blog anniversary.

Translating baby language

If you remember from the Simpson's episode, Brother can you spare two dimes, Homer's brother Herb invents a device to do this - shouldn't the Simpson's get a patent or something? And perhaps get a cut of the profits here!

A newly discovered baby language is helping infants sleep through the night and mothers bond with their babies.

After eight years of research, Australian mother Priscilla Dunstan says she has discovered a universal baby language, comprised of five distinct sounds.

Dunstan says babies produce the different sounds depending on their needs. 'Neh' means the child is hungry, while 'owh' indicates he or she is tired.
a
Other sounds include 'eh', 'eairh' and 'heh', which mean the infant needs burping, has wind or is uncomfortable.

Dunstan says babies make these sounds during the "pre-cry stage" - before they start crying hysterically - thus, parents who learn to identify the noises should be able to reduce the frequency of screaming outbursts.

Dunstan, who has always had a sharp listening skills, identified the five key sounds after spending hours listening to her own son and other infants.

Ohh... and for you parents out there? do you think there is any truth in this stuff at all?

Would you approve this research?

If you were on an IRB committee would you approve this? I think it's almost as bad as telling someone their friend died... and then making them do psych tests and then be like "Just Kidding!"

Experiments have shown that social rejection prompts people to make poor decisions, such as eating more than they know they should or drinking too much. Now, a study in the current issue of the journal Social Neuroscience uncovers the neural basis for such poor decision-making. Researchers report that the feeling of social exclusion changes activity in specific regions of the brain responsible for self-control.

The researchers, a group of neuroscientists and psychologists from the University of Georgia and San Diego State University, asked 30 female undergraduates to fill out a personality questionnaire. After pretending a computer analyzed their answers, the researchers told half of the participants that the results suggested they would "end up alone" later in life.

It's definitely interesting and important research though - don't get me wrong. I just really wouldn't want to be a subject (eh.. maybe I'm too sensitive).