ALBERT

Description: Experiments on imitation typically evaluate a student's ability to copy some feature of an expert's motor behavior. Here, we describe a type of observational learning in which a student copies a cognitive rule rather than a specific motor action. Two rhesus macaques were trained to respond, in a prescribed order, to different sets of photographs that were displayed on a touch-sensitive monitor. Because the position of the photographs varied randomly from trial to trial, sequences could not be learned by motor imitation. Both monkeys learned new sequences more rapidly after observing an expert execute those sequences than when they had to learn new sequences entirely by trial and error.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Subiaul, Francys -- Cantlon, Jessica F -- Holloway, Ralph L -- Terrace, Herbert S -- R01 MH40462/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2004 Jul 16;305(5682):407-10.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. subiaul@aol.com〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15256673" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The anatomic pattern and left hemisphere size predominance of the planum temporale, a language area of the human brain, are also present in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). The left planum temporale was significantly larger in 94 percent (17 of 18) of chimpanzee brains examined. It is widely accepted that the planum temporale is a key component of Wernicke's receptive language area, which is also implicated in human communication-related disorders such as schizophrenia and in normal variations such as musical talent. However, anatomic hemispheric asymmetry of this cerebrocortical site is clearly not unique to humans, as is currently thought. The evolutionary origin of human language may have been founded on this basal anatomic substrate, which was already lateralized to the left hemisphere in the common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans 8 million years ago.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Gannon, P J -- Holloway, R L -- Broadfield, D C -- Braun, A R -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1998 Jan 9;279(5348):220-2.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Otolaryngology and Arthur M. Fishberg Research Center for Neurobiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA. P_Gannon@smtplink.mssm.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9422693" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: A key event in human evolution is the expansion of modern humans of African origin across Eurasia between 60 and 40 thousand years (kyr) before present (bp), replacing all other forms of hominins. Owing to the scarcity of human fossils from this period, these ancestors of all present-day non-African modern populations remain largely enigmatic. Here we describe a partial calvaria, recently discovered at Manot Cave (Western Galilee, Israel) and dated to 54.7 +/- 5.5 kyr bp (arithmetic mean +/- 2 standard deviations) by uranium-thorium dating, that sheds light on this crucial event. The overall shape and discrete morphological features of the Manot 1 calvaria demonstrate that this partial skull is unequivocally modern. It is similar in shape to recent African skulls as well as to European skulls from the Upper Palaeolithic period, but different from most other early anatomically modern humans in the Levant. This suggests that the Manot people could be closely related to the first modern humans who later successfully colonized Europe. Thus, the anatomical features used to support the 'assimilation model' in Europe might not have been inherited from European Neanderthals, but rather from earlier Levantine populations. Moreover, at present, Manot 1 is the only modern human specimen to provide evidence that during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic interface, both modern humans and Neanderthals contemporaneously inhabited the southern Levant, close in time to the likely interbreeding event with Neanderthals.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hershkovitz, Israel -- Marder, Ofer -- Ayalon, Avner -- Bar-Matthews, Miryam -- Yasur, Gal -- Boaretto, Elisabetta -- Caracuta, Valentina -- Alex, Bridget -- Frumkin, Amos -- Goder-Goldberger, Mae -- Gunz, Philipp -- Holloway, Ralph L -- Latimer, Bruce -- Lavi, Ron -- Matthews, Alan -- Slon, Viviane -- Mayer, Daniella Bar-Yosef -- Berna, Francesco -- Bar-Oz, Guy -- Yeshurun, Reuven -- May, Hila -- Hans, Mark G -- Weber, Gerhard W -- Barzilai, Omry -- England -- Nature. 2015 Apr 9;520(7546):216-9. doi: 10.1038/nature14134. Epub 2015 Jan 28.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] The Dan David Laboratory for the Search and Study of Modern Humans, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel [2] The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and National Research Center, Tel Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel. ; Archaeology Division, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, PO Box 653, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel. ; Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel. ; Max Planck Society-Weizmann Institute Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, D-REAMS Radiocarbon Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. ; 1] Max Planck Society-Weizmann Institute Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, D-REAMS Radiocarbon Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel [2] Department of Anthropology and Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. ; Department of Geography, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905, Israel. ; Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel. ; Department of Human Evolution, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany. ; Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York 10027, USA. ; 1] Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA [2] Department of Orthodontics, Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. ; 8 Dan Street, Modi'in 7173161, Israel. ; Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel. ; The Dan David Laboratory for the Search and Study of Modern Humans, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel. ; The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and National Research Center, Tel Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel. ; Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada. ; Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel. ; 1] The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and National Research Center, Tel Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel [2] Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel. ; Department of Orthodontics, Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. ; 1] Department of Anthropology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 12-14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria [2] The Core Facility for Micro-Computed Tomography, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 12-14, A-1090, Vienna, Austria. ; Israel Antiquities Authority, PO Box 586, Jerusalem 91004, Israel.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25629628" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Preliminary observations suggest a sex difference in the shape and surface area of the human corpus callosum. The sexual dimorphism is striking in the splenium, the caudal or posterior portion of the corpus callosum. The female splenium is both more bulbous and larger than the male counterpart. Since peristriate, parietal, and superior temporal fibers course through the splenium, this finding could be related to possible gender differences in the degree of lateralization for visuospatial functions.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉DeLacoste-Utamsing, C -- Holloway, R L -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1982 Jun 25;216(4553):1431-2.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7089533" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Falk and colleagues [Falk D, Zollikofer CP, Morimoto N, Ponce de León MS (2012) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(22):8467–8470] hypothesized that selective pressures favored late persistence of a metopic suture and open anterior fontanelle early in hominin evolution, and they put an emphasis on the Taung Child...

Description: The designation of Homo floresiensis as a new species derived from an ancient population is controversial, because the type specimen, LB1, might represent a pathological microcephalic modern Homo sapiens. Accordingly, two specific craniometric ratios (relative frontal breadth and cerebellar protrusion) were ascertained in 21 microcephalic infants and children by using MRI. Data on 118 age-equivalent control (normocephalic) subjects were collected for comparative purposes. In addition, the same craniometric ratios were determined on the endocasts of 10 microcephalic individuals, 79 normal controls (anatomically modern humans), and 17 Homo erectus specimens. These ratios were then compared with those of two LB1 endocasts. The findings showed that the calculated cerebral/cerebellar ratios of the LB1 endocast [Falk D, et al. (2007) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:2513–2518] fall outside the range of living normocephalic individuals. The ratios derived from two LB1 endocasts also fall largely outside the range of modern normal human and H. erectus endocasts and within the range of microcephalic endocasts. The findings support but do not prove the contention that LB1 represents a pathological microcephalic Homo sapiens rather than a new species, (i.e., H. floresiensis).