BrainBlog

New in the world of pig cognition research, interesting results: Pigs Prove to Be Smart, if Not Vain By NATALIE ANGIER The New York Times Published: November 10, 2009 "Recent discoveries from the nascent study of pig cognition offered evidence that pigs were quick learners, slow to forget and similar to humans in many ways." Read the article

From a National Institutes of Health (NIH) press release: Imitation Promotes Social Bonding in Primates Capuchin Monkeys Predisposed Toward Individuals Who Imitate Them Imitation, the old saying goes, is the sincerest form of flattery. It also appears to be an ancient interpersonal mechanism that promotes social bonding and, presumably, sets the stage for relative strangers to coalesce into groups of friends, according to a study by a team of scientists at the National Institutes of Health and two Italian research institutions. The study authors found that capuchin monkeys preferred the company of researchers who imitated them to that of researchers who did not imitate them. The monkeys not only spent more time with their imitators, but also preferred to engage in a simple task with them even when provided with the option of performing the same task with a non-imitator. Read the full press release

From the Associated Press, a report of curious cooperative behavior ... or merely a fluke: Spiders Create Giant Web By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 30, 2007 Filed at 7:02 a.m. ET WILLS POINT, Texas (AP) -- Entomologists are debating the origin and rarity of a sprawling spider web that blankets several trees, shrubs and the ground along a 200-yard stretch of trail in a North Texas park. Officials at Lake Tawakoni State Park say the massive mosquito trap is a big attraction for some visitors, while others won't go anywhere near it. ''At first, it was so white it looked like fairyland,'' said Donna Garde, superintendent of the park about 45 miles east of Dallas. ''Now it's filled with so many mosquitoes that it's turned a little brown. There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs.'' Spider experts say the web may have been constructed by social cobweb spiders, which work together, or could be t...