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All things brain...

Started by Claireliontamer, July 12, 2017, 08:18:49 PM

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Randy

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on December 01, 2020, 08:28:13 PM
Quote from: Randy on December 01, 2020, 02:37:51 PM
That's neat. Would she be considered a genius among canines or is this something any dog can do?

I don't know.  ;D She had an owner who was very devoted to training her so there's definitely nature and nurture playing hand in hand to develop her skills. IMO she's a genius among dogs, but then again I'm no expert on canine cognition so I can't say.

In the full PBS Nova Documentary they mention a gene called CTNND2, which is important for normal brain development, and that the Border Collie genome shows selective breeding for this gene, which would explain why they are the smartest dog breed. But I haven't been able to find a reference to back that claim up...
It would be an interesting find to know that it's common among them.
"Maybe it's just a bunch of stuff that happens." -- Homer Simpson
"Some people focus on the destination. Atheists focus on the journey." -- Barry Goldberg

Icarus

I read an account of this dog a while back in Scientific American or some other magazine.  Incredible recognition abilities in the the dog.   I am not sure that Border Collies are the most intelligent dogs but I am confident that they are generally in the top echelon of canine thinkers and doers. Borders are an outstanding breed who work so well with humans.

I  hesitate to assign top dog status to any particular canine because of my experience with a breed that is generally considered to be clowns, not intellectuals.  I had a constant companion named Molly. She was an Irish setter.  A comedian by most assessments of that breed from people that did not know her.  Molly was brilliant. She could sense my mood and react to the slightest nuance of expression on my face. She probably saved my life when my wife died suddenly, unexpectedly.  Molly sensed my mood in every minute of that saddest part of my life.  She seemed to know when to embrace me with her love and affection and to also sense when to encourage me to become stoic. She was a big girl who was protective of me most persuasively to anyone who dared threaten me or that she might have perceived as threatening.

Then there was Teddy. He was a rescue from the local pound. He was an almost, but not quite thoroughbred, Bernese Mountain Dog.  We bonded quickly, He was my best friend and constant companion. Where I went, Teddy went, When I was lost, Teddy would find me, When I am joyful, dog joins me.
What I need, Dog becomes.

Sailor was an Australian Shepard. No one ever has loved and protected and cared for me more than he did.  The feeling went both ways without question and Sailor almost surely knew that to be true.

I do hope that God will forgive me for assigning more status and dedication to my beloved dogs than I have assigned to more than a  precious few of the people in my life. 




Recusant

#212
I agree with you, Icarus. It ties in with the discussion of human intelligence and how that is supposedly measured. Some dogs do seem to have more of what we would recognize as reasoning ability than others though.

I also agree with xSilverPhinx, that the phenomenal abilities displayed by Chaser came to light through being cultivated by her human partner. In my extended family was a Shetland Sheepdog who knew the names of about 20 toys. If his people had worked on it, I don't doubt that he'd have been able to learn many more. The logical elimination though, I'm not sure he would have got.
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Recusant

We'll just put this nifty little swimming cap on and take a look, shall we? Short video about a new infrared light system for monitoring waking brains (specifically of very young children). One imagines that they've already determined that using infrared light on people's heads and brains is harmless.

Hat-tip to Lark for this one.  :toff:

"Brain imaging technology designed for babies" | BBC

QuoteScientists in the UK have demonstrated technology that could allow us to better understand a baby's brain during moments of natural activity.

The brain imaging technology has been developed by Gowerlabs, with UCL, Cambridge University, and the Rosie Hospital also working on the project.

It uses high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) and has been tested on six-month old infants.
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


xSilverPhinx

I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Tank

If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

No one

Thinking, it's not for everyone.

Icarus

My house is on a cul de sac. there are five houses.  Doctor Andersons wife is a lovely South African woman, one of the houses is occupied by a couple from West Virginia, which is almost a foreign state. Another house is occupied by a former world class tennis pro, from Croatia whose wife, Carolena, is a very charming Brazillian woman.  She is a Certified Public accountant who works for Citi Bank.  When she first worked here, her first job assignment was in Northern Montana.

Carolena was raised and attended schools and colleges in Sao Paulo. one of the largest cities and one the most beautiful cities in the world. The Montana people knowing that she was from Brazil, asked her many dumb  questions. Among them were; are  wild monkeys in your streets...did you have to guard against cheetas, leopords, or giant snakes, etc..... Carolena lived in Sao Paulo in a high rise building on the 13th floor. She had to use the elevator to get to her apartment for christs sake. Damned few Cheetas on the 13th floor.  (The silly cats and snakes do not know how to punch the elevator floor buttons)

The point is that a preponderant number  of  Americans  believe ourselves to live in the only fully developed, most civilized nation in the world. It is like so many of us sincerely believe that our shit does not stink.

I am ashamed of us. A huge proportion of us actually believe that we are the chosen ones  to the exclusion of every other culture. ......So is there something terribly wrong with our brains....or are we just stupid?

billy rubin

not just furriners

my girlfriend from oklahoma once visited back east. the people asked her if there wwas still danger from indian attacks there and various other odd questions that neglected the last 100 years of american history.

it was as if i visited new york city and asked to meet with peter styvezant


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Icarus on February 08, 2021, 04:07:20 AM
My house is on a cul de sac. there are five houses.  Doctor Andersons wife is a lovely South African woman, one of the houses is occupied by a couple from West Virginia, which is almost a foreign state. Another house is occupied by a former world class tennis pro, from Croatia whose wife, Carolena, is a very charming Brazillian woman.  She is a Certified Public accountant who works for Citi Bank.  When she first worked here, her first job assignment was in Northern Montana.

Carolena was raised and attended schools and colleges in Sao Paulo. one of the largest cities and one the most beautiful cities in the world. The Montana people knowing that she was from Brazil, asked her many dumb  questions. Among them were; are  wild monkeys in your streets...did you have to guard against cheetas, leopords, or giant snakes, etc..... Carolena lived in Sao Paulo in a high rise building on the 13th floor. She had to use the elevator to get to her apartment for christs sake. Damned few Cheetas on the 13th floor.  (The silly cats and snakes do not know how to punch the elevator floor buttons)

The point is that a preponderant number  of  Americans  believe ourselves to live in the only fully developed, most civilized nation in the world. It is like so many of us sincerely believe that our shit does not stink.

I am ashamed of us. A huge proportion of us actually believe that we are the chosen ones  to the exclusion of every other culture. ......So is there something terribly wrong with our brains....or are we just stupid?

Heh, I get asked those kind of questions a lot, and would generally reply in the affirmative, "yes, I had to run from a jaguar on my way to school yesterday" or "yes I do live in a jungle treehouse, it's a bit hard getting a good wifi signal up here so that I can communicate with people from different countries". When they realise I'm pulling their leg they stop out of embarrassment. There are, of course, those who never realise I'm joking and in those cases I just play along. :sidesmile:

I did get called a monkey once, for being tree-dwelling Brazilian, and I replied with the correction, "an ape just like you, not monkey". Those people it's best just to ignore, but for the genuinely curious and ignorant I will explain that Brazil is more similar in many ways to other western countries than different. 
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Icarus

I wonder whether Mags and Hermes has had to put up with similar dimwits. 

Dark Lightning

I can't answer for them, but I can tell you that this kind of thing goes on everywhere. Back in the early '90s I was out with some friends at a local watering hole, and another patron quoted a DJ from northern California (we were in Manhattan Beach, which is no indicator of "more cool", of course). When I asked him what he was talking about, I got this, "Engineers are SO shallow!" comment :rolleyes:

There isn't a thing that a person could "be" that another person could denigrate. It's sad in a lot of ways, but it is the state of the world.

Icarus

I am an engineer and I do have some shallow traits. I also have some depths of intellect in a few areas.  The person who makes a blanket statement that shallowness is a characteristic of engineers, Accountants, Lawyers, democrats, sculptors, or whomever, ....pick one......is himself a narrow minded (shallow) individual.

Magdalena

Quote from: Icarus on February 10, 2021, 03:47:32 AM
I wonder whether Mags and Hermes has had to put up with similar dimwits.
Oh, yes.
  :picard facepalm:

I was telling a young lady that I used to work with that when I was a kid in El Salvador, my friends and I used to play around quicksand. She asked me,
"So...how do you know where your loved ones are buried, then?"  :headscratch:
I said,
"We have cemeteries."
::)

"I've had several "spiritual" or numinous experiences over the years, but never felt that they were the product of anything but the workings of my own mind in reaction to the universe." ~Recusant

No one