Anthropology posts
- November 25, 2009
- 08:04 AM
- 664 views
Mental Illness vs. Suicide
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Do countries with more mental illness have more suicides? At first glance, it seems as though the answer must be "yes". Although not all suicides are related to mental illness, unsurprisingly people with mental illness do have a much higher suicide rate than people without. So, all other things being equal, the rate of mental illness in a country should correlate with the suicide rate. Of course, all other things are not equal, and other factors might come into play such as the quality of mental........ Read more »
Sartorius N, Ustün TB, Costa e Silva JA, Goldberg D, Lecrubier Y, Ormel J, Von Korff M, & Wittchen HU. (1993) An international study of psychological problems in primary care. Preliminary report from the World Health Organization Collaborative Project on 'Psychological Problems in General Health Care'. Archives of general psychiatry, 50(10), 819-24. PMID: 8215805
WHO. (2000) Cross-national comparisons of the prevalences and correlates of mental disorders. WHO International Consortium in Psychiatric Epidemiology. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 78(4), 413-26. PMID: 10885160
Demyttenaere K, & et Al. (2004) Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. JAMA, 291(21), 2581-90. PMID: 15173149
- November 23, 2009
- 02:24 PM
- 914 views
Brain Damage, Pedophilia, and the Law
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
An intriguing and tragic story of brain damage is reported in the latest issue of Neurocase: Klüver-Bucy syndrome, hypersexuality, and the law.The authors are Devinsky, Sacks, and Devinsky - Sacks being neurologist and author Dr. Oliver Sacks. Their anonymous patient, a 51 year old married American man, is currently serving a jail sentence for downloading child pornography. But he's not your average pedophile.The man's problems began at the age of 19 when he -first suffered attacks of déjà vu........ Read more »
Devinsky J, Sacks O, & Devinsky O. (2009) Kluver-Bucy syndrome, hypersexuality, and the law. Neurocase : case studies in neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry, and behavioural neurology, 1-6. PMID: 19927260
- November 23, 2009
- 11:01 AM
- 682 views
Natural selection among us: The Kuru epidemic
by Brian Appleby in CJD Blogger
Kuru is an acquired prion disease, transmitted through ritualistic cannibalism, that reached epidemic proportions in the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea. In a previous post, I presented an article by John Collinge’s group on the selection process of heterozygosity at codon 129 of the prion protein gene (PRNP). The research group has gone a step further by recently describing a new polymorphism of the PRNP gene, G129V. The authors performed PRNP genotyping of 3,000 individuals from ........ Read more »
Mead S, Whitfield J, Poulter M, Shah P, Uphill J, Campbell T, Al-Dujaily H, Hummerich H, Beck J, Mein CA.... (2009) A Novel Protective Prion Protein Variant that Colocalizes with Kuru Exposure. The New England journal of medicine, 361(21), 2056-2065. PMID: 19923577
- November 19, 2009
- 08:19 PM
- 533 views
What Does It Mean to Be Navajo?
by teofilo in Gambler's House
In the previous post I made a distinction between “affiliation” and “identity” that may not have been totally clear. In the context of Keith Kloor’s article on Navajo connections to Chaco, the basic point I want to make could be drastically oversimplified to something like this:
The Park Service’s finding that the Navajos are “affiliated” with [...]... Read more »
Warburton, M., & Begay, R. (2005) An Exploration of Navajo-Anasazi Relationships. Ethnohistory, 52(3), 533-561. DOI: 10.1215/00141801-52-3-533
- November 19, 2009
- 08:11 AM
- 1,289 views
East is East?
I’m not planning to blog a lot on the Astronomical Orientation of Ancient Greek Temples as is openly accessible. Your comments are going to carry a lot more weight there than here. But I’ll try and keep track of what other people are saying elsewhere. I’m expecting this to be the first paper of a [...]... Read more »
Salt, A. (2009) The Astronomical Orientation of Ancient Greek Temples. PLoS ONE, 4(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007903
- November 18, 2009
- 03:25 PM
- 662 views
Oh no! Ideophones are not response cries!
by Mark D. in The Ideophone
In their commentary on Evans & Levinson's recent hotly debated Myth of Language Universals paper, Pinker & Jackendoff briefly mention ideophones — and erroneously shelve them away as 'response cries'. It seems this error is a particularly easy one to make for speakers of SAE languages. In this post I flesh out why this might be so, and explain what's the difference between response cries (also known as interjections) and ideophones.... Read more »
Pinker, S., & Jackendoff, R. (2009) The reality of a universal language faculty. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32(05), 465. DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X09990720
- November 17, 2009
- 02:57 AM
- 943 views
The somniloquy hypothesis: How the immature brain learns facts
by William Lu in The Quantum Lobe Chronicles
A while back I wrote about the possible adaptive function of somnambulism or sleep-walking. Well...I've come up with yet another hypothesis addressing a behavior falling under the category of parasomnias. Somniloquy or sleep-talking happens during stages of NREM sleep, the time declarative memory (i.e. factual knowledge) is consolidated. This seemingly bizarre behavior typically occurs in childhood and is outgrown by puberty. Presentation can vary from rhythmic nonsense words to long coherent sp........ Read more »
Gais S, & Born J. (2004) Declarative memory consolidation: mechanisms acting during human sleep. Learning , 11(6), 679-85. PMID: 15576885
- November 12, 2009
- 05:50 AM
- 593 views
Adaptations for the visual assessment of formadibility: Part II
by Michael Meadon in Ionian Enchantment
In Part I of this series, I summarized the experiments and findings of Aaron Sell and colleagues' paper "Human adaptations for the visual assessment of strength and fighting ability from the body and face". In Part II, I evaluate their claims.
This evidence Sell et. al. present seems compelling with regards to proposition (i): adults appear to be able to make remarkably accurate estimates of upper-body strength from even degraded cues such as static images of faces. As I noted in Part I, howeve........ Read more »
Sell, A., Cosmides, L., Tooby, J., Sznycer, D., von Rueden, C., & Gurven, M. (2009) Human adaptations for the visual assessment of strength and fighting ability from the body and face. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276(1656), 575-584. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.1177
- November 10, 2009
- 02:58 PM
- 1,109 views
New Virtual Issue of Cultural Anthropology on "Security"
by Kevin Karpiak in Anthropoliteia: the anthropology of policing
special online virtual issue of Cultural Anthropology on the topic of "Security"... Read more »
WELKER, M. (2009) “CORPORATE SECURITY BEGINS IN THE COMMUNITY”: Mining, the Corporate Social Responsibility Industry, and Environmental Advocacy in Indonesia. Cultural Anthropology, 24(1), 142-179. DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-1360.2009.00029.x
LAKOFF, A. (2008) THE GENERIC BIOTHREAT, OR, HOW WE BECAME UNPREPARED. Cultural Anthropology, 23(3), 399-428. DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-1360.2008.00013.x
MASCO, J. (2008) “SURVIVAL IS YOUR BUSINESS”: Engineering Ruins and Affect in Nuclear America. Cultural Anthropology, 23(2), 361-398. DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-1360.2008.00012.x
FELDMAN, I. (2007) DIFFICULT DISTINCTIONS: Refugee Law, Humanitarian Practice, and Political Identification in Gaza. Cultural Anthropology, 22(1), 129-169. DOI: 10.1525/can.2007.22.1.129
Fassin, D. (2005) Compassion and Repression: The Moral Economy of Immigration Policies in France. Cultural Anthropology, 20(3), 362-387. DOI: 10.1525/can.2005.20.3.362
- November 10, 2009
- 06:12 AM
- 696 views
Adaptations for the visual assessment of formidability: Part I
by Michael Meadon in Ionian Enchantment
In the last couple of years there has been an explosion in research on faces and what can be inferred from them. It turns out, for example, that you can predict electoral outcomes from rapid and unreflective facial judgments, that women can (partially) determine a man's level of interest in infants from his face alone, that the facial expression of fear enhances sensory acquisition, and much, much else. A particularly interesting addition to this literature is Aaron Sell et. al.'s pape........ Read more »
Sell, A., Cosmides, L., Tooby, J., Sznycer, D., von Rueden, C., & Gurven, M. (2009) Human adaptations for the visual assessment of strength and fighting ability from the body and face. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276(1656), 575-584. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.1177
- November 9, 2009
- 11:30 AM
- 1,540 views
Reciprocity and the Anthropology of Organ Transplants
by Eric Michael Johnson in The Primate Diaries
Reciprocity is an intrinsic feature of human beings as well as most species of ape. Chimpanzees and bonobos regularly engage in granting gifts of food and expect a return on their generosity (those who don't reciprocate are less likely to receive such gifts in the future) (de Waal and Brosnan 2006). This "tit-for-tat" basis of exchange exists in all human societies and becomes ritualized based on the cultural norms that are present. One of the most well known descriptions of reciprocity among........ Read more »
Margaret Lock. (2002) Twice Dead: Organ Transplants and the Reinvention of Death. California Series in Public Anthropology, no. 1. . info:/
- November 4, 2009
- 07:23 AM
- 1,586 views
Long Toes & Short Ankles Help Sprinters Accelerate Faster
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
The Journal of Experimental Biology has published an interesting paper about some unique features in sprinters: longer toes and shorter ankle joints. The only one flaw is that their sample size is limited, they only compared 12 collegiate sprinters with 12 non-athletes of the same height. Regardless, from a physical anthropological point of view, this [...]... Read more »
Knight, K. (2009) SHORT HEELS GIVE ELITE SPRINTERS THE EDGE. Journal of Experimental Biology, 212(22). DOI: 10.1242/jeb.039735
Lee, S., & Piazza, S. (2009) Built for speed: musculoskeletal structure and sprinting ability. Journal of Experimental Biology, 212(22), 3700-3707. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.031096
- November 3, 2009
- 11:21 PM
- 715 views
Building a Religion: The Rock Art Evidence
by teofilo in Gambler's House
The idea that the kachina cult was not an indigenous development among the Pueblos but was instead introduced from the south seems to have originated with a 1974 article by Polly and Curtis Schaafsma. As they note, while some previous scholars had noted some elements of the cult that suggested Mesoamerican influence, the general consensus [...]... Read more »
Schaafsma, P., & Schaafsma, C. (1974) Evidence for the Origins of the Pueblo Katchina Cult as Suggested by Southwestern Rock Art. American Antiquity, 39(4), 535. DOI: 10.2307/278903
- November 3, 2009
- 02:34 PM
- 1,034 views
Anime film characters: Do we perceive the intended race, or our own?
by Dave Munger in Cognitive Daily
One of my favorite cartoons as a child was "Speed Racer." It featured an all-American boy (first name, "Speed," last name, "Racer") engaging in that most American of pastimes: driving fast cars. Except that "Speed Racer" wasn't really American; it was made in Japan, and the original Japanese voices were crudely overdubbed in English. Perhaps I can be excused for not noticing the Japanese origins of the show -- I was only 10 years old. Even now, as an ........ Read more »
Lu, A.S. (2009) What Race Do They Represent and Does Mine Have Anything to Do with It? Perceived Racial Categories of Anime Characters. Animation, 4(2), 169-190. DOI: 10.1177/1746847709104647
- November 2, 2009
- 12:52 PM
- 703 views
Real vs Placebo Coffee
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Coffee contains caffeine, and as everyone knows, caffeine is a stimulant. We all know how a good cup of coffee wakes you up, makes you more alert, and helps you concentrate - thanks to caffeine.Or does it? Are the benefits of coffee really due to the caffeine, or are there placebo effects at work? Numerous experiments have tried to answer this question, but a paper published today goes into more detail than most. (It caught my eye just as I was taking my first sip this morning, so I had to blog ........ Read more »
Harrell PT, & Juliano LM. (2009) Caffeine expectancies influence the subjective and behavioral effects of caffeine. Psychopharmacology. PMID: 19760283
- October 31, 2009
- 11:17 PM
- 603 views
Werewolves of London, Ontario
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
An American Werewolf in LondonIn the last post, we learned about the Psychopharmacology of Lycanthropy (and "endogenous lycanthropogens") from the April 1, 1992 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (Davis et al., 1992). In a more serious review on clinical lycanthropy in the British Journal of Psychiatry Coll, O'Sullivan, and Browne (1985; PDF) began by stating:Lycanthropy is the delusion in which an individual believes he has been transformed into an animal, traditionally a wolf. D........ Read more »
Garlipp, P., Gödecke-Koch, T., Dietrich, D., & Haltenhof, H. (2004) Lycanthropy - psychopathological and psychodynamical aspects. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 109(1), 19-22. DOI: 10.1046/j.1600-0447.2003.00243.x
- October 30, 2009
- 08:40 PM
- 730 views
Replication
by teofilo in Gambler's House
When I was working at Chaco, we would often get visitors who would complain about how hard it was to get there. They usually focused on the road in and asked why there wasn’t more effort to pave it and make it more accessible to the American public. After all, isn’t that what national parks [...]... Read more »
Pepper, G. (1905) Ceremonial Objects and Ornaments from Pueblo Bonito, New Mexico. American Anthropologist, 7(2), 183-197. DOI: 10.1525/aa.1905.7.2.02a00010
- October 26, 2009
- 04:24 PM
- 762 views
Barack Obama Boosts Testosterone
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
But only if you voted for him, and only if you're a man. That's according to a PLoS One paper called Dominance, Politics, and Physiology.It's already known that in males, winning competitions - achieving "dominance" - causes a rapid rise in testosterone release, whilst losing does the opposite. That's true in humans, as well as in other mammals. The authors wondered whether the same thing happens when men "win" vicariously - i.e. when someone we identify with triumphs.What better way of testing........ Read more »
Stanton, S., Beehner, J., Saini, E., Kuhn, C., & LaBar, K. (2009) Dominance, Politics, and Physiology: Voters' Testosterone Changes on the Night of the 2008 United States Presidential Election. PLoS ONE, 4(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007543
- October 25, 2009
- 10:30 AM
- 554 views
The Spread of Leprosy into Europe
by Michael Long in Phased
Claire Watson and Diana Lockwood (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) have biochemical evidence that leprosy was brought into Europe via a single source. This news feature was written on October 25, 2009.... Read more »
Watson, C. L., & Lockwood, D. N. J. (2009) Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Analysis of European Archaeological M. leprae DNA. PLoS ONE, 4(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007547
- October 21, 2009
- 11:10 PM
- 1,580 views
Male Chauvinist Chimps or the Meat Market of Public Opinion?
by Eric Michael Johnson in The Primate Diaries
Female chimpanzee with her infant requests meat after a successful hunt.
Image: David Bygott / Tree of Life Web Project
Owen Lovejoy's recent paper about Ardipithecus ramidus and human origins (see my detailed critique here) bases its argument on the male provisioning observed in chimpanzees. However, what went unacknowledged in his theory was the inherent gender bias it represented. A perfect example of this was observed in April with the release of the very study on provisioning behavior th........ Read more »
Gomes, C., & Boesch, C. (2009) Wild Chimpanzees Exchange Meat for Sex on a Long-Term Basis. PLoS ONE, 4(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005116
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