CARTA - Anthropogeny (Audio)

For the past 30 years, the frontiers of language science have been in the areas of neurolinguistics and genetics, both of which arose in conjunction with new technologies emerging in the 1990s. It is probably safe to say that these trends will continue apace as technology in these areas continues to advance, allowing for increasingly sophisticated and fine-grained analysis. From its inception, the study of language has been inextricably linked with cultural anthropology and the arts. It was only in the 20th century that linguistics was able to break free of its sister disciplines and establish itself as an autonomous field all its own. In this talk, I first look backwards in time, in a review of the provenance and history of linguistics as a field. The idea is to take stock of where we have come from in order to get a sense for where we might be headed. Much of what we do today in linguistics has its roots in what the Sanskrit grammarians did several millennia ago. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38300]

Human cognition and behavior are highly heritable and so is liability to disorders that affect them. This includes neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We have started to integrate genetic risk data with the emerging maps of gene regulation to study human specific aspects of gene expression and gene regulation. These analyses indicate that human specific aspects of gene regulation, such as genes regulated by human specific enhancers, are indeed enriched in mutations or common genetic variants that increase risk for ASD and allied neurodevelopmental disorders. This provides evidence that genetic elements underlying human brain evolution are particularly susceptible to disruption in disease. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38299]

Africa is thought to be the ancestral homeland of all modern human populations within the past 300,000 years. It is also a region of tremendous cultural, linguistic, climatic, and genetic diversity. Despite the important role that African populations have played in human history, they remain one of the most underrepresented groups in human genomics studies. A comprehensive knowledge of patterns of variation in African genomes is critical for a deeper understanding of human genomic diversity, the identification of functionally important genetic variation, the genetic basis of adaptation to diverse environments and diets, and the origins of modern humans. We have characterized genomic variation in thousands of ethnically and geographically diverse Africans in order to reconstruct human population history and local adaptation to variable environments and have identified candidate loci that play a role in alcohol metabolism and skin color. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38304]

The first Neandertal DNA was recovered 25 years ago, and since then, ancient DNA has provided many surprising insights into human evolutionary history. Among these are the discoveries of the multiple admixture events among late Pleistocene humans and the remnants of archaic DNA in our own genomes. How does ancient DNA research contribute to the future of anthropogeny? In this talk, I will reflect on the findings of last quarter century of ancient DNA research about archaic humans and their environment as well as examine potential questions that the next quarter century might answer. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38303]

Our species is between 300,000 and 200,000 years old. For most of this one-quarter of a million years, up until just 12,000 years ago, it appears that our ancestors lived in small populations, in small-scale societies of which we can only guess the real nature. We remain in the dark about the age of some of the most diagnostic features of our species: our striding bipedalism, complex tool manufacture and use, fire use, language and societies defining their own identities, collaborating with and competing against neighboring societies. Data from studies of non-human animal behavior remind us of the underappreciated capacities of many other species. However, it has so far not provided evidence for any other species that shares the long list of distinctly human characteristics; chief among those, our species’ capacity to not only simultaneous modify and threaten planetary ecosystems but also document and study such ecosystems across the globe. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38298]

The discovery and resolution of genetic variation is critical to understanding disease and evolution. Our most recent work sequences diverse human and nonhuman primate genomes using both ultra-long and high-fidelity long-read sequencing technologies. Advances in this area have made possible the first telomere-to-telomere assemblies of the human genome and much more complete chimp, gorilla and orangutan genomes providing new biological insights into regions typically excluded from human genetic and comparative studies. We have discovered mega basepairs of duplicated sequence and/or rapidly evolving sequence present in humans that are absent from other non-human primates. These changes have predisposed our species to recurrent rearrangements associated with disease but also have led to the emergence of new genes important in the expansion of the human frontal cortex of the brain. Our data suggest that large-scale genome structural variation has played and continues to play a crucial role in the evolution of the human species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38297]

Neuroscience has made great strides in the last decade following the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, a science and engineering grand challenge that has greatly accelerated research on large-scale recordings from neurons and reconstructions of neural circuits. Large-scale neural network models have in turn inspired major advances in artificial intelligence. These network models have been trained on large-scale data sets to recognize objects in images, caption photographs, and translate text between languages. The most recent advance has been the emergence of pre-trained foundational language models that are self-supervised and can be adapted with fine tuning to a wide range of natural language tasks, each of which previously would have required a separate network model. This is one step closer to the extraordinary versatility of human language. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38302]

The human brain has a larger mass with respect to body weight, increased cortical neurons with respect to size, an expanded proliferative zone, and unique connectivity patterns. Human-specific neurodevelopment is not only marked by physical differences, but also by temporal changes. Human neurons, during both prenatal neurodevelopment and adult neurogenesis, exhibit an exceptionally delayed time course, a characteristic termed neoteny. Signatures of human-specific neoteny have been observed and reproduced across different systems including induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) and brain organoids models. We compared neurogenesis across stem cells from five primate species - rhesus, gorilla, bonobo, chimpanzee, human - and assessed the differences in transcriptional dynamics. We identified a pioneer transcription factor, GATA3, that exhibited elevated neuronal expression only in humans. This finding provides evidence for the divergence of gene regulation as a contributor to human neoteny. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38301]

As humans have evolved, so has our ability to drastically alter the planet we call home. In this collection of talks from the CARTA symposium, "Humans: The Planet-Altering Apes" you will learn about specific examples on how humans have changed Earth and what can be done to prevent its cataclysmic demise. David Holway addresses the challenges of emerging invasive species in our ecosystem. Oliver Ryder discusses the accelerated rate of loss of species due to human activities. Patricia Hunt talks about how human made chemicals and pollutants are impacting global fertility rates. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38207]

As humans have evolved, so has our ability to drastically alter the planet we call home. In this collection of talks from the CARTA symposium, "Humans: The Planet-Altering Apes" you will learn about specific examples on how humans have changed Earth and what can be done to prevent its cataclysmic demise. Rob Knight will talk about how all microbiomes that have been studies are impacted by human activity. Alice Goramn discusses how accumulating space debris surrounding our planet that may prevent us from leaving the Earth in the future. Asher Rosinger addresses the global water challenges that humans may face as climate change begins to affect water supplies. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38206]