University of California Audio Podcasts (Audio)

The brain is the central organ of stress and adaptation to stress because it perceives and determines what is threatening, as well as the behavioral and physiological responses to the stressor. The healthy brain is resilient and responds to experiences over the lifecourse that produce epigenetic changes. The lifecourse is a “one way stress” in which there is no true reversal but redirection that occurs in response to positive or negative experiences that may be unique to each stage of life. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 35291]

The question of what is learned, which is innate, and how the two relate is at the heart of 2,000 years and more of the 4,000 reports of feral children. Douglas Candland offers his knowledge of two such living persons known to him. The first is John Ssabyuna of Uganda and the second, known as CauCau, of southern Argentina. He compares these to the publications regarding studies of Victor, the "Wild boy of Avignon," and the so-called "Wolf-Girls of India," raised at the Singhs’ orphanage in the early 20th century. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 35284]

Our ability to learn languages fully and fluently changes over age. Young children are remarkable in learning languages so well – often much better than adults. Elissa Newport (Georgetown University) discusses how we have evolved to have such outstanding language learning abilities during childhood which do not continue throughout life. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 35286]

Dr. Aimee Kao looks at recent news in Alzheimer's Disease therapeutics including drugs in development and the potential of stem cells and genome editing. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Show ID: 35238]

Closing remarks and questions at a symposium that addresses the influences of environment and culture on the emergence of the human mind based on available evidence, ranging from experiments by ancient monarchs to the follow-up of Romanian orphans, while addressing comparative and neurobiological issues. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 35280]

This CARTA symposium addresses the influences of environment and culture on the emergence of the human mind. Charles Nelson (Boston Childrens Hospital/Harvard Medical School) The Effects of Early Psychosocial Deprivation on Brain-Behavioral Development: Findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project; Faraneh Vargha-Khadem (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health) Developmental Amnesia; Ann Masten (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities) Resilience Processes in Development. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 35282]

What makes a neighborhood into a community? With rising density in areas like San Diego’s East Village, good urban design is more essential than ever for creating vibrant, livable communities. Enjoy a lively discussion about design strategies for urban settings with a special focus on the dog park/dog run as a particularly effective “mixer” for both human and canine interaction. L.A.-based design and architecture guru Frances Anderton of KCRW FM’s DnA will guide the conversation with San Diego urban planning mavin Howard Blackson and New York Times best-selling author (and UC San Diego alumna) Alexandra Horowitz, an expert on canine cognition and the human-dog relationship. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Show ID: 35223]

Language co-evolved with the human brain throughout the evolution of Homo sapiens. Paula Tallal (Salk Institute) focuses on longitudinal studies that show that the efficiency with which foundational capacities for acquiring language operate, particularly critical auditory processes, determines individual differences in the proficiency of spoken language learning. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 35287]

By virtually any measure, prisons have not worked. They are sites of cruelty, dehumanization, and violence, as well as subordination by race, class, and gender. Prisons traumatize virtually all who come into contact with them. Abolition of prison could be the ultimate reform. Georgetown Law Professor Paul Bulter explores what would replace prisons, how people who cause harm could be dealt with in the absence of incarceration, and why abolition would make everyone safer and our society more just. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Show ID: 35147]

Climate change, caused primarily by the greenhouse gas emissions of the world's most affluent populations, is having a disproportionate impact on socially and economically subordinated populations all over the world. Although climate change is anticipated to displace between 200 million and 1 billion people by 2050, the racialized hostility of the US, the European Union, and Australia to persons fleeing poverty, conflict, and environmental degradation does not bode well for climate refugees. Carmen G. Gonzalez, Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law, examines the relationship between climate change and racial subordination, evaluating the evolving legal and policy responses to climate change-induced displacement. Series: "DeWitt Higgs Memorial Lecture" [Show ID: 35345]