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Displaying entries 61 through 75 of 92 found.

Life's Corporeal Evolution Develops, Encodes and Organizes Itself: An Earthtwinian Genesis Synthesis

Pavlicev, Mihaela, et al. Metabolic complementation between cells drives the evolution of tissues and organs.. Biology Letters. November, 2024. As expansive evolutionary understandings continue to presage a 2020s genesis synthesis, University of Vienna, James DiFrisco, Francis Crick Institute, London, Alan Love, University of Minnesota and Günter Wagner, Yale University describe a further array of recurrent, nested transitional domains that appear to occur and distinguish within creaturely anatomies and physiologies.

Although evolutionary transitions of individuality have been extensively theorized, little attention has been paid to the origin of levels of organization within organisms. We propose a hypothesis for this version based on metabolic constraints on functional performance and the capacity for complementation between cells. We illustrate this process of ‘supra-functionalization’ using the nervous system and pancreas. (Excerpt)Although evolutionary transitions of individuality have been extensively theorized, little attention has been paid to the origin of levels of organization within organisms. We propose a hypothesis for this version based on metabolic constraints on functional performance and the capacity for complementation between cells. We illustrate this process of ‘supra-functionalization’ using the nervous system and pancreas. (Excerpt)

Švorcová, Jana, ed. Organismal Agency: Biological Concepts and Their Philosophical Foundations. Switzerland: Springer, 2024. The volume belongs to a Biosemiotics book series (google) and its present editor is a Charles University, Prague philosopher of science (search). With chapters such as Organismic Teleology and Agency: A Process-Metaphysical Perspective by Spyridon Koutroufinis, (Bio)Semiosis as Life-Specific Form of Agency by Anton Markos and Ontogenesis, Organisation, and Organismal Agency by Johannes Jaeger, the collection seeks to highlight and advance bionarrative, process perceptions to move beyond myopic mechanism. See also Codes and Evolution by Marcelo Barbieri (2024) in this Springer collection.

This book explores the notion of organismal agency from the perspective of both philosophy and biology. Two main sections delve into conceptions between organic and inorganic nature, self-organization, autonomy, self-presentation, memory, umwelt, and environmental influence. The biological part investigates various features such as experience, meaning attribution, and phenotypic plasticity, as well as reproduction, modularity, integrated phenotypes, and organismal choices.

This examination shows that mechanistic thinking reduces teleological explanations to a way of speaking that has no ontological relevance, nor explains the ability of organisms to transform their material space. As an alternative, I propose a process-philosophical understanding of organismic directedness and agency based on the bio-philosophical concepts introduced by Alfred Whitehead and Henri Bergson. (S. Koutroufinis)

I examine how these insights can help us bridge the explanatory gap between empirical approaches and theoretical considerations regarding an organism as a whole entity whereby the two approaches are used in a complementary manner. Only by placing ontogenetic mechanisms within the larger context of an evolving lifecycle can we arrive at an adequate understanding of their functionality and evolution. (J. Jaeger)

Angulo-Cánovas, Elisa, et al. Direct interaction between marine cyanobacteria mediated by nanotubes.. Science Advances. 10/21, 2024. As global research abilities keep growing in the depth and breadth of their survey, a fourteen member marine biologist team based at the Universidad de Córdoba, Cádiz, Sevilla and MIT including María del Carmen Muñoz- Marín and José Manuel García-Fernández can now describe the presence of worldwater communicative networks between its myriad micro residents. So indeed a song of the (prokaryote) sea is observed whence it appears as a super animate organism.

See also The Ocean Teems with Networks of Interconnected Bacteria by Veronique Greenwood in Quanta (January 5, 2025) for a science news review of this achievement. (Nanotube bridge networks grow between the most abundant photosynthetic bacteria in the oceans, suggesting that the world is far more interconnected than anyone realized.)

Microbial associations and interactions drive and regulate nutrient fluxes in the ocean. However, physical contact between cells of marine cyanobacteria has not been studied thus far. Here, we show a mechanism of direct interaction between the marine cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus, the intercellular membrane nanotubes. We present evidence of inter- and intra-genus exchange of cytoplasmic material between neighboring and distant cells of cyanobacteria mediated by nanotubes. We show that nanotubes are produced between living cells, suggesting that this is a relevant system of exchange material in vivo. The discovery of nanotubes acting as exchange bridges i in the ocean has important implications for other organisms and their population dynamics. (Abstract)

Cammann, Jan, et al. Topological transition in filamentous cyanobacteria: from motion to structure. Communications Physics. 7/376, 202. Loughborough University and Nottingham Trent University, UK system microbiologists add an appreciation of how vitally pervasive networks are by describing how such colonies are suffused by these definitive interconnections. See also Direct interaction between marine cyanobacteria mediated by nanotubes by Elisa, Angulo-Cánovas, et al in Science Advances. (10/21, 2024).

Many active systems are capable of forming patterns at scales larger than the size of their individual constituents. Here, we investigate the collective effects and rich dynamics of filamentous colonies, while retaining information about the member interactions. The pair correlation functions provide structural information about the colony, and the early stages of biofilm formation. Finally, we find that the effects of the filaments’ length cannot be reduced to a system of interacting points. (Excerpt)

Niizato, Takayuki, et al. Information structure of heterogeneous criticality in a fish school.. Scientific Reports. 14/29758, 2024. University of Tsukuba, University of Tokyo, Hitotsubashi University and Kyoto Institute of Technology post a unique application of mathematical neuroscience to dynamic animal behaviors which leads to and achieves a common notice of self-organized critical phenomena in both these widely removed cases.

Integrated information theory (IIT) assesses the degree of consciousness in living organisms. It can also be applied to other systems, including those exhibiting critical behaviors. In this study, we applied IIT to the collective behaviour of Plecoglossus altivelis and observed that the group integrity (Φ) was maximized at the critical state. Notably, core fish in the high-criticality subgroups were less affected by internal and external stimuli compared to those in low-criticality subgroups. These findings are consistent with known critical phenomena and offer a new perspective on the dynamics of an empirical critical state. (Excerpt)

Critical phenomena are widely observed in living organisms as system situated between ordered and disordered states. Although critical theoretical studies originated from statistical physics, various applications in living systems. Many researchers suggest that living systems utilize these critical states for optimal information transfer, high computational
power and adaptive behaviours. (1)

Caporale, Nicolo, et al.. Tile by tile: capturing the evolutionary mosaic of human conditions. Current Opinion in Genetics & Development.. 90/102297, 2025. University of Milan and University of Barcelona paleoanthropologists including Cedric Boeckx reconstruct our cumulative past by way of cultural artifacts.

The collection of Homo sapiens anatomical hallmarks which engender the human condition appeared gradually along a reticulate evolutionary trajectory. Here, we first review key discoveries that could allow this experimental endeavor by describing recent advances in a variety of fields to chart our current neurodiversity, along with key cellular and molecular observables. Finally, we focus on technologies that is compatible with contemporary genomic and phenotypic characterization. (Excerpt)

Yegian, Andrew, et al.. Metabolic scaling, energy allocation tradeoffs, and the evolution of humans’ unique metabolism. PNAS. 121/48, 2024. Harvard, University of Keil, Germany and Loiusiana State University including Daniel Liebermann propose an insightful factor which could help explain our relatively higher levels of physical behavior and cerebral cognition. As the abstract notes, it could be more individual and communal get up and go widely, which would then also be fueled by a better, reliable diet and nutrition.

There is debate over whether primate and human metabolic rates are lower than those of other animals and whether higher physical activity levels cause lower resting metabolic rates. Here, we describe a method for comparing metabolic rates using metabolic rates versus those from a large sample of mammals, environmental temperature, and evolutionary relatedness. Applying these metabolic quotients to human populations reveals an evolution of exceptional metabolic rates that do not trade off or allocate to maintenance. Humans’ uniquely high metabolic then drove the formation of our species’ large brains, reproductive rates, and extended longevity. (Significance)

Life’s Cerebral Cognizance Becomes More Complex, Smarter, Informed, Proactive, Self-Aware

Cunningham, Karen, et al. Jellyfish for the study of nervous system evolution and function. Current Opinion in Neurobiology. 88/102903, 2024. MIT and Caltech behavioral biologists including Brandon Weissbourd describe how these primordial invertebrate are now found to have sophisticated sensory abilities even at their rudimentary occasion. See also. Dynamics of neural activity in early nervous system evolution by Ann Kennedy and BW in Current Opinion in Behavioral Science. (59/101437, 2024). Into the mid 2020s, a second evolutionary course of of neural stirrings and cognitive acuity is being well traced and populated wth animal smarts.

Jellyfish comprise a diverse clade of free-swimming predators that arose prior to the Cambrian explosion. They play major roles in ocean ecosystems via a suite of complex foraging, reproductive, and defensive behaviors. These behaviors arise from decentralized, regenerative nervous systems composed of body parts that generate the part-specific behaviors. Here, we discuss the organization of jellyfish nervous systems and opportunities afforded by the recent development of a genetically tractable jellyfish model for systems and evolutionary neuroscience.

Behavior appeared before the nervous system due to organisms without neurons ranging from the navigation of paramecia to the contractions of sponges. These actions rely on a suite of molecular assemblies from ion channels to peptide release to control cilia, contractile tissue and intercellular chemical signaling. As time went by these functions gave rise to first neurons and synapses as they wired up to create neural networks. (1)

Noorman, Marcella, et al. Maintaining and updating accurate internal representations of continuous variables with a handful of neurons.. Nature Neuroscience.. 27/2207, 2024. As a whole scale reconstruction of life’s evolutionary neural-like faculties and cognitive stirrings becomes filled in and quantified, Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute neuroresearchers including Ann Hermundstad begin to realize the actual presence of intelligent behaviors from its insect rudiments. One could record that into 2025, a retrospective observation has been achieved which sets aside an old gradual course from dim brute senses. By our Earthuman discovery, an original high level of mental performance, regardless of nervous system size or type, seems to be in place from the earliest onset. A further notice in a personal ecosmos might even allow a common, independent repertoire which is then accessible to any creaturely organism and group.

Many animals rely on persistent internal representations for working memory, navigation, and motor control. Existing theories assume that large networks of neurons are required to achieve this. We show analytically that even very small networks can be tuned to maintain continuous representations. This work expands the computational repertoire of small networks, and raises the possibility that larger networks could represent more and higher-dimensional variables than previously thought. (Excerpt)

While these results were interpreted in the context of Drosophila, they generalize to other scenarios. Our results suggest that such acuity could be maintained using few neurons, thereby broadening the classes of computations that could be performed by small circuits. More broadly, the ability to represent variables using small numbers of neurons could enable large systems to perceive multiple continuous variables, such as observed in the rodent hippocampus. (10)

The ability of small brains to perform tasks thought to require larger systems reveals a fundamental adaptability in neural computation. These findings underscore the efficiency of evolution, showing that even tiny networks can achieve extraordinary feats. Ultimately, the fruit fly’s internal compass demonstrates that size is no limitation to complexity. The lessons learned from these small networks may illuminate the universal principles of computation that underlie all brain functions from simple organisms to humans. (Brighter Side of News review)

Frohlich, Marten, et al. The role of exploration and exploitation in primate communication. . January, 2025. MF, Paleoanthropology and Claudio Tennie, biopsychology, University of Tübingen and
Cedric Boeckx, linguistics, University of Barcelona propose that the behavioral sequence in the title could serve to define how knowledge is gained by a long iterative trial, error, new trial process. This view is then applied to great ape primates, along with young children, to explain the way they similarly are able learn and grow in experience. See also What made us “Hunter-Gatherers of Words” by Boeckx in Frontiers of Neuroscience (February 2023) and the WORDS, BONES, GENES, TOOLS: Tracking Linguistic, Cultural and Biological Trajectories of the Human Past Center website at the University of Tübingen.

While the concepts of social learning and exploration inform human cumulative culture and creativity research, they have often been studied separately. In this article, we, focus on how exploration and exploitation shape primate communication systems. Drawing parallels to language acquisition in human infants, we propose that ape discourse follows an exploration to exploitation trajectory. Our integration of individual and societal processes underlying communicative behaviour portends a deeper understanding of how this sequence shapes cross-talk across species. (Abstract)

Asai, Rieko, et al. Bilateral cellular flows display asymmetry prior to left–right organizer formation in amniote gastrulation. PNAS. 122/6, 2025. As our scientific sapience spirals into this late year, UC San Francisco and University of Miami, FL can gain deeper insights into how embryos in just three weeks begin to adopt basic Left Right forms which then proceed to manifest themselves throughout our whole anatomical and neural lives

A bilateral body plan is predominant throughout the animal kingdom. Amniote bilaterality becomes recognizable as a midline morphogenesis begins at gastrulation. We apply high spatial and temporal resolution applied to a chick model system to show that a bilateral cellular flow displays LR asymmetries. Our data indicate that the LR asymmetry becomes detectable earlier than suggested by current models and that physical processes play an unexpected but significant role in influencing this laterality during embryonic development.

Gastrulation is an early developmental process in which an embryo transforms from a one-dimensional layer of epithelial cells, a blastula, and reorganizes into a multilayered and multidimensional structure called the gastrula.

Hahner, Linus and Andreas Nieder. Volitional spatial attention is lateralized in crows. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. January, 2024. University of Tübingen neurobiologists add a further distinction to the common bicameral faculties which extend throughout creaturely species. While the right eye to left hemisphere views fine detail (seeds, words), herein it is reported that as left field crosses to the right brain it achieve an integral survey (sky predator) and behavioral responses.

Like humans and other animal species, birds exhibit left–right asymmetries due to hemispheric functions. However, the potential lateralization of executive control remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that crows exhibit more pronounced attention for stimuli viewed in the left visual hemifield. In tests we found that cued targets were detected more efficiently in the left view compared with the right visual field. These findings ikply that crows, like humans, exhibit superior executive control of attention in the left-eye/right hemisphere system of their brains. (Abstract)

Since both crows and humans show left-eye-system superiority for executive control, it leads us to speculate that right-hemispheric dominance for controlling visuospatial functions might be phylogenetically conserved across species.

Arnon, Inbal. et al. Whale song shows language-like statistical structure. Science. Fenruary 6, 2025. A prime theme which has come to pervade our website is how nature is wholly graced by a self-similar pattern and process in kind everywhere. Here, for example, Israeli, New Caledonia, New Zealand, France and Scotland listeners including Simon Kirby find these aquatic mammal to avail the same vocal singuistics as our human phase. See also Convergent evolution in whale and human vocal cultures by Andrew Whiten and Mason Youngblood in the same issue.

Humpback whale song is a culturally transmitted behavior, which akin to human language has statistically coherent parts whose frequency distribution follows a power law. These properties facilitate learning and foster faithful transmission over multiple generations. In this study, we applied methods based on infant speech segmentation to humpback recordings to uncover the same statistical structure that is a hallmark of human language. This commonality in two evolutionarily distant species points to the persistent evolution of basic communicative properties. (Excerpt)

Our Earthuman Ascent: A Major Evolutionary Transition in Twindividuality

Delafield-Butt, Jonathon and Anna Ciaunica. Sensorimotor foundations of self-consciousness in utero... Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences.. October, 2024. As an example of the latest, sophisticated, non-invasive neurovision abilities, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and University of Lisbon researchers can now peer into a womb to witness these perceptive quickenings as a fetus begins to sense, stir and awaken.

We review recent work about a self-consciousness in utero in humans. We focus on inklings of an anticipatory perceptual awareness as a foetal sense of agency which is first evident in bodily movements of the second-trimester. These early occasions establish a basis for additional abstract, reflective, and conceptually conscious experience. Advanced understanding of these original developments may afford the natural basis of its original ontogeny, its expression mediated by the integrative nervous system and a better understanding of adult consciousness.

Barabino, Valerio, et al. Investigating the interplay between segregation and integration in developing cortical assemblies.. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. September, 2024. Eight University of Genova, Italy neuroscientists provide a latest neuroimage verification of nature’s persistent tendency to seek and resolve into these opposite yet reciprocal best case conditions. By 2025, their consistent presence from quantum and ecosmic realms all the way to our cerebral acumen has been quantified enough to prove vital a dynamic left/right, me/We complementarity that we are so in need of. See also Brain signaling becomes less integrated and more segregated with age by Rostam Razban, et al in Network Neuroscience (8/4, 2024) for a similar study.

The human brain is an intricate structure composed of modular networks which balance dual segregation and integration modes for rapid information exchange and coherent brain states. Segregation involves the specialized regions for specific tasks, while integration facilitates communication among them. Several factors influence this poise including maturation, aging, and the insurgence of neurological disorders. To gain insights into information processing and connectivity recovery, we devised a controllable in vitro model to investigate the effects of different segregation and integration ratios over time. (Abstract)

Within our brain two fundamental principles known as segregation and integration orchestrate the symphony of cognitive processes, behaviors, and perceptions that define experience. As confirmed by network studies carried out on datasets describing the cerebral cortex of mammalian animal models (e.g., rat, cat, monkey), brain areas were neither completely connected nor randomly linked. Instead, their interconnections showed a specific and intricate organization ruled by a coincidence between segregation and integration. (1)

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