Robert Barton
@howbrainsevolve
Evolutionary anthropologist interested in 'organs of extreme perfection and complication' (brains, mainly)
Humans may not have a uniquely specialised memory for sequences - it may be more to do with how tasks are culturally scaffolded and what they “mean” to participants. New paper royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…
Interesting new study demonstrates "cerebellar connectivity to higher-order networks at birth, which generally strengthen with age, emphasizing the cerebellum’s early role in cognitive processing beyond sensory and motor functions nature.com/articles/s4146…
Is the sense of reality a purely visual business?? "Our results demonstrate that a key mechanism through which the brain distinguishes imagination from reality is by monitoring the activity of the mid-level visual cortex." cell.com/neuron/fulltex…
Do you have field work experience? Do you want more? Our team wants YOU to manage our field site studying Kinda baboons in Kasanka National Park, Zambia! Start date is this August 2025 so apply ASAP! Job ad here: tinyurl.com/KindaBaboon
'Embodied cognitive evolution and the limits of convergence' - paper by Louise Barrett and me just out: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…. .
“Brains over Bots: Why Toddlers Still Beat AI at Learning Language” by Caroline Rowland et al. Trends in Cognitive Sciences dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tics…
Thrilled for the upcoming TIBBE online talks &discussions with the amazing @howbrainsevolve & Susan Healy around how do we better connect brain structure, function & behaviours? Next Wednesday, May 28, 2pm UTC, 4pm Paris 🧠🐒🦜Join us crowdcast.io/c/linking-brai…
🤩 Join us for the next TIBBE seminar: Linking brain and behaviour. May 28, 2–3pm UTC. This event brings together 2 outstanding evolutionary and cognitive neuroscientists who will present their work, followed by an interactive discussion with the audience: crowdcast.io/c/linking-brai…
The only thing more depressing than Trump’s bullying with tariffs is other governments like the UK falling over themselves to negotiate to minimise them. Never a good idea to give a bully what they want
I made this slide during his first presidency. It illustrates how not to make evolutionary inferences from comparative data (dashed red line, although that could also be stock markets). Today more than ever it seems like an insult to chimpanzees
Not one family in Nuuk, Greenland would accept a visit from JD and Usha Vance. NOT A SINGLE RESIDENCE, this is why the visit was cancelled. Drop a 💙 if you would REFUSE to let JD Vance in your home too.
Catherine Peters - one of the finest of Wilkie Collins's biographers - has died aged 94. The King of Inventors was written pre-internet. She went everywhere, read everything including his letters scattered around the world and set the bar for others bit.ly/4aP9sza RIP
Being cynical, like Palmerston: “There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests”. It is particularly shameless from the US though
Does Donald Trump have conflicts of interest between policy and personal assets? Does he understand or care what a CoI is?
I remember my father saying to me 50 years ago that ‘Fortress America’ would eventually look to itself, and Europe would be left to fend for itself. I was too young to understand what that meant. I do now
Tired but happy to say this is out w @andrea_e_martin: Are Neurocognitive Representations 'Small Cakes'? We analyse theories of representation in neuroscience showing how vicious regress, e.g. the homunculus fallacy, is (sadly) alive and well — and importantly how to avoid it. 1/
An absolutely love place to work!!
Durham Anthropology are recruiting an Assistant Professor in Anthropology of Data Science (Research & Education). For more information, and to apply, click the link below. durham.taleo.net/careersection/…
