scholarly journals Early vocal production and functional flexibility in wild infant chimpanzees

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Dezecache ◽  
Klaus Zuberbühler ◽  
Marina Davila-Ross ◽  
Christoph D. Dahl
Keyword(s):  
Nonhuman Primate ◽  
Human Infant ◽  
Vocal Behavior ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Functional Flexibility ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Supervised Learning Algorithms ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Infant Chimpanzees

ABSTRACTHow did human language evolve from earlier forms of communication? One way to address this question is to compare prelinguistic human vocal behavior with nonhuman primate calls. Here, an important finding has been that, prior to speech, human infant vocal behavior exhibits functional flexibility, the capacity of producing protophones that are not tied to one specific function. Nonhuman primate vocal behavior, by contrast, is comparably inflexible, with different call types tied to specific functions. Our research challenges the generality of this claim, with new findings of flexible vocal behavior in infant chimpanzees. We used artificial intelligence consisting of automated feature extraction and supervised learning algorithms to analyze grunt and whimper vocalizations from free-ranging infants during their first year of life. We found that grunt production was highly flexible occurring in positive, neutral and negative circumstances, as already shown in human infants. We also found acoustic variants of grunts produced in different affective contexts, suggesting gradation within this vocal category. By contrast, the second most common call type of infant chimpanzees, the whimpers, was produced in only one affective context in line with standard models of nonhuman primate vocal behavior. We concluded that the most common chimpanzee vocalization, the grunt, qualifies as functionally flexible, suggesting that evolution of vocal functional flexibility occurred before the split between the Homo and Pan lineages.

scholarly journals Flexibility in wild infant chimpanzee vocal behavior

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Dezecache ◽  
Klaus Zuberbühler ◽  
Marina Davila-Ross ◽  
Christoph D Dahl
Keyword(s):  
Nonhuman Primate ◽  
Affective State ◽  
Human Infant ◽  
Vocal Behavior ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Call Type ◽  
Functional Flexibility ◽  
Supervised Learning Algorithms ◽  
Infant Chimpanzees

Abstract How did human language evolve from earlier forms of communication? One way to address this question is to compare prelinguistic human vocal behavior with nonhuman primate calls. An important finding has been that, prior to speech and from early on, human infant vocal behavior exhibits functional flexibility, or the capacity to produce sounds that are not tied to one specific function. This is reflected in human infants’ use of single categories of protophones (precursors of speech sounds) in various affective circumstances, such that a given call type can occur in and express positive, neutral, or negative affective states, depending on the occasion. Nonhuman primate vocal behavior, in contrast, is seen as comparably inflexible, with different call types tied to specific functions and sometimes to specific affective states (e.g. screams mostly occur in negative circumstances). As a first step toward addressing this claim, we examined the vocal behavior of six wild infant chimpanzees during their first year of life. We found that the most common vocal signal, grunts, occurred in a range of contexts that were deemed positive, neutral, and negative. Using automated feature extraction and supervised learning algorithms, we also found acoustic variants of grunts produced in the affective contexts, suggesting gradation within this vocal category. In contrast, the second most common call type of infant chimpanzees, the whimpers, was produced in only one affective context, in line with standard models of nonhuman primate vocal behavior. Insofar as our affective categorization reflects infants’ true affective state, our results suggest that the most common chimpanzee vocalization, the grunt is not affectively bound. Affective decoupling is a prerequisite for chimpanzee grunts (and other vocal categories) to be deemed ‘functionally flexible’. If later confirmed to be a functionally flexible vocal type, this would indicate that the evolution of this foundational vocal capability occurred before the split between the Homo and Pan lineages.

scholarly journals Inhibition of Influenza A Virus by Human Infant Saliva

Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad Gilbertson ◽  
Kathryn Edenborough ◽  
Jodie McVernon ◽  
Lorena E. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Sialic Acid ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Human Infant ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Degree Of Protection ◽  
Young Infants ◽  
Influenza Activity ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Year Of Life

Innate antiviral factors in saliva play a role in protection against respiratory infections. We tested the anti-influenza virus activities of saliva samples taken from human infants, 1–12 months old, with no history of prior exposure to influenza. In contrast to the inhibitory activity we observed in mouse and ferret saliva, the activity of human infant saliva was complex, with both sialic acid-dependent and independent components, the proportion of which differed between individuals. Taken as a whole, we showed that the major anti-influenza activity of infant saliva is acquired over the first year of life and is associated with sialic acid-containing molecules. The activity of sialic acid-independent inhibitors was lower overall, more variable between individuals, and less dependent on age. The results show that the saliva of very young infants can provide a degree of protection against influenza, which may be critical in the absence of adaptive immunity.

Distribution ofStreptococcus mitisbiovar 1 phenotypes on shedding and non-shedding oral surfaces of human infants during the first year of life

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Kirchherr ◽  
George H. Bowden ◽  
Dorothy A. Richmond ◽  
Michael J. Sheridan ◽  
Katherine A. Wirth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
First Year ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
First Year Of Life

scholarly journals Infant gut microbiome composition is associated with non-social fear behavior in a pilot study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander L. Carlson ◽  
Kai Xia ◽  
M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril ◽  
Samuel P. Rosin ◽  
Jason P. Fine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Gut Microbiome ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Human Infant ◽  
Microbiome Composition ◽  
Social Fear ◽  
Infant Gut Microbiome ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Fear Behavior

AbstractExperimental manipulation of gut microbes in animal models alters fear behavior and relevant neurocircuitry. In humans, the first year of life is a key period for brain development, the emergence of fearfulness, and the establishment of the gut microbiome. Variation in the infant gut microbiome has previously been linked to cognitive development, but its relationship with fear behavior and neurocircuitry is unknown. In this pilot study of 34 infants, we find that 1-year gut microbiome composition (Weighted Unifrac; lower abundance of Bacteroides, increased abundance of Veillonella, Dialister, and Clostridiales) is significantly associated with increased fear behavior during a non-social fear paradigm. Infants with increased richness and reduced evenness of the 1-month microbiome also display increased non-social fear. This study indicates associations of the human infant gut microbiome with fear behavior and possible relationships with fear-related brain structures on the basis of a small cohort. As such, it represents an important step in understanding the role of the gut microbiome in the development of human fear behaviors, but requires further validation with a larger number of participants.

The critical role of experience in the early development of multisensory perception

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 200
Author(s):  
David J. Lewkowicz
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Early Experience ◽  
Multisensory Perception ◽  
First Year ◽  
Early Deprivation ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Perceptual Skills ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Perceptual Narrowing

Human infancy is a time of rapid neural and behavioral development and multisensory perceptual skills emerge during this time. Both animal and human early deprivation studies have shown that experience contributes critically to the development of multisensory perception. Unfortunately, Bodison because the human deprivation studies have only studied adult responsiveness, little is known about the more immediate effects of early experience on multisensory development. Consequently, we have embarked on a program of research to investigate how early experience affects the development of multisensory perception in human infants. To do so, we have focused on multisensory perceptual narrowing, an experience-dependent process where initially broad perceptual tuning is narrowed to match the infant’s native environment. In this talk, I first review our work demonstrating that multisensory narrowing characterizes infants’ response to non-native (i.e., monkey) faces and voices, that the initially broad tuning is present at birth, that narrowing also occurs in the audiovisual speech domain, and that multisensory narrowing is an evolutionarily novel process. In the second part of the talk, I present findings from our most recent studies indicating that experience has a seemingly paradoxical effect on infant response to audio–visual synchrony, that experience narrows infant response to amodal language and intonational prosody cues, and that experience interacts with developmental changes in selective attention during the first year of life resulting in dramatic developmental shifts in human infants’ selective attention to the eyes and mouth of their interlocutors’ talking faces.

Dynamic comparison of the development of combinatory manipulations between chimpanzee and human infants

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-66
Author(s):  
Hideko Takeshita
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Motor Patterns ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Infant Chimpanzees

I present my observations of combinatory manipulations by three infant chimpanzees in a series of test tasks. Common characteristics of motor patterns were observed across the tasks between both infant chimpanzees and 1-year-old infants. Based on the results, I point out that comparative approach can illuminate Thelen et al.'s arguments.

scholarly journals Stability of neuronal avalanches and long-range temporal correlations during the first year of life in human infants

2020 ◽  
Vol 225 (3) ◽  
pp. 1169-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa Jannesari ◽  
Alireza Saeedi ◽  
Marzieh Zare ◽  
Silvia Ortiz-Mantilla ◽  
Dietmar Plenz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Long Range ◽  
First Year ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Temporal Correlations ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Neuronal Avalanches

Methodologic Issues in the Measurement of Oxytocin in Human Neonates

1998 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary White-Traut ◽  
Jean Powlesland ◽  
Deborah Gelhar ◽  
Robert Chatterton ◽  
Mariana Morris
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Reliable Method ◽  
Human Infant ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Human Newborn ◽  
Tactile Contact ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Baseline Levels ◽  
Human Neonates

Oxytocin’s (OT) role in the onset and maintenance of labor and in the letdown reflex is well known. OT also has been recognized as a neurotransmitter having functions in the central nervous system, including an influence on behavior (e.g., initiation of maternal behavior). This research was conducted to (1) evaluate whether human tactile contact in the human newborn would increase urine OT levels and alter infant behavioral state, and (2) determine the reliability of measuring OT in human infant urine. Although the data did not support the hypotheses, it was noted that OT levels, significantly decreased in infants who cried during the study period and that there was no correlation between infant’s chronologic age and OT levels. The findings illustrate several methodologic and measurement problems in the study of OT in human infants and that urine sampling in the neonate is not the most reliable method to evaluate change in OT levels. Some general issues concerning research with human infants also are discussed. Further research is recommended to document baseline levels of OT in neonates and to explore the use of salivary OT to measure short-term responses to interventions.

Tumors in Cetaceans: Analysis and New Findings

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 1289-1300 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Geraci ◽  
N. C. Palmer ◽  
D. J. St. Aubin
Keyword(s):  
Gastrointestinal Tract ◽  
Bronchogenic Carcinoma ◽  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
Sampling Bias ◽  
Female Reproductive Tract ◽  
Sufficient Detail ◽  
Organ Systems ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Do So

We describe 14 tumors, including 5 leiomyomas, 6 papillomas, 2 adrenal adenomas, and a bronchogenic carcinoma collected from over 1800 free-ranging and captive cetaceans examined since 1973. These bring to 41 the number of confirmable tumors reported from cetaceans. Of the 52 cases previously reported, 23 were described in sufficient detail to confirm the diagnoses, 15 were considered probable, and 4 were reclassified. Organ systems most commonly affected were the gastrointestinal tract (31%), skin (24%), and female reproductive tract (21%). Sampling bias may account for this apparent trend. Etioiogic agents have rarely been identified, and attempts to do so are hampered by inadequate sample sizes.

scholarly journals Infant anticipatory stress

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Haley ◽  
Jennifer Cordick ◽  
Sarah Mackrell ◽  
Immaculate Antony ◽  
Maireanne Ryan-Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Stressful Event ◽  
First Year ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Pituitary Adrenal Axis

In humans, anticipatory stress involves activation of the limbic–hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, which releases stress hormones such as cortisol in response to an impending stressor. Conditioning of the stress response to anticipate and prepare for future challenges is a hallmark of adaptation. It is unknown whether human infants in the first year of life have developed the neural circuitry to support the anticipation of stressful events in an attachment context. Here, we show that human infants at six months of age produce an anticipatory stress response, as indicated by the release of stress hormones, when re-exposed after 24 h to a context in which they demonstrated a stress response to a disruption in the parent–infant relationship. Although infant stress response (cortisol elevation) was greater to the stressful event (parent unresponsiveness) than to the second exposure to the stress context (room, chair, presence of parent and experimenter, etc.), it was greater in the stress group than in the control group on both days. Results suggest that human infants have the capacity to produce an anticipatory stress response that is based on expectations about how their parents will treat them in a specific context.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document