The language of dolphins

If you search for "dolphin speech" online, you can pull up some interesting articles, like this one from the blog dichotomistic, about humans teaching dolphins a human-devised system of squeaks and whistles. It makes me wonder why we have just assumed that dolphins should learn to speak with us, rather than humans trying to learn the language of dolphins.

Apparently, I'm not the only one pondering this question. I read an interesting article (this is a .pdf file) in a recent issue of University of Chicago's Medicine on the Midway, describing the work of two student researchers who were studying dolphin speech. According to the article, each dolphin has its own unique, identifying whistle. Other whistles are shared between the dolphins and are used repeatedly in the same situations, a finding echoed in another, similar study in Australia.

So, what does this mean? We know that dolphins use echolocation. Do dolphins also have a full-fledged, evolved language? It appears that they might. Given that our current understanding of dolphin speech is more limited than an infant trying to learn to talk, I think we should give dolphins the benefit of the doubt. Are there dialects in dolphin language, as suggested by a comment to this article? Can we ever hope to understand dolphin speech? If we can't, how does that reflect on humans and our so-called superior intelligence?

Scientists are still in disagreement about exactly how intelligent dolphins are and whether findings like these should affect our treatment of them. Many feel that dolphins are the world's second-smartest mammal, but there are dissenters who argue that dolphins are relative dim-wits. Animal-rights groups and some scientists ponder whether dolphins be treated as "non-human persons", as proposed by this article from the Times Online. What do you think?


Photo credit: justthatgoodguyjim via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Website of the Week: Neuroscience for Kids

I haven't posted a Website of the Week in awhile, but I couldn't resist this one. Alexandra at Happy Hearts at Home pointed me toward this great page of neuroscience coloring pages which are part of Neuroscience for Kids, the brainchild of Dr. Eric Chudler of the University of Washington.

The brains behind this site have thought of everything:

*Check out these experiments and lesson plans.

*Explore the nervous system.

*Color a neuron or brain online.

*Solve an online jigsaw puzzle and send the resultant wacky brain-themed postcard to a friend.

*Watch the BrainWorks TV show!

and

*Don't miss these brain-themed creative writing projects.

This year's drawing contest is over (check out the wonderful drawings of the brain!), but the Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Contest is coming in November 2009. (Yes!!)

Get a head start on next year's Brain Awareness Week (March 15-21, 2010) with these brainy lesson plans. And if you're near the University of Washington, mark your calendar now to attend next year's Brain Awareness Week Open House on March 11, 2010. Information about registration will be available soon.

If you've got a neurology question, head over to the question/answer page, where Dr. Chudler and his staff will pit their brains against your questions.

Does Neuroscience for Kids grab you, too? Sign up for the free newsletter to stay informed. (I think I'll do that now!)

Look! My synapses are on fire!

Image credit: (top) Neuroscience for Kids website, (bottom) titus tscharntke, through BurningWell.org
Bad joke courtesy of Mama Joules

Walk your way to mental clarity

Photo credit: Leon Brooks

Do you want to improve your ability to concentrate? Take a walk!


But wait! Don't just walk anywhere.






In the paper "The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature" (Berman, et. al, 2008), published in Psychological Science, the authors discuss how a walk through a natural setting can refresh your brain. A walk in the city seldom does; it requires too much directed attention. Car horns force you to focus on not getting run over. You have to consciously ignore billboards, ringing cell phones, and other mentally jarring intrusions just to get some peace. Natural settings, on the other hand, give your brain some much needed breathing room. You might see and hear interesting things, but they aren't urgently forcing your brain to pay attention.

(Mama Joules' digresses: OK, so I have to wonder about this. What if your natural setting isn't so peaceful? Maybe you are hiking through an untamed forest complete with stinging insects, the threat of extreme weather, and the potential for attacks by large hungry wildlife? Would you still feel refreshed and restored afterward?!)

The authors conducted a study among college students and sent them for walks under different conditions. The students were able to concentrate better on a memory test after a walk along a wooded path (as opposed to the densely populated city street). This effect held true even if the participants were in a bad mood or the weather was foul.

So, the next time that you or your child are stuck on a hard problem -- be it homework, a tax question, or how to seat your relatives at the dinner table so that they won't fight over the rolls -- take a time out and go for a walk in the park.

(But take my advice: If you're seeking solace and mental restoration, go for a relatively tame natural setting. No bears!)