Primates Are More Resilient Than Other Animals to Environmental Ups and Downs

Mdm2: the ups and downs.

Mdm2 was first described 12 years ago. Interest in this oncogene has risen since its identification as a protein that binds and efficiently inactivates the p53 tumor suppressor protein. This interest was further boosted by the discovery that the mdm2 gene is actually a target for direct transcriptional activation by p53, thus defining an autoregulatory feedback loop for the intracellular modula...

Spillmann’s weaves are more resilient than Hermann’s grid

In a classic Hermann grid display, faint and transient (illusory) spots are produced at the intersections of a white grid superimposed on a black background (or vice versa). In a variant of the Hermann grid developed by Spillmann and Levine (Spillmann, L., & Levine, J. (1971). Contrast enhancement in a Hermann grid with variable figure-ground ratio. Experimental Brain Research, 13, 547-559), th...

TRANSSENTENTIAL MEDITATIONS Ups and downs in dynamic semantics TRANSSENTENTIAL MEDITATIONS Ups and downs in dynamic semantics

Are people really more patient than other animals? Evidence from human discounting of real liquid rewards.

In previous studies, researchers have found that humans discount delayed rewards orders of magnitude less steeply than do other animals. Humans also discount smaller delayed reward amounts more steeply than larger amounts, whereas animals apparently do not. These differences between humans and animals might reflect differences in the types of rewards studied and/or the fact that animals actuall...

Decision-Making: Are Plants More Rational than Animals?

A new study presents a novel experimental design and allows a test of risk sensitivity in plants. Faced with a choice between constant and variable resource supply, they make a rational decision for the option that maximizes fitness, a fact rarely observed in animals.