The ability to distinguish a figure from its background is crucial for visual perception. To date, it remains unresolved where and how in the visual system different stages of figure-ground segregation emerge. Neural correlates of figure border detection have consistently been found in early visual cortex (V1/V2). However, areas V1/V2 have also been frequently associated with later stages of fi...

This commentary considers how far one can go in making inferences about functional modularity or segregation, based on the sorts of analyses used by Caplan & Waters in relation to the underlying neuronal infrastructure. Specifically, an attempt is made to relate the “functionalist” approach adopted in the target article to “neuroreductionist” perspectives

I develop a framework to explain why identity divides some communities and not others. An identity group is defined as a group of individuals with the same ‘culture’. A community is divided when different identities are socially segregated; a community is integrated when there is no social segregation between different identities. I find three possible outcomes for a community: assimilation, wh...

For decades, racial residential segregation has been observed to vary with health outcomes for African Americans, although only recently has interest increased in the public health literature. Utilizing a systematic review of the health and social science literature, the authors consider the segregation-health association through the lens of 4 questions of interest to epidemiologists: How is se...

The county-level geographic mortality differentials have persisted in the past four decades in the United States (US). Though several socioeconomic factors (e.g., inequality) partially explain this phenomenon, the role of race/ethnic segregation, in general, and the different dimensions of segregation, more specifically, has been underexplored. Focusing on all-cause age-sex standardized US coun...

This study examines 1990 residential segregation levels and 1980-1990 changes in segregation for Latinos, Asians, and blacks in U.S. metropolitan areas. It also evaluates the effect of emerging multiethnic metropolitan area contexts for these segregation patterns. While black segregation levels are still well above those for Latinos and Asians, there is some trend toward convergence over the de...

Although trends in the racial segregation of schools are well documented, less is known about trends in income segregation. We use multiple data sources to document trends in income segregation between schools and school districts. Between-district income segregation of families with children enrolled in public school increased by over 15% from 1990 to 2010. Within large districts, between-scho...

Segregation by type of work or discrimination are two common explanations for gender segregation in the workplace. Here, I discuss a third: gender segregation may occur because of referral hiring through segregated social networks. I examine data on the inter-firm gender segregation of employees at US colleges and universities. Using a combination of analytical modeling, empirical estimation, a...

The discovery of alleles that are able to distort segregation during meiosis in their favour raises the question of why Mendelian segregation is the rule and segregation distortion the exception. Previous research on this topic was limited by an unrealistic assumption: equal segregation in the two sexes. Ubeda and Haig [(2005) Genetics 170, 1345-1357] provide a new model allowing sex-specific s...