24 January, 2012
Volume 22, Issue 2
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Volume 22, Issue 2
On the cover: An adult female chimpanzee of the Sonso community in Budongo Forest, Uganda, vocalizing to inform others. When chimpanzees see dangerous snakes, they emit a specific alert call indicating the presence of a threat. As shown by Crockford et al. in this issue (pages 142–146), they are more likely to emit this call when audience members are ignorant of the snake compared to when they already know about its presence. Many social animals give alarm calls in response to danger, preferentially when mates or kin are nearby; chimpanzees, however, appear to go beyond this by taking into account each others' knowledge and by communicating missing and relevant information to those who are ignorant. Image courtesy of Florian Möllers; reproduced with permission.
Ethics of Brain Stimulation
- Noninvasive means of brain stimulation have been found to lead to improved performance on a variety of cognitive tasks, leading to suggestions that they may offer a way of helping different populations including children with learning difficulties, but as discussed in an Essay by Cohen Kadosh et al., the prospect raises a number of neuroethical issues that need to be addressed.
Most Read Papers
- These are the most read papers by download from the Current Biology website.
CB in the News
- 'Extinct' giant tortoise may be alive
» Time
» The Independent
» CBS News
» The Telegraph
» BBC News - Dogs follow human eyes
» ScienceNOW
» Scientific American
» ABC News
» The Telegraph - Chimps aware of others' knowledge
» BBC - Toddlers' speech
not self-correcting
» Scientific American
» US News & World Report
Spotlight
- Trends in Plant Science is launching the new article format Spotlight with a discussion of the implications of a new study reporting the effects of ingestion of plant miRNAs on human gene expression.
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Video Abstract
Despite their widespread use in biology generally, rodents have rarely been used in studies of higher visual functions. Using the "bubbles" technique developed with very visual species such as humans, Vermaercke and Op de Beeck show that rats use complex visual strategies, with interesting similarities to, as well as differences from, those of primates.
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Publishing with Cell Press
Volume 22, Issue 2 | January 24, 2012
Research Highlights
Dual routes to the amygdala
Two routes to the amygdala exist for expedited evaluation of sensory input.
Maternal imprinting in maize
The Meg-1 gene is maternally imprinted to control nutrient allocation to the developing seed.
Emergence of patterned activity in the spinal cord
The central pattern generator in the zebrafish spinal cord emerges from a sporadically active neuronal network during development.
Chimpanzees sound the alarm
Wild chimpanzees warn ignorant group members of possible danger.
Vesicular transport to lysosomes
Mitochondrial-derived vesicles target selected cargo to lysosomes.
Online Now
Each week, Current Biology publishes papers online ahead of the print issue. Here are the latest:
| Jarosiewicz et al. Target-specific tuning biases in visual cortex neurons | Omelchenko and Hall Myosin-IXA regulates collective cell migration | |
| McMahon and Leopold Plasticity in high-level vision | de Vries and Clandinin Loom-sensitive neurons in Drosophila | |
| Bauer et al. Cholinergic enhancement of attentional synchrony | Poernbacher et al. Pez inhibits Yki in intestinal stem cell proliferation | |
| Joundi et al. Cortical oscillations enhance motor performance |
Magazine Highlights
Feature FREE
Folding research recruits unconventional help
Michael Gross
Researchers are employing skilled gamers to untangle the mysteries of protein folding.
Minireview FREE
Human Memory Interference and Consolidation
Edwin M. Robertson
Recent studies on memory processing have revealed distinctions between immediate generation of memory interference and resistance to interference during memory consolidation.
Look Again—from the Archive
All archived articles that are older than one year are available FREE online. See below for some archive highlights from a year ago.
Collections
Current Biology's Primers and Quick guides offer accessible accounts of a broad range of subjects in biology, Q & As are short interviews with scientists, and Sydney Brenner's Loose ends columns are the thoughts of one of the greatest biologists of the 20th century on a wide variety of topics. Also find here an archive of all of Current Biology's Special Review Issues.
