Saturday, January 10, 2009

Brain: Be an Evolver

Recently the Wall Street Journal reported findings from marine biologists studying dolphins in Australia's Shark Bay. They found that a group of bottle-nosed dolphins had learned 'fishing' behavior, employing cone-shaped, net-like sponges to capture bottom-dwelling fish. Interestingly, another curious observation was that the mother dolphins taught this foraging/hunting behavior to both her male and female offspring, however only the female dolphins apparently picked up the behavior and continued to display the behavior.
Among Dolphins, Tool-Using Handymen Are Women: In a Sign of Animal Ingenuity, the Marine Mammals -- and One Cross-Dresser -- Are Seen Making Hunting Implements


In the deep, lucid channels of Australia's Shark Bay, wild bottlenose dolphins have discovered tools, raising provocative questions about the origins of intelligent behavior, the nature of learning and the birth of technology.

There, dolphins in one extended family routinely use sponges to protect their noses as they forage for fish hidden in the abrasive seafloor sand, Georgetown University scientists reported earlier this month.

As best the researchers can tell, a single dolphin may have invented the technique relatively recently and taught it to her kin. The simple innovation dramatically changed their behavior, hunting habits and social life, the researchers found. Those that adopted it became loners who spend much more time on the hunt than others and dive more deeply in search of prey. The sponging dolphins teach the technique to all their young, but only the females seem to grasp the idea. (Picture, quote: Courtesy of WSJonline.)


Does the ability to learn and adapt short-term to our ever-changing environment affect survival? Our personal survival? Our progenies' survival?


Be an... E V O L V E R.


Be teachable -- receptive to guidance.

The technology for disease reversal and the tools for lifespan extension already exist. Take advantage! Don't be a de-evolver. Or worse... extinct.

Don't struggle, failing to learn life's soft lessons.

Be blissfully better/bionic...brain...body...being...booty (j/k...NOT).

Stop slowing killing your kids... Here's Richard's take on this topic... (and... we have all been there!)


Consider:
--Grain-free eating (no wheat, no corn/rice, no gluten)
--Going Eat Wild (grassfed meat, wild seafood) and grain-free
--Grafting functional and muscle intense movement into your life
--Globally assessing health markers and optimizing to your specific youthful levels
--Guard against toxins (environmental, dietary, pharmaceutical, mind, etc)




Album: EVOLVER
John Legend "I love... you love..."

Courtesy of Youtube.com

7 comments:

Jake said...

"Globally assessing health markers and optimizing to your specific youthful levels"

This year I started using Life Extension blood testing service for testing what ever the hell I feel like testing. I don't have to pay for a docter's visit nor do I have to argue with him to order the test. I just order the test myself at very reasonable rates and go to Labcorp to have my blood drawn.

I find it very liberating to be in charge of my medical destiny. I used frequent Life Extension blood tests to bring my Vitamin D to an optimum level. Just for my own peace of mind, I ordered a Lp(a) test. My score came back 3. That made me feel great.

Testing is important to find hidden problems but sometimes it is just as important to find out you DON'T have any hidden problems.

Dr. B G said...

Jake,

You embody an ultimate, awesome E V O L V E R.

Strong work!!

-g

Anonymous said...

Strive to be young in body and young in mind. Wisdom does not imply static thinking. Be an "epistemocrat", someone who holds his own knowledge and preconceptions in greatest suspicion. These are the precepts by which I try to live.

Thanks for your truly knowledgeable and enlightened posts! I enjoy your blog immensely!

Dr. B G said...

Keith,

Those are great precepts!

I question/doubt myself all the time --- I'm glad that's not a bad thing... *ha*

Glad you posted the results with the Meesus/model.

She ROCKS! What an inspiration for other females on the Paleo path!! (It confirms, behind every strong blogger, there's a stronger (HOTTER) FEMALE)

*ha aaahh*

-G

Dr. B G said...

Hi Dr.J!

Glad to hear from you :) Your mother has been in my thoughts and prayers. I hope she is getting better.

I don't know what 14 things Dr.Ames is taking -- but I imagine it will all be contained in a nutritional bar that he is developing to ameliorate deficiencies and maximize mitochondrial function. You should've asked me to ask! He is a fantastic scientist and gentleman. (One thing he was not at the time taking is vitamin D -- which was part of the purpose -- he wanted to hear about vitamin D.)

Dr. Dach is a member of TYP, like you! I have read that before and I think for some the Pauling protocol must have some value. Who? I dunno. Vitamin C is found in our adrenal glands -- perhaps those who are overstressed and depleted of catecholamines? Lysine aids viral infections, esp herpes -- So those who are particularly stressed and prone to viral infections?

Leucine and other amino acids are being discovered to bind to mTOR which in turns highly ACTIVATES PPAR.

Perhaps all proteins are beneficial for Lp(a)?! Perhaps that is why Pauling found this combo to be efficiacious.

Good luck to you!

-G

Anonymous said...

Great post. It goes to show how quickly evolution works. I CANNOT figure out why only the females would pick it up.

Dr. B G said...

Dan,

I was curious too...I'd like to hear your theories!

Is it something about TESTOSTERONE!?

Is it the Testosterone dominance in males?? Perhaps this is partly why Males and Females pair up -- the survival advantage is a set of complimentary skills. Foraging/hunting (v. pure hunting) requires painstaking patience, attention to detail and time. Perhaps this skill is better translated by X-chromosome carriers? It's also a lonely task -- the biologists commented how implementation of these tools actually changed their social interactions. I was surprised how long the babies of dolphins stay with their mothers, learning to hunt and many other things for several years (like bears). Very neat.

Anyhow, a chromosomal link was suggested by a PNAS article (see the 2nd reference below from the WSJ.com).

Recommended Reading:
Georgetown University marine biologists report on Why Do Dolphins Carry Sponges? this month in the online journal PLoS One.

In 2005, researchers at the University of New South Wales ruled out genetic explanations for the dolphins' tool-using behavior in Cultural transmission of tool use in bottlenose dolphins, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Last year, Iowa State University researchers reported in Savanna Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes verus, Hunt with Tools, published in Current Biology, that some chimpanzees use spear-like sticks to hunt.

The controversy over tools and culture among animals is reviewed by scientists at the University of St. Andrews in The animal cultures debate,published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

The Dolphin Brain Atlas is maintained online at the University of Michigan's Brain Biodiversity Bank.

Dolphin biologist Maddalena Bearzi and primatologist Craig Stanford explore the similarities in tool use and other cognitive abilities among apes and dolphins in Beautiful Minds: The Parallel Lives of Great Apes and Dolphins.

Pioneering neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga covers the molecular biology, genetics, evolutionary and cognitive psychology that set people apart from other creatures in Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique.




-G