ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

The spread of farming practices in various parts of the world had a marked influence on how humans live today and how we are distributed around the globe. Around 10,000 years ago, warmer conditions lead to population increases, coinciding with the invention of farming in several places around the world. Archaeological evidence attest to the spread of these practices to neighboring regions. In many cases this lead to whole continents being converted from hunter-gatherer to farming societies. It is however difficult to see from archaeological records if only the farming culture spread to other places or whether the farming people themselves migrated. Investigating patterns of genetic variation for farming populations and for remaining hunter-gatherer groups can help to resolve questions on population movements co-occurring with the spread of farming practices. It can further shed light on the routes of migration and dates when migrants arrived. The spread of farming to Europe has been thoroughly investigated in the fields of archaeology, linguistics and genetics, while on other continents these events have been less investigated. In Africa, mainly linguistic and archaeological studies have attempted to elucidate the spread of farming and herding practices. I propose to investigate the movement of farmer and pastoral groups in Africa, by typing densely spaced genome-wide variant positions in a large number of African populations. The data will be used to infer how farming and pastoralism was introduced to various regions, where the incoming people originated from and when these (potential) population movements occurred. Through this study, the Holocene history of Africa will be revealed and placed into a global context of migration, mobility and cultural transitions. Additionally the study will give due credence to one of the largest Neolithic expansion events, the Bantu-expansion, which caused a pronounced change in the demographic landscape of the African continent

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2017-11-01, End date: 2022-10-31

Humans are social creatures throughout life. This proposal aims to advance our knowledge of the mechanisms that mediate understanding of others’ actions from a developmental perspective. A special emphasis will be devoted to mirror neuron and teleological frameworks. The former framework focuses on reciprocal motor activation during action execution and observation whereas the later framework emphasizes the application of abstract principles to observed events. The mechanisms that guide both processes will be investigated in isolation, but special attention will also be devoted to understanding how these diverse forms of action understanding jointly contribute to action understanding. The project encompasses three essential research objectives, illustrated by three research questions. How do mirror neuron and teleological processes influence action understanding? How does action understanding enable social action evaluation (empathy and pro-social preferences)? How is action understanding expressed during real-life social interactions? These questions will be addressed by presenting infants and toddlers with social events of varying complexity (from simple actions and animated sequences to complex everyday social events), relating empirical findings to predictions derived from the teleological and motor cognitive frameworks. The overarching aim is to provide a computational model of early emerging social cognitive capabilities, with a focus on action understanding and action evaluation, while passively observing others and while partaking in social interactions with others.

1 498 920 €

Start date: 2013-01-01, End date: 2017-12-31

Cognition is a collective term for complex but sophisticated mental processes such as attention, learning, social interaction, language production, decision making and other executive functions. For normal brain function, these higher-order functions need to be aptly regulated and controlled, and the physiology and cellular substrates for cognitive functions are under intense investigation. The loss of cognitive control is intricately related to pathological states such as schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit hyperactive disorder and addiction. Synchronized neural activity can be observed when the brain performs several important functions, including cognitive processes. As an example, gamma activity (30-80 Hz) predicts the allocation of attention and theta activity (4-12 Hz) is tightly linked to memory processes. A large body of work indicates that the integrity of local and global neural synchrony is mediated by interneuron networks and actuated by the balance of different neuromodulators. However, much knowledge is still needed on the functional role interneurons play in cognitive processes, i.e. how the interneurons contribute to local and global network processes subserving cognition, and ultimately play a role in behavior. In addition, we need to understand how neuro-modulators, such as dopamine, regulate interneuron function. The proposed project aims to functionally determine the specific role the parvalbumin interneurons and the neuromodulator dopamine in aspects of cognition, and in behavior. In addition, we ask the question if cognition can be enhanced. We are employing a true multidisciplinary approach where brain activity is recorded in conjunctions with optogenetic manipulations of parvalbumin interneurons in animals performing cognitive tasks. In one set of experiments knock-down of dopamine receptors specifically in parvalbumin interneurons is employed to probe how this neuromodulator regulate network functions.

1 400 000 €

Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31

This project will open up new horizons in the study of emotional learning by describing and modeling its role in social interaction. It brings together a novel set of experimental manipulations with two hitherto unconnected lines of research; biology of aversive learning and social cognition, with the aim to answer four specific objectives, namely to identify the mechanisms of aversive learning (1) about others and its dependence on stimulus bound (e.g. ethnic group belonging) and conceptual (e.g. moral and social status) features; (2) from others through observation, and its dependence on processing of stimulus bound (e.g. emotional expressiveness) and conceptual (e.g. empathy and mental state attributions) features; (3) during interaction and its dependence social characteristics as described in 1 and 2; and (4) build and test a neural model of social-emotional learning. To achieve these objectives, this project proposes a multi-method research program using novel behavioral experimental paradigms and manipulated virtual environments, drawing on cognitive neuroscience, psychophysiology, and behavioral genetics. It is predicted that social emotional learning will be accomplished through the interaction of four, partially overlapping, neural networks coding for affective, associative, social cognitive and instrumental/goal directed aspects, respectively. Whereas it is expected that the two first networks will be common to classical conditioning and social learning, the latter is hypothesized to be distinguished by its reliance on the social-cognitive network. The fourth network is predicted to be integral to the social learning through interactions and the shaping of behavioral norms. The proposed research will enhance our understanding of important social phenomena, such as the emergence and maintanance of group conflicts and norm compliance. It will also shed light on common psychological disorders, such as social anxiety, autism and psychopathy that are characterized by dysfunctions of the social emotional learning system.

1 498 244 €

Start date: 2012-12-01, End date: 2018-11-30