CARTA Glossary

Inanimate objects (clothes, furniture, door handles, etc.) that when contaminated can transfer disease.

The distribution of footsteps, relative to one another; some gaits may be defined by footfall sequence.

The front limbs and feet of a quadrupedal animal (also, the upper limbs/arms of a human).

A protein that is rapidly synthesized in neurons when they become active and therefore is used as a marker of neuron activity and is involved in regulating gene expression.

A measure of abnormal mothering in rodents. Fragmentation score reflects disruptions in the temporal pattern of care typically displayed by rodents. High fragmentation scores indicate shorter nursing bouts and generally erratic behavior.

Human frontal and parietal lobes form a network that is crucially involved in the selection of sensory contents by attention.

A neuroimaging technique for measuring and mapping brain activity that is noninvasive and safe. The phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is used to generate a signal that can be mapped and turned into an image of brain activity.

A class of membrane proteins that act as receptors for the neurotransmitter GABA and are mostly found on inhibitory neurons.

A number of species of prosimians that are small, nocturnal, and native to continental Africa. Also known as bushbabies. Galagos often nest in tree hollows during the day. Chimpanzees have been observed hunting with “spears” for nested galagos, and they are also hunted by Hadza hunter-gatherers.

A genus of Gram-variable-staining facultative anaerobic bacteria of which Gardnerella vaginalis is the only species.

Inflammation of the stomach and small intestine typically caused by a virus, but can also be caused by bacteria, parasites, and fungi. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

A DNA sequence which encodes a specific function.

The process by which the information contained within a gene (nucleotide sequence) is used to direct protein synthesis and dictate cell function. Nearly all of the cells in the body contain identical genes, but only a subset of this information is used or expressed at any time. The genes expressed in a cell determine what that cell can do.

The total of all genes and their variants (alleles) of a population of a species.

A branch of theoretical population genetics that models the transmission of genes and cultural traits from one generation to the next, exploring how they interact. Also known as “biocultural evolution” or “biological enculturation” (feedback between culture and biology).

A biological characteristic with a heritable basis that improves reproduction and/or survival and results from evolution by natural selection.

Change in allele frequencies, including fixation and loss, by chance.

A version of a DNA sequence that differs from others found at the same locus. For example, the difference can consist in a single base pair (as in single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNP) or in the deletion/insertion of a DNA base(s). See: indel.

A person who is exceptionally intelligent or creative, either generally or in some particular respect.

An approach for “gene mapping” in which hundreds of thousands of SNPs are tested statistically for genetic associations with a phenotype.

The study of genome structure/function.

Characterizing genetic variants at one or more loci.

A hypothesis that offers a simple connectomic scheme based upon the contribution of neurons with long-range axons to conscious processing. Their reciprocal interactions contribute to the formation of a global workspace, broadcasting signals from the sensory periphery to the whole brain, thus yielding “conscious” experience. The GNW hypothesis privileges cortical pyramidal cells with long-range excitatory axons, particularly dense in prefrontal, temporoparietal, and cingulate regions, that, together with the relevant thalamocortical loops, reciprocally interconnect multiple specialized, automatic, and non-conscious processors. Another important feature of this hypothesis is that the GNW activates in a non-linear manner, called ‘‘ignition,’’ upon access to conscious processing. Ignition is characterized by the sudden, coherent, and exclusive activation of a subset of workspace neurons coding for the current conscious content, with the remainder of the workspace neurons being inhibited.

A class of corticosteroids that are involved in stress response and are also a part of the feedback mechanism in the immune system. E.g., Dexamethasone (a synthetic glucorticoid).

A type of a lipid (fat) with an attached glycan that functions to maintain the stability of the cell membrane and to facilitate cellular recognition. Glycolipids are crucial in immune response and tissue formation.

Proteins with enzymatic functions that are involved in adding monosaccharides to other molecules.

An explanation of the post- menopausal life stage of human females whereby the existence of grandmothers serves as a biological and social adaptive advantage for humans. Post-reproductive life stages are non-existent among non-human primates, so it is hypothesized that humans evolved to have grandmothers and grandmothering to have individuals who are free to invest their energy into the offspring of their children. This off-loads the reproductive cost of parenting through social kin-networking, and off-set the resource cost of brain- building as parents are freed to provision resources. Increased resource procurement may reduce the inter-birth interval by allowing for earlier weening, which in turn increases offspring production potential, passes down generational knowledge, and increase social networks. In doing so, the grandmother ensures the survival of her genes in subsequent generations. The extended post-reproduction life stage of grandmothers likely had the added output of producing grandfathers, who also provide benefits to the extended family, as well as their own extended reproductive time line that competes with subsequent generations.

A taxonomic family denoting the extant chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. This is biologically invalid grouping given that chimpanzees and bonobos are more closely related to humans.

The entrapment of heat close to Earth’s surface by greenhouse gas emissions.

The proposed boundary of maximum brain size in hominins that can be supported by an ape-like lifestyle that was crossed by genus Homo through the adoption of cooperative breeding. Described by Isler and van Schaik (2011).

The process of forming the characteristic folds of the cerebral cortex.  The peak of such a fold is called a gyrus (plural: gyri), and its trough is called a sulcus (plural: sulci).

An indigenous ethnic group of traditionally nomadic hunter-gatherers from the central Rift Valley and Serengeti Plateau of Tanzania. Tourism, encroachment by pastoralists, and land rights disputes critically threaten their way of life.

A set of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor.

A set of alleles along neighboring positions on a chromosome that are inherited together.

Sensory perception and manipulation of objects through touch and proprioception.

Stem cells that can become different types of blood cells.

A protein complex within red blood cells (RBCs) that binds to oxygen molecules in the lungs for delivery to tissues throughout the body. The same complex also binds carbon dioxide (CO₂) and carries it back to the lungs.

A gene that provides instructions for making beta-globin, a protein component of hemoglobin. Sickle Cell Anemia is a disorder caused by a mutation in the HBB gene.

A statistic used in the fields of breeding and genetics that estimates the degree of variation in a phenotypic trait in a population that is due to genetic variation between individuals in that population.

Have two different alleles at a locus.

The back limbs and feet of a quadrupedal animal (also, the lower limbs/legs of a human).

A part of the limbic system that plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and in spatial memory that enables navigation. Humans and other vertebrates have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. It is named after its resemblance to the shape of a sea horse (hippocampus in Latin).

A drug that inhibits histone deacetylases or molecules involved in modifying histone proteins. Histone deacetylases typically function to reduce chromatin accessibility and gene expression. Therefore, administration of this drug allows for higher levels of gene expression.

Chief protein components of chromatin and can be chemically modified as part of epigenetics.

The state of steady internal, physical, and chemical conditions maintained by living organisms.

A classification of species comprising humans and our extinct relatives following the divergence from the common ancestor with chimpanzees.

An extinct hominin species with fossil evidence from at least 1.9 million years to 70 thousand years ago and found from Africa to Indonesia. H. erectus may have been the first hominin to leave Africa. H. erectus DNA may be retrievable from other species due to archaic admixture.

An extinct hominin species whose fossil evidence dates to 335-236 kya. An assemblage of 15 H. naledi skeletons were first found in the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system in 2013 (since then, a second chamber has been found with H. naledi skeletons). The fossils possess a mix of “archaic” traits similar to genus Australopithecus (e.g. cranial and pelvic morphology) and “modern” traits characteristic of genus Homo (e.g. hand morphology). H. naledi lived contemporaneously with anatomically modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans but is not likely a direct ancestors of humans living today.