Computational phylogenetics reveal histories of sign languages.

Sign languages are naturally occurring languages. As such, their emergence and spread reflect the histories of their communities. However, limitations in historical recordkeeping and linguistic documentation have hindered the diachronic analysis of sign languages.

Past, Present, and Future of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Approaches to Treat Cognitive Impairment in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Time for a Comprehensive Critical Review.

Low birth rates and increasing life expectancy experienced by developed societies have placed an unprecedented pressure on governments and the health system to deal effectively with the human, social and financial burden associated to aging-related diseases. At present, ∼24 million people worldwide suffer from cognitive neurodegenerative diseases, a prevalence that doubles every five years. Pharmacological therapies and cognitive training/rehabilitation have generated temporary hope and, occasionally, proof of mild relief.

Primates are living links to our past: The contribution of comparative studies with wild vervet monkeys to the field of social cognition.

By studying the behavior of nonhuman primates, particularly in wild settings, researchers have been able to investigate a range of cognitive abilities, shedding light on the evolution of certain aspects of cognition and revealing potential evolutionary precursors of many capacities considered uniquely human. Vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) have been widely investigated due to their prevalence and their suitability for experimental testing in the wild with an ecologically valid approach that is not possible with many other primates, especially apes. Here we review advances in the understanding of a number of cognitive and behavioral processes that have been gleaned from studies conducted with wild vervet monkeys over the past half century, primarily focusing on social cognitive abilities.

Structural, Microstructural, and Metabolic Alterations in Primary Progressive Aphasia Variants.

Neuroimaging studies have described the brain alterations in primary progressive aphasia (PPA) variants (semantic, logopenic, nonfluent/agrammatic). However, few studies combined T1, FDG-PET, and diffusion MRI techniques to study atrophy, hypometabolism, and tract alterations across the three PPA main variants. We therefore explored a large early-stage cohort of semantic, logopenic and nonfluent/agrammatic variants ( = 86) and of 23 matched healthy controls with anatomical MRI (cortical thickness), FDG PET (metabolism) and diffusion MRI (white matter tracts analyses), aiming at identifying cortical and sub-cortical brain alterations, and confronting these alterations across imaging modalities and aphasia variants.