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Abstract Background A quarter of patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy are older, yet they are less likely to be offered resective surgery potentially because of clinical bias that they incur increased surgical risks. There are few peer-reviewed case series that address this cohort and their outcomes. Objective In the context of current literature, the objective of this study was to report on all epilepsy surgeries in patients aged 50 years or older from a tertiary care center over 15 years with an average follow-up period of 6 years. Methods Patients with epilepsy who underwent surgery between 2001 and 2016 were reviewed retrospectively. Inclusion criteria were age > 50 at surgery, availability of presurgical evaluation data, and minimum one year of follow-up data. We identified 34 patients. Seizure outcome was evaluated using the Engel classification system. Results Thirty-four patients aged 50 years and older out of 276 underwent epilepsy surgery. Average age at time of surgery was 55 years, and average duration of epilepsy was 30 years. Average length of follow-up was 6 years (1–15 years). Twenty-two out of 34 patients (64%) were seizure-free (Engel class I) at their last follow-up visit. Patients with lesional pathology on neuroimaging were more likely to achieve seizure freedom (p < 0.02). Parameters associated with poorer outcome included extratemporal epileptogenic focus (p = 0.07) and bitemporal interictal epileptiform activity (p = 0.003). Conclusion Our study cohort is one of the largest and most representative outcome studies of this age group, following the cohort for 6 years. Our findings demonstrated that when considering epilepsy surgery in an older adult, their age should not play a determining role in the decision—a finding that is more common in modern literature. Highlights • Advanced age should not be a deterring factor in considering epilepsy surgery • At 6 years follow up two thirds of patients remained seizure free • Similar factors to younger patients, such as bilateral interictal discharges and non-lesional epilepsy, are associated with poorer outcomes • Longer duration of epilepsy was not necessarily associated with a poor surgical outcome • Complication rates were low and all were reversible [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty years on from the publication of Machiavellian Intelligence (Byrne & Whiten, 1988), it is time to consider how the ideas in it have influenced understanding of the evolution of intelligence, how they have been tested (and sometimes misunderstood), and whether they are still relevant today. This essay attempts to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formal training programs, which can be called education, enhance cognition in human and nonhuman animals alike. However, even informal exposure to human contact in human environments can enhance cognition. We review selected literature to compare animals' behavior with objects among keas and great apes, the taxa that best allow systematic comparison of the behavior of wild animals with that of those in human environments such as homes, zoos, and rehabilitation centers. In all cases, we find that animals in human environments do much more with objects. Following and expanding on the explanations of several previous authors, we propose that living in human environments and the opportunities to observe and manipulate human-made objects help to develop motor skills, embodied cognition, and the use of objects to extend cognition in the animals. Living in a human world also furnishes the animals with more time for such activities, in that the time needed for foraging for food is reduced, and furnishes opportunities for social learning, including emulation, an attempt to achieve the goals of a model, and program-level imitation, in which the imitator reproduces the organizational structure of goal-directed actions without necessarily copying all the details. All these factors let these animals learn about the affordances of many objects and make them better able to come up with solutions to physical problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of faith-based schools is increasingly debated within a context of school reform, rights and plurality in multi-ethnic societies. The Catholic schooling system in the Irish Republic (always referred to as Ireland in the text) represents an interesting case internationally because of the extent to which Catholic education is structurally embedded as normative across the education system. Yet, Ireland is in a process of detraditionalisation and wider societal change. Drawing on Bourdieu and Bernstein, and a mixed methodological study of Catholic secondary schools, the article presents a typology of Catholic schooling in transition. This identifies a continuum of Catholicity among the study schools that is mediated by dynamics of social class in an increasingly competitive and diverse system. It is argued this has implications for considering the role of a recontextualised model of Catholic faith schooling, underpinned by principles of social justice in a multicultural and more secularly oriented society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current systems of categorising ape gestures are typically subjective, relying on human intuition. We have systematised the features on which categorization depends (movement; body part; one/both limbs; use of detached object; rhythmic repetition; contact with recipient), showing that a potential repertoire of over 1000 gestures is physically possible, as large as the lexicon of some languages. In contrast, little more than a tenth of these gestures is used in chimpanzee communication. The striking overlaps in repertoire found between populations and even species of great ape are evidently not a result of a restricted set of possible gestures. Using the reactions of signallers to identify which gestures are intended to be different by the apes themselves, we revised the current classification, making some new distinctions and abolishing others previously considered important, giving a final repertoire of 81. A small number of gestures are used deictically, such that the recipient must pay attention to specific locations to satisfy the signaller; raising the possibility of a stepping-stone to the evolution of reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate whether there may be a correlation between the anatomical variants of Circle of Willis (CoW) and presence/laterality of mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS). Methods We retrospectively identified the CoW variants on Wada angiograms in 71 patients with pathologically proven MTS. Angiograms were interpreted by two radiologists independently and blinded to clinical data. We divided the anterior and posterior components of the CoW into functionally complete and functionally incomplete groups. We then sought its correlation with the presence and laterality of MTS. Results No statistically significant relationship was found between the functional status of the anterior circulation and the laterality of the MTS (p = 0.657). Relationship of the posterior incomplete circle to MTS was statistically significant on both sides (p = 0.023 for the left, p = 0.04 for the right), with an effect size moderate to large for the left side and moderate for the right side. Although the fetal variant appeared to be related to the ipsilateral MTS, it did not reach to a level of statistical significance (p = 0.15). Significance The study demonstrates a statistically significant association of the incomplete posterior circulation of the CoW to the presence of ipsilateral MTS. Further studies in larger patient populations may be needed to seek whether an incomplete circulation may facilitate development of MTS, especially affecting the watershed zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat is an important crop for global food security, but it is unlikely that the upper end of future global food demand projections can be satisfied from improving wheat yield on the existing cropping area. Climate warming is, however, enabling wheat to be grown on previously uncropped land at higher northern latitudes. There are numerous problems with growing wheat in these regions, including perhaps most importantly release of greenhouse gases. Research and development of wheat production techniques which minimise environmental damage in high latitudes is needed. • Future global wheat demand unlikely to be satisfied from existing cropping area. • Warming in northern higher latitudes could enable wheat area expansion. • Research needed to reduce environmental damage in these regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative analysis of the gestural communication of our nearest animal relatives, the great apes, implies that humans should have the biological potential to produce and understand 60-70 gestures, by virtue of shared common descent. These gestures are used intentionally in apes to convey separate requests, rather than as referential items in syntactically structured signals. At present, no such legacy of shared gesture has been described in humans. We suggest that the fate of 'ape gestures' in modern human communication is relevant to the debate regarding the evolution of language through a possible intermediate stage of gestural protolanguage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulation of nuclear envelope dynamics is an important example of the universal phenomena of membrane fusion. The signalling molecules involved in nuclear membrane fusion might also be conserved during the formation of both pronuclear and zygote nuclear envelopes in the fertilised egg. Here, we determine that class-I phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are needed for in vitro nuclear envelope formation. We show that, in vivo, PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 is transiently located in vesicles around the male pronucleus at the time of nuclear envelope formation, and around male and female pronuclei before membrane fusion. We illustrate that class-I PI3K activity is also necessary for fusion of the female and male pronuclear membranes. We demonstrate, using coincidence amplified Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) monitored using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), a protein-lipid interaction of Rab7 GTPase and PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 that occurs during pronuclear membrane fusion to create the zygote nuclear envelope. We present a working model, which includes several molecular steps in the pathways controlling fusion of nuclear envelope membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to investigate developmental continuities between a range of early social and communicative abilities (including gestural communication) and language acquisition in children aged between 11 and 41 months. Initiation of joint attention and imitation were strongly correlated to language comprehension and production. Moreover, the analysis of different communicative gestures revealed significant relationships between language development and the production of symbolic gestures, declarative pointing (declarative informative pointing in particular), and head nodding. Other gestures such as imperative pointing, showing, and head shaking were not found to correlate with language level. Our results also suggest that distinct processes are involved in the development of language comprehension and production, and highlight the importance of considering various characteristics of children's early communicative skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding animal episodic-like memory is important for tracing the evolution of the human mind. However, our knowledge about the existence and nature of episodic-like memory in non-human primates is minimal. We observed the behaviour of a wild male chacma baboon faced with a trade-off between protecting his stationary group from aggressive extra-group males and foraging among five out-of-sight platforms. These contained high-priority food at a time of natural food shortage. In 10 morning and eight evening trials, the male spontaneously visited the platforms in five and four different sequences, respectively. In addition, he interrupted foraging sequences at virtually any point on eight occasions, returning to the group for up to 2 h. He then visited some or all of the remaining platforms and prevented revisits to already depleted ones, apparently based on his memory for the previous foraging episode about food value, location, and time. Efficient use of memory allowed him to keep minimal time absent from his group while keeping food intake high. These findings support the idea that episodic-like memory offers an all-purpose solution to a wide variety of problems that require flexible, quick, yet precise decisions in situations arising from competition for food and mates in wild primates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambiguity of the term 'complex' in studies of animal behaviour and cognition can lead to theoretical and methodological disputes, as there seems to be little common ground regarding the features thought to introduce complexity. Based on examples not only in human and nonhuman primates but also in some species of birds, we explore three dimensions of complexity: motor precision, coordination, and anticipatory planning. We argue that it is necessary to identify which dimensions are present in each study to formulate and explore relevant questions in behavioural sciences, especially with an evolutionary perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factors influencing the abilities of different animals to use cooperative social cues from humans are still unclear, in spite of long-standing interest in the topic. One of the few species that have been found successful at using human pointing is the African elephant ( Loxodonta africana); despite few opportunities for learning about pointing, elephants follow a pointing gesture in an object-choice task, even when the pointing signal and experimenter's body position are in conflict, and when the gesture itself is visually subtle. Here, we show that the success of captive African elephants at using human pointing is not restricted to situations where the pointing signal is sustained until the time of choice: elephants followed human pointing even when the pointing gesture was withdrawn before they had responded to it. Furthermore, elephants rapidly generalised their response to a type of social cue they were unlikely to have seen before: pointing with the foot. However, unlike young children, they showed no sign of evaluating the 'rationality' of this novel pointing gesture according to its visual context: that is, whether the experimenter's hands were occupied or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fusogenic lipid diacylglycerol is essential for remodeling gamete and zygote nuclear envelopes (NE) during early embryogenesis. It is unclear whether upstream signaling molecules are likewise conserved. Here we demonstrate PLCγ and its activator SFK1, which co-operate during male pronuclear envelope formation, also promote the subsequent male and female pronuclear fusion. PLCγ and SFK1 interact directly at the fusion site leading to PLCγ activation. This is accompanied by a spatially restricted reduction of PtdIns(4,5)P2. Consequently, pronuclear fusion is blocked by PLCγ or SFK1 inhibition. These findings identify new regulators of events in the early embryo and suggest a conserved "toolkit" of fusion machinery drives successive NE fusion events during embryogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimpanzees' use of gesture was described in the first detailed field study [1, 2], and natural use of specific gestures has been analyzed [3-5]. However, it was systematic work with captive groups that revealed compelling evidence that chimpanzees use gestures to communicate in a flexible, goal-oriented, and intentional fashion [6-8], replicated across all great ape species in captivity [9-17] and chimpanzees in the wild [18, 19]. All of these aspects overlap with human language but are apparently missing in most animal communication systems, including great ape vocalization, where extensive study has produced meager evidence for intentional use ([20], but see [21, 22]). Findings about great ape gestures spurred interest in a potential common ancestral origin with components of human language [23-25]. Of particular interest, given the relevance to language origins, is the question of what chimpanzees intend their gestures to mean; surprisingly, the matter of what the intentional signals are used to achieve has been largely neglected. Here we present the first systematic study of meaning in chimpanzee gestural communication. Individual gestures have specific meanings, independently of signaler identity, and we provide a partial "lexicon"; flexibility is predominantly in the use of multiple gestures for a specific meaning. We distinguish a range of meanings, from simple requests associated with just a few gestures to broader social negotiation associated with a wider range of gesture types. Access to a range of alternatives may increase communicative subtlety during important social negotiations. • Wild chimpanzees use 66 gestures to intentionally communicate 19 meanings • We analyzed >4,500 cases to extract true (nonplay) meanings for 36 gestures • Gestures have the same meaning (or meanings) across individual signalers • Flexible use of several gestures for the same goal is higher during social negotiation. Hobaiter and Byrne show that the 66 gestures of wild chimpanzees are used for a range of different meanings. Gestures are intentional and are made to achieve a particular effect, and their meaning does not vary between signalers. Analyzing 36 gestures and excluding playful usage showed 15 different meanings; flexibility was greater in social negotiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient space use is a critical challenge for animals relying on stationary resources. It is often difficult with purely observational methods to gain unambiguous insight into any ability of primates to manage and process spatial information. Investigating the visible signs of the decision processes underlying space use often leaves open important issues. We applied the change point test [Byrne et al. (2009). Anim Behav 77: 619-631], a statistical tool to objectively determine change points (CPs) in animal travel paths, to investigate to what degree directional changes in our study group's ( Papio ursinus) dry season ranging were associated with important resources and prominent landmarks. One-third of directional changes were associated with fruit feeding, 1/3 with traveling, and 1/3 with dry matter feeding, travel feeding and with drinking. When directional changes were associated with traveling, the subsequent directional changes were likely to result in fruit feeding. Fruit feeding mostly occurred at the apex of the day journeys, while drinking, dry matter feeding, and travel feeding often occurred along straight travel segments. The majority of directional changes did not occur in clusters at distinctive locations, but at distances of more than 120 m apart from each other, many of them along prominent landmarks. We conclude that the CPs do not represent nodes or route bends of a network map. Rather, they represent (1) locations where the decision to turn back to their sleeping site was taken, and (2) locations next to important landmarks (changes of slope, car tracks) where slight adjustment of a movement direction was possible. We found no evidence for a Euclidean map and discuss our findings in the light of a network map representation of space. Am. J. Primatol. Am. J. Primatol. 76:399-409, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many group-living mammals and birds give both contact and distress calls. Contact calls are thought to operate in maintaining group stability and cohesion; distress calls are thought to operate in soliciting help, often from relatives. Here we propose that a single call of black-and-gold howlers ( Alouatta caraya) serves both needs, but differently so during ontogeny. We collected data on the contexts of moo calling: on group diameter before, during, and after calling; and on calling rates before and after potentially stressful events or situations. Several relationships suggested a link between moo calling and group cohesion. The highest calling rates were found during travel, when separation is most likely, whereas rates were significantly lower during feeding, a sedentary activity. During periods of moo calling, group spread was significantly greater than normal, and spread decreased significantly after calling began. Moo calls were also given in situations of potential distress. When reluctant to cross an arboreal gap or refused the option of travel on an adult, infants gave moo calls more frequently than just after these predicaments were ended; infants also called more frequently immediately after a behavioral conflict. The moo call apparently has a dual role, in contact and distress, with the signal’s use changing with caller age: both uses may reflect a common underlying motivation of insecurity, as different contexts come to trigger insecurity during development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: How animals gain information from attending to the behavior of others has been widely studied, driven partly by the importance of referential pointing in human cognitive development [1–4], but species differences in reading human social cues remain unexplained. One explanation is that this capacity evolved during domestication [5, 6], but it may be that only those animals able to interpret human-like social cues were successfully domesticated. Elephants are a critical taxon for this question: despite their longstanding use by humans, they have never been domesticated [7]. Here we show that a group of 11 captive African elephants, seven of them significantly as individuals, could interpret human pointing to find hidden food. We suggest that success was not due to prior training or extensive learning opportunities. Elephants successfully interpreted pointing when the experimenter’s proximity to the hiding place was varied and when the ostensive pointing gesture was visually subtle, suggesting that they understood the experimenter’s communicative intent. The elephant’s native ability in interpreting social cues may have contributed to its long history of effective use by man. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variation in methods and measures, resulting in past dispute over the existence of population handedness in nonhuman great apes, has impeded progress into the origins of human right-handedness and how it relates to the human hallmark of language. Pooling evidence from behavioral studies, neuroimaging and neuroanatomy, we evaluate data on manual and cerebral laterality in humans and other apes engaged in a range of manipulative tasks and in gestural communication. A simplistic human/animal partition is no longer tenable, and we review four (nonexclusive) possible drivers for the origin of population-level right-handedness: skilled manipulative activity, as in tool use; communicative gestures; organizational complexity of action, in particular hierarchical structure; and the role of intentionality in goal-directed action. Fully testing these hypotheses will require developmental and evolutionary evidence as well as modern neuroimaging data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined hand preference in the intentional gestural communication of wild chimpanzees in the Budongo forest, Uganda. Individuals showed some tendency to be lateralized, although less than has been reported for begging and pointing gestures in captivity; on average, their absolute bias was around 0.25 (where 1.0 represents complete right- or left-hand use and 0.0 represents no bias). Lateralization was incomplete even in individuals with major manual disabilities. Where individuals had a stronger preference, this was more often toward the right hand; moreover, as age increased, the direction (but not the extent) of hand preference shifted toward the right. While the gestural repertoire as a whole was largely employed ambilateraly, object-manipulation gestures showed a strong right-hand bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black-fronted titi monkeys, Callicebus nigrifrons, produce acoustically distinct vocalizations in response to several predator species. Compared to other primates, the calls are remarkably quiet, high-pitched and structurally simple, suggesting that they may not function uniquely as predator-specific warning calls. To address this, we investigated whether conspecifics were able to respond to these calls in adaptive ways, by playing back call series originally given to a perched raptor (caracara) and terrestrial predatory mammals (oncilla and tayra). Monkeys responded strongly and in predator-specific ways. Specifically, listeners preferentially looked upwards when hearing raptor-related calls, and towards the presumed caller when hearing terrestrial predator-related calls. Locomotor responses were generally uncommon, but if they occurred then they were always in the expected direction. We concluded that black-fronted titi monkeys discriminated between calls given to different predators on the basis of their acoustic features and were able to make inferences about the type or likely location of the predator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nuclear envelope (NE) breaks down and reforms during each mitotic cycle. A similar process happens to the sperm NE following fertilisation. The formation of the NE in both these circumstances involves endoplasmic reticulum membranes enveloping the chromatin, but PLCΥ-dependent membrane fusion events are also essential. Here we demonstrate the activation of PLC by a Src family kinase (SFK1) during NE assembly. We show by time-resolved FRET for the first time the direct in vivo interaction and temporal regulation of PLCΥ and SFK1 in sea urchins. As a prerequisite for protein activation, there is a rapid phosphorylation of PLCc on its Y783 residue in response to GTP in vitro. This phosphorylation is dependent upon SFK activity; thus Y783 phosphorylation and NE assembly are susceptible to SFK inhibition. Y783 phosphorylation is also observed on the surface of the male pronucleus (MPN) in vivo during NE formation. Together the corroborative in vivo and in vitro data demonstrate the phosphorylation and activation of PLCΥ by SFK1 during NE assembly. We discuss the potential generality of such a mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To review clinical features and surgical outcome in patients with temporal lobe pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas (PXAs) and intractable epilepsy. Methods: The Rush Surgical Epilepsy Database was queried to identify patients with chronic intractable epilepsy who underwent resection of a temporal lobe PXA at Rush University Medical Center. Medical records were reviewed for demographic, procedure and follow-up data. Results: Four patients were identified with a temporal lobe PXA and intractable epilepsy. Average age of seizure onset was 16.5 years and delay to surgery was 90 months. Complex partial seizures were the most common presenting symptom, shown in all 4 patients, and 3 of 4 patients presented with simple partial seizures as well. Seizures occurred with an average frequency of 4 per month (range 1–12 per month). Detailed operative and post-operative follow up data was available for all 4 patients. Gross total resection of the tumor was achieved in all 4 cases. Three of 4 cases had complete resection of the amygdala, and 3 cases had resections of the hippocampus (one partial and two complete). On histopathology, all tumors were found to be low-grade, without mitoses or necrosis. Average follow-up was 120 months (range 29–296 months) with all 4 patients achieving Engel''s class I outcome. At last follow up, there was no radiographic or clinical evidence of tumor recurrence. There were no permanent complications. Conclusions: Temporal lobe pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas causing chronic intractable epilepsy occur in younger patients, and demonstrate excellent long-term results in seizure improvement and tumor control with surgery. We support the choice between simple lesionectomy and a tailored resection with amygdalohippocampectomy guided by preoperative findings, intraoperative electrocorticography, and the severity and chronicity of the patient''s epilepsy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Chimpanzees at Budongo, Uganda, regularly gesture in series, including 'bouts' of gesturing that include response waiting and 'sequences' of rapid-fire gesturing without pauses. We examined the distribution and correlates of 723 sequences and 504 bouts for clues to the function of multigesture series. Gesturing by older chimpanzees was more likely to be successful, but the success rate of any particular gesture did not vary with signaller age. Rather, older individuals were more likely to choose successful gestures, and these highly successful gestures were more often used singly. These patterns explain why bouts were recorded most in younger animals, whereas older chimpanzees relied more on single gestures: bouts are best interpreted as a consequence of persistence in the face of failure. When at least one gesture of a successful type occurred in a sequence, that sequence was more likely to be successful; overall, however, sequences were less successful than single gestures. We suggest that young chimpanzees use sequences as a 'fail-safe' strategy: because they have the innate potential to produce a large and redundant repertoire of gestures but lack knowledge of which of them would be most efficient. Using sequences increases the chance of giving one effective gesture and also allows users to learn the most effective types. As they do so, they need to use sequences less; sequences may remain important for subtle interpersonal adjustment, especially in play. This 'Repertoire Tuning' hypothesis explains a number of results previously reported from chimpanzee gesturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elaborate manual skills of food processing are known in several species of great ape; but their manner of acquisition is controversial. Local, 'cultural' traditions show the influence of social learning, but it is uncertain whether this includes the ability to imitate the organization of behavior. Dispute has centered on whether program-level imitation contributes to the acquisition of feeding techniques in gorillas. Here, we show that captive western gorillas at Port Lympne, Kent, have developed a group-wide habit of feeding on nettles, using two techniques. We compare their nettle processing behavior with that of wild mountain gorillas in Rwanda. Both populations are similar in their repertoires of action elements, and in developing multi-step techniques for food processing, with coordinated asymmetric actions of the hands and iteration of parts of a process as 'subroutines'. Crucially, however, the two populations deal in different ways with the special challenges presented by nettle stings, with consistently different organizations of action elements. We conclude that, while an elaborate repertoire of manual actions and the ability to develop complex manual skills are natural characteristics of gorillas, the inter-site differences in nettle-eating technique are best explained as a consequence of social transmission. According to this explanation, gorillas can copy aspects of program organization from the behavior of others and they use this ability when learning how to eat nettles, resulting in consistent styles of processing by most individuals at each different site; like other great apes, gorillas have the precursor abilities for developing culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Great ape gestural communication is known to be intentional, elaborate and flexible; yet there is controversy over the best interpretation of the system and how gestures are acquired, perhaps because most studies have been made in restricted, captive settings. Here, we report the first systematic analysis of gesture in a population of wild chimpanzees. Over 266 days of observation, we recorded 4,397 cases of intentional gesture use in the Sonso community, Budongo, Uganda. We describe 66 distinct gesture types: this estimate appears close to asymptote, and the Sonso repertoire includes most gestures described informally at other sites. Differences in repertoire were noted between individuals and age classes, but in both cases, the measured repertoire size was predicted by the time subjects were observed gesturing. No idiosyncratic usages were found, i.e. no gesture type was used only by one individual. No support was found for the idea that gestures are acquired by 'ontogenetic ritualization' from originally effective actions; moreover, in detailed analyses of two gestures, action elements composing the gestures did not closely match those of the presumed original actions. Rather, chimpanzee gestures are species-typical; indeed, many are 'family-typical', because gesture types recorded in gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzee overlap extensively, with 24 gestures recorded in all three genera. Nevertheless, chimpanzee gestures are used flexibly across a range of contexts and show clear adjustment to audience (e.g. silent gestures for attentive targets, contact gestures for inattentive ones). Such highly intentional use of a species-typical repertoire raises intriguing questions for the evolution of advanced communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Great ape gesture has become a research topic of intense interest, because its intentionality and flexibility suggest strong parallels to human communication. Yet the fundamental question of whether an animal species' gestures carry specific meanings has hardly been addressed. We set out a systematic approach to studying intentional meaning in the gestural communication of non-humans and apply it to a sample of orangutan gestures. We propose that analysis of meaning should be limited to gestures for which (1) there is strong evidence for intentional production and (2) the recipient's final reaction matches the presumed goal of the signaller, as determined independently. This produces a set of 'successful' instances of gesture use, which we describe as having goal-outcome matches. In this study, 28 orangutans in three European zoos were observed for 9 months. We distinguished 64 gestures on structural grounds, 40 of which had frequent goal-outcome matches and could therefore be analysed for meaning. These 40 gestures were used predictably to achieve one of 6 social goals: to initiate an affiliative interaction (contact, grooming, or play), request objects, share objects, instigate co-locomotion, cause the partner to move back, or stop an action. Twenty-nine of these gestures were used consistently with a single meaning. We tested our analysis of gesture meaning by examining what gesturers did when the response to their gesture did not match the gesture's meaning. Subsequent actions of the gesturer were consistent with our assignments of meaning to gestures. We suggest that, despite their contextual flexibility, orangutan gestures are made with the expectation of specific behavioural responses and thus have intentional meanings as well as functional consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane fusion plays a central role in many cell processes from vesicular transport to nuclear envelope reconstitution at mitosis but the mechanisms that underlie fusion of natural membranes are not well understood. Studies with synthetic membranes and theoretical considerations indicate that accumulation of lipids characterised by negative curvature such as diacylglycerol (DAG) facilitate fusion. However, the specific role of lipids in membrane fusion of natural membranes is not well established. Nuclear envelope (NE) assembly was used as a model for membrane fusion. A natural membrane population highly enriched in the enzyme and substrate needed to produce DAG has been isolated and is required for fusions leading to nuclear envelope formation, although it contributes only a small amount of the membrane eventually incorporated into the NE. It was postulated to initiate and regulate membrane fusion. Here we use a multidisciplinary approach including subcellular membrane purification, fluorescence spectroscopy and Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)/two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to demonstrate that initiation of vesicle fusion arises from two unique sites where these vesicles bind to chromatin. Fusion is subsequently propagated to the endoplasmic reticulum-derived membranes that make up the bulk of the NE to ultimately enclose the chromatin. We show how initiation of multiple vesicle fusions can be controlled by localised production of DAG and propagated bidirectionally. Phospholipase C (PLCγ), GTP hydrolysis and (phosphatidylinsositol-(4,5)-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) are required for the latter process. We discuss the general implications of membrane fusion regulation and spatial control utilising such a mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimpanzee culture has generated intense recent interest, fueled by the technical complexity of chimpanzee tool-using traditions; yet it is seriously doubted whether chimpanzees are able to learn motor procedures by imitation under natural conditions. Here we take advantage of an unusual chimpanzee population as a 'natural experiment' to identify evidence for imitative learning of this kind in wild chimpanzees. The Sonso chimpanzee community has suffered from high levels of snare injury and now has several manually disabled members. Adult male Tinka, with near-total paralysis of both hands, compensates inability to scratch his back manually by employing a distinctive technique of holding a growing liana taut while making side-to-side body movements against it. We found that seven able-bodied young chimpanzees also used this 'liana-scratch' technique, although they had no need to. The distribution of the liana-scratch technique was statistically associated with individuals' range overlap with Tinka and the extent of time they spent in parties with him, confirming that the technique is acquired by social learning. The motivation for able-bodied chimpanzees copying his variant is unknown, but the fact that they do is evidence that the imitative learning of motor procedures from others is a natural trait of wild chimpanzees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interaction with others over objects has until recently been thought lacking in the social play of non-human great apes, in contrast to that of children; even now, only bonobos have been observed to engage in social play involving objects. Human children’s triadic interactions with objects involve joint attention, showing and giving, communication that maintains interaction, and sharing of emotions and experiences. We question assertions that chimpanzees, and non-human great apes in general, lack the key characteristics of children’s collaborative play. Here, we show that zoo gorillas play games that are both triadic and collaborative. These games were videotaped at the San Francisco Zoo in five different years and involved five different pairings of gorillas. The context was in most cases playfully competitive, involving objects such as balls, bags and leather pieces as foci of joint attention; the ostensible goal in most games was to gain or keep possession of a particular object. In some episodes, roles as possessor or pursuer of an object were exchanged many times; in others, one gorilla retained possession of an object but encouraged pursuit from a partner. Through gaze and gesture, gorillas invited others to: share interest in and attention to objects; share patterns of play; and re-engage after breaks in play. Sometimes, gorillas would assist others in their efforts to engage in collaborative play: older gorillas encouraged younger partners by ‘self-handicapping’ their own actions. Collaborative games may occur later in the ontogeny of gorillas than in humans, and depend on the challenges and artifacts available in a particular group’s habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Middle fossa encephaloceles are rare structural defects previously reported to cause complex partial seizures. Their debated etiology is either by failed union of temporal and sphenoid bone ossification centers or by erosion of the middle fossa floor secondary to pressure phenomena. Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) often reveals abnormalities, the actual encephalocele may not be identified preoperatively. Methods: We present three cases of middle fossa encephaloceles that were identified intraoperatively and provide a review of the relevant literature. Results: All three of our case presentations demonstrate patients with medically intractable epilepsy and intraoperative findings of middle fossa encephaloceles. In all patients, careful retrospective analysis of preoperative imaging provided clues to these encephaloceles, although none were suspected before surgery. After resection of the area all patients had improved seizure outcome. Conclusion: Middle fossa encephaloceles should be recognized as a potential source of epileptic pathology in patients with complex partial seizures. Although only 12 cases are reported in the literature, we believe that this phenomenon may be more common than previously recognized. We suggest that simple resection of the encephalocele alone may result in long-lasting, excellent seizure outcomes without amygdalohippocampectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subordinate domestic pigs show behavioural tactics similar to the ones described as tactical deception in primates and corvids when foraging with scrounging dominants for a single monopolizable food source. Here we investigated further whether they can learn deceptive tactics to counter a scrounger by first retrieving the smaller of two hidden food baits, and whether they can discriminate between different types of co-forager. Seven subordinate pigs were tested with co-foragers, and also alone, when foraging for two differently sized food baits hidden in two of 12 buckets in a foraging arena. Unlike their co-foragers, the subordinates already knew where the foods were located; co-foragers differed in whether they were scroungers or not. Subordinates did not respond to scrounging with the predicted deceptive tactic of visiting the small bait first. They did, however, lose their overall preference for retrieving the large bait first and increased their foraging speed compared to when foraging with nonscroungers or on their own. The findings suggest the ability to discriminate between different individual co-foragers in domestic pigs, and increasing foraging speed as a way of responding to exploitation by scrounging dominants in competitive foraging situations with several food patches. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Primates undoubtedly have impressive abilities in perceiving, recognizing, manipulating, and predicting other individuals, but only great apes seem to recognize the cognitive basis of manipulative and cooperative tactics or the concept of self. None of these abilities is unique to primates. We distinguish (1) a package of quantitative advantages in social sophistication, perhaps based on more efficient memory, in which neocortical enlargement is associated with the challenge of social living; from (2) a qualitative difference in understanding, whose taxonomic distribution—including several distantly related species, including birds—does not point to an evolutionary origin in social challenges and may instead relate to a need to acquire novel ways of dealing with the physical world. The ability of great apes to learn new manual routines by parsing action components may have driven their qualitatively greater social skill, suggesting that strict partition of physical and social cognition is likely to be misleading. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Great ape gestures have attracted considerable research interest in recent years, prompted by their flexible and intentional pattern of use; but almost all studies have focused on single gestures. Here, we report the first quantitative analysis of sequential gesture use in western gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla), using data from three captive groups and one African study site. We found no evidence that gesture sequences were given for reasons of increased communicative efficiency over single gestures. Longer sequences of repeated gestures did not increase the likelihood of response, and using a sequence was seldom in reaction to communicative failure. Sequential combination of two gestures with similar meanings did not generally increase effectiveness, and sometimes reduced it. Gesture sequences were closely associated with play contexts. Markov transition analysis showed two networks of frequently co-occurring gestures, both consisting of gestures used to regulate play. One network comprised only tactile gestures, the other a mix of silent, audible and tactile gestures; apparently, these clusters resulted from gesture use in play with proximal or distal contact, respectively. No evidence was found for syntactic effects of sequential combination: meanings changed little or not at all. Semantically, many gestures overlapped massively with others in their core information (i.e. message), and gesture messages spanned relatively few functions. We suggest that the underlying semantics of gorilla gestures is highly simplified compared to that of human words. Gesture sequences allow continual adjustment of the tempo and nature of social interactions, rather than generally conveying semantically referential information or syntactic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do humans and animals travel between multiple destinations on a given foraging trip? This question is of theoretical and practical interest, yet few empirical data exist to date. We examined how a group of wild chacma baboons travelled among multiple, simultaneously fruiting mountain fig trees ( Ficus glumosa). In the course of a 16-month study, this highly preferred fruit was available during a 3-week period, from relatively few sites, which were also utilized by four larger baboon groups. We used directness of route and travel speed of 13 days of observation, and approach rates of 31 days of observation to differentiate between purposeful and opportunistic encounters with 50 fig trees. The study group visited a total of 30 fig trees overall, but only 8 trees per day on average. Each morning, they travelled along a highly repetitive route on all days of observation, thereby visiting 2–4 fig trees. They approached these trees rapidly along highly directed paths without intermittently exploiting other food sources that were available in large quantities. Then, they abruptly changed behaviour, switching to lower travel speed and less directed routes as they foraged on a variety of foods. They approached additional fig trees later in the day, but approach rates were similar to those at times of year when fruit of this fig species was unavailable; this suggested that encounters with trees after the behavioural switch were not planned. Comparing visits to purposefully and opportunistically encountered trees, we found no difference in the average time spent feeding or frequency of feeding supplants, suggesting that purposefully and opportunistically visited trees had similar values. We conclude that when foraging for mountain fig fruit the baboons’ cognitive maps either contain information on relatively few trees or of only a single route along which several trees are situated, leading to very limited planning abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On many of the staple measures of comparative psychology, elephants show no obvious differences from other mammals, such as primates: discrimination learning, memory, spontaneous tool use, etc. However, a range of more naturalistic measures have recently suggested that elephant cognition may be rather different. Wild elephants sub-categorize humans into groups, independently making this classification on the basis of scent or colour. In number discrimination, elephants show no effects of absolute magnitude or relative size disparity in making number judgements. In the social realm, elephants show empathy into the problems faced by others, and give hints of special abilities in cooperation, vocal imitation and perhaps teaching. Field data suggest that the elephant's vaunted reputation for memory may have a factual basis, in two ways. Elephants' ability to remember large-scale space over long periods suggests good cognitive mapping skills. Elephants' skill in keeping track of the current locations of many family members implies that working memory may be unusually developed, consistent with the laboratory finding that their quantity judgements do not show the usual magnitude effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells is a highly dynamic compartment where membranes readily undergo fission and fusion to reorganize the cytoplasmic architecture, and to import, export and transport various cargos within the cell. The double membrane of the nuclear envelope that surrounds the nucleus, segregates the chromosomes from cytoplasm and regulates nucleocytoplasmic transport through pores. Many details of its formation are still unclear. At fertilization the sperm devoid of nuclear envelope pores enters the egg. Although most of the sperm nuclear envelope disassembles, remnants of the envelope at the acrosomal and centriolar fossae do not and are subsequently incorporated into the newly forming male pronuclear envelope. Remnants are conserved from annelid to mammalian sperm. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using lipid mass spectrometry and a new application of deuterium solid-state NMR spectroscopy we have characterized the lipid composition and membrane dynamics of the sperm nuclear envelope remnants in isolated sperm nuclei. Conclusions/Significance: We report nuclear envelope remnants are relatively fluid membranes rich in sterols, devoid of sphingomyelin, and highly enriched in polyphosphoinositides and polyunsaturated phospholipids. The localization of the polybasic effector domain of MARCKS illustrates the non-nuclear aspect of the polyphosphoinositides. Based on their atypical biophysical characteristics and phospholipid composition, we suggest a possible role for nuclear envelope remnants in membrane fusion leading to nuclear envelope assembly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: This is a technical report describing a different technique for the insertion of epidural electrodes in the preoperative evaluation of epilepsy surgery. Our experience in 67 cases using this technique is analyzed. Methods: Cylinder electrodes with multiple recording nodes spaced 1 cm apart along a Silastic core are placed into the epidural space under general anesthesia through single or multiple burr holes. We reviewed the data on 67 cases of medically intractable epilepsy requiring intracranial monitoring that had epidural cylinder electrodes placed. The electrodes were placed bilaterally or contralateral to subdural grids in 64 of the 67 cases. Continuous monitoring was performed from 1 to 3 weeks. Results: This method was most useful when used bilaterally or contralateral to subdural grids. Definitive surgery was rendered in 48 of 67 cases. After monitoring, all electrodes were removed at bedside or upon return to the operating room for definitive surgery. There were no mortalities, infections, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, neurologic deficits, or electrode malfunctions. Two patients (2/67, 3%) did develop subdural hematomas early in our series after dural injury near the pterion; however, these patients did not sustain permanent deficit. Conclusions: Epidural cylinders are another option for preoperative monitoring, useful for determining lobe or laterality of seizure genesis. They offer an alternate method to EPEs in cases where epidural recording is desirable. The cylinder electrodes are easy to place and can be removed without a return to the operating theater. The electrodes'' minimal mass effect allows them to be safely placed bilaterally or contralateral to subdural grids. The epidural cylinders can monitor cortex with a greater density of nodes and can access regions not amenable to EPEs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: When people are not fully understood, they persist with attempts to communicate, elaborating their speech in order to better convey their meaning . We investigated whether captive orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii) would use analogous communicative strategies in signaling to a human experimenter, and whether they could distinguish different degrees of misunderstanding. Orangutans'' behavior varied according to how well they had apparently been understood. When their aims were not met, they persisted in communicative attempts. However, when the interlocutor appeared partially to understand their meaning, orangutans narrowed down their range of signals, focusing on gestures already used and repeating them frequently. In contrast, when completely misunderstood, orangutans elaborated their range of gestures, avoiding repetition of failed signals. It is therefore possible, from communicative signals alone, to determine how well an orangutan''s intended goal has been met. This differentiation might function under natural conditions to allow an orangutan''s intended goals to be understood more efficiently. In the absence of conventional labels, communicating the fact that an intention has been somewhat misunderstood is an important way to establish shared meaning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although it is well known that frugivorous spider monkeys ( Ateles geoffroyi yucatanensis) occupy large home ranges, travelling long distances to reach highly productive resources, little is known of how they move between feeding sites. A 11 month study of spider monkey ranging patterns was carried out at the Otochma’ax Yetel Kooh reserve, Yucatán, Mexico. We followed single individuals for as long as possible each day and recorded the routes travelled with the help of a GPS (Global Positioning System) device; the 11 independently moving individuals of a group were targeted as focal subjects. Travel paths were composed of highly linear segments, each typically ending at a place where some resource was exploited. Linearity of segments did not differ between individuals, and most of the highly linear paths that led to food resources were much longer than the estimate visibility in the woodland canopy. Monkeys do not generally continue in the same ranging direction after exploiting a resource: travel paths are likely to deviate at the site of resource exploitation rather than between such sites. However, during the harshest months of the year consecutive route segments were more likely to retain the same direction of overall movement. Together, these findings suggest that while moving between feeding sites, spider monkeys use spatial memory to guide travel, and even plan more than one resource site in advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encounters between groups of wild chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) can be viewed as a natural experiment to investigate the nature of these primates’ mental representations of large-scale space. During a 16-month field study in a high population density habitat we recorded the foraging routes and the most important resources of a group of 25 individuals. Also, we estimated the locations of additional baboon groups relative to the study group. Routes were less linear, travel speed was higher, and inter-resource distances were larger when other groups were present within 500 m of the focal group; thus, the study group avoided others by taking detours. We predicted that evasive manoeuvres would be characteristic of different possible orientation mechanisms, and compared them with our observations. We analysed 34 evasive manoeuvres in detail. In an area that lacked prominent landmarks, detours were small; larger detours occurred when resources were directly visible, or in the vicinity of a hill offering conspicuous landmarks. In areas without prominent landmarks, detours were along familiar routes and waiting bouts of up to 60 min occurred; on one occasion the study group aborted their entire day’s journey. We discuss these findings in the light of time and energy costs and suggest that the baboons lack the ability to compute Euclidean relations among locations, but use network maps to find their way to out-of-sight locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the theoretical and practical difficulties of inferring the cognitive processes involved in spatial movement decisions of primates and other animals based on studies of their foraging behavior in the wild. Because the possible cognitive processes involved in foraging are not known a priori for a given species, some observed spatial movements could be consistent with a large number of processes ranging from simple undirected search processes to strategic goal-oriented travel. Two basic approaches can help to reveal the cognitive processes: (1) experiments designed to test specific mechanisms; (2) comparison of observed movements with predicted ones based on models of hypothesized foraging modes (ideally, quantitative ones). We describe how these two approaches have been applied to evidence for spatial knowledge of resources in primates, and for various hypothesized goals of spatial decisions in primates, reviewing what is now established. We conclude with a synthesis emphasizing what kinds of spatial movement data on unmanipulated primate populations in the wild are most useful in deciphering goal-oriented processes from random processes. Basic to all of these is an estimate of the animal’s ability to detect resources during search. Given knowledge of the animal’s detection ability, there are several observable patterns of resource use incompatible with a pure search process. These patterns include increasing movement speed when approaching versus leaving a resource, increasingly directed movement toward more valuable resources, and directed travel to distant resources from many starting locations. Thus, it should be possible to assess and compare spatial cognition across a variety of primate species and thus trace its ecological and evolutionary correlates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nuclear envelope assembly is an essential event in each cell cycle but the proteins and lipids involved in its regulation remain mostly unknown. Assembly involves membrane fusions but neither specific SNAREs nor Rab GTPases have been identified in its control. We report that a precursor membrane population (MV1) required for NE assembly has a unique lipid composition consisting prominently of poly-phosphatidylinositides. The lipid composition was determined by adapting HPLC electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry to phosphoinositide analysis, revealing the capacity of this technique to document dynamic lipid transitions of functional importance in natural membrane populations. MV1 is >100-fold enriched in endogenous PLCγ and >25-fold enriched in the PLC substrate phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PtdInsP2) compared to the second membrane population, derived largely from endoplasmic reticulum (ER), that contributes most of the NE. During NE formation PLCγ becomes transiently phosphorylated at the tyrosine 783 site indicative of its activation. In addition specific inhibition of PLCγ blocks nuclear envelope formation. In vivo, PLCγ is concentrated on vesicles of similar size to purified MV1. These associate with nuclei during the period of NE formation and are distinct from ER membranes. The unprecedented concentration of PLCγ and its substrate PtdInsP2 in a subset of membranes that binds to only two regions of the nucleus, and activation of PLCγ by GTP during initial stages of NE formation provide a mechanism for temporal control of NE assembly and offer an explanation for how such a process of membrane fusion can be spatially regulated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In non-human animals, creative behaviour occurs spontaneously only at low frequencies, so is typically missed by standardised observational methods. Experimental approaches have tended to rely overly on paradigms from child development or adult human cognition, which may be inappropriate for species that inhabit very different perceptual worlds and possess quite different motor capacities than humans. The analysis of anecdotes offers a solution to this impasse, provided certain conditions are met. To be reliable, anecdotes must be recorded immediately after observation, and only the records of scientists experienced with the species and the individuals concerned should be used. Even then, interpretation of a single record is always ambiguous, and analysis is feasible only when collation of multiple records shows that a behaviour pattern occurs repeatedly under similar circumstances. This approach has been used successfully to study a number of creative capacities of animals: the distribution, nature and neural correlates of deception across the primate order; the occurrence of teaching in animals; and the neural correlates of several aptitudes—in birds, foraging innovation, and in primates, innovation, social learning and tool-use. Drawing on these approaches, we describe the use of this method to investigate a new problem, the cognition of the African elephant, a species whose sheer size and evolutionary distance from humans renders the conventional methods of comparative psychology of little use. The aim is both to chart the creative cognitive capacities of this species, and to devise appropriate experimental methods to confirm and extend previous findings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The secretagogue compound 48/80 (c48/80) is a well known activator of calcium mediated processes and PKCs, and is a potent inducer of mast cell degranulation. As the latter process is a phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) mediated event, we wished to address whether or not c48/80 was an activator of PI 3-kinases. The data presented here reveal that c48/80 is an effective activator of PI 3-kinases as judged by the increased phosphorylation of PKB and p70S6K in fibroblasts in a PI 3-kinase dependent fashion. Compound 48/80 effectively translocates PKB to the plasma membrane and induces phosphorylation at serine 473 (S473), detected by fluorescence imaging of fixed cells. At higher concentrations the secretagogue is inhibitory towards PKB phosphorylation on S473. Conversely, p70S6K phosphorylation on T389 is unaffected at high doses. We provide evidence that the differential effect on the two PI 3-kinase effectors is due to activation of PKCα by c48/80, itself a PI 3-kinase dependent process. We conclude that compound 48/80 is an effective activator of PI 3-kinase dependent pathways, leading to the activation of effectors including PKB/Akt, p70S6K and PKCα. The latter is only activated by higher doses of c48/80 resulting in an inhibition of the c48/80 induced PKB phosphorylation, thus explaining the observed biphasic activation profile for PKB in response to this secretagogue. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The ability of animals to plan their foraging journeys and to approach resources in a goal-directed way may play a key role in cognitive evolution. Furthermore, optimal foraging theory assumes that animals are adapted to take least-effort routes between resources. Empirical evidence for these beliefs is largely lacking, however. We followed a group of chacma baboons over full days during a 16-month field study. We used GPS to investigate route linearity, travel speed and inter-resource distances, and the degree to which movement was guided by direct visual stimuli from the resources. During the dry season the study group travelled rapidly to sparse fruit sources and waterholes along linear paths over large distances. Inter-resource distances were larger than distances from which the resources could be seen. Seed resources, although situated closer to the sleeping site than fruit sources, were bypassed in the mornings and consumed predominantly in the afternoons, when movements were less linear, slower and shorter. During the rainy season, the animals left their sleeping sites earlier when visiting restricted and patchily distributed fig trees than when visiting abundant and evenly distributed fruit resources. However, travel speed and route linearity were not always associated with goal directedness, because the baboons approached the single sleeping site, presumably a vital resource, slowly and indirectly. Our results suggest that baboons plan their journeys, actively choosing between several out-of-sight resources and approaching them in an efficient, goal-directed way, characteristics commonly used as diagnostic for the presence of a cognitive map and episodic memory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]