Annual PUBlic Professor series opens with examination of why play is so important for children

caroline.zentner — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 20:09:58 +0000

In the decades since the end of the Second World War, the opportunity for children to engage freely in play has gradually declined. Two overt reasons for this decline are the desire to ensure that children spend more time in more ‘useful’ activities, such as formal learning and to avoid unnecessary risks of physical and psychological injury.

Over the same decades, however, the prevalence of psychopathology, including depression, anxiety and feelings of alienation among children, has increased. Is this a coincidence? There is a growing body of experimental evidence from studies done with non-human animals that suggests not.

On Thursday, September 20, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscience professor, Dr. Sergio Pellis, will present his work, A Journey Through the Fields of Play, as the kick-off to the 2018/19 season of the Faculty of Arts & Science’s PUBlic Professor Series. The free event runs from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge and is open to the public.

Engagement in play is a powerful antidote against anxiety and some forms of play provide experiences during childhood that alter the brain mechanisms that enable animals to deal adaptively with the unexpected challenges of life. That is, play at a younger age produces more resilient adults. The same may apply to people.

Pellis received his PhD in animal behavior/ethology in 1980 from Monash ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Australia. He spent 1982-1990 at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Illinois, Tel Aviv ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Florida where he received post-doctoral training in behavioural neuroscience and movement analysis. He has been a professor at the U of L since 1990 with the main focus of his research being on the role peer-to-peer play has in the development of social competence.

The Faculty of Arts & Science launched the PUBlic Professor Series in September 2014 as a way to engage the community through a monthly, thought provoking series of pub-style talks that brings a range of experts and researchers from across the arts and sciences to the community. These talks provide insight into issues of popular interest to the general public, and in turn provoke questions and spirited conversation.

Further talks scheduled for 2018/19 feature Dr. Maura Hanrahan (geography), Dr. Amy Shaw (history), Dr. Alexander Darku (economics), Dr. Tom Johnston (geography) and Dr. Hester Jiskoot (geography). Details on each of their presentations can be found at: PUBlic Professor.

U of L scientists to be featured on The Nature of Things

caroline.zentner — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 21:16:21 +0000

The research work of three ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge scientists will be highlighted in Thursday’s episode of The Nature of Things.

The popular program hosted by David Suzuki airs on CBC Television and presents science stories in an engaging and informative way. Think Like an Animal features research on hummingbirds and primates conducted by Drs. Andrew Hurly, Louise Barrett and Sergio Pellis.

Dr. Louise Barrett poses for a photo with one of her research subjects, a vervet monkey.

This past summer, director Leora Eisen and a camera crew from 90th Parallel Productions spent several days on campus, at the U of L’s Westcastle field station and at a monkey reserve in South Africa, to explore the innovative ways U of L professors are delving into the animal mind.

“For many years, scientists have judged the intelligence of animals by comparing them to us,” says Eisen. “But, as Prof. Barrett told me, perhaps it’s time to take off our human-centred spectacles and look at how animals think in a new light — to understand how smart they are as themselves.”

“We have this wealth of people studying animal behaviour at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and that’s really impressive,” says Barrett. “For our work to be shown on The Nature of Things is significant.”

Hurly has studied the behaviour of hummingbirds to learn about their cognition and Barrett and Pellis have studied the behaviour of primates, including vervet monkeys.

Hurly’s research on hummingbird cognition illustrates how the tiny birds rely on spatial information to find food. He and colleague Sue Healy, from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of St. Andrews in Scotland, placed eight artificial flowers filled with a sugar solution inside a wild hummingbird’s territory in the Rockies. After visiting four flowers, the researchers timed how long it took for the bird to return. Almost like clockwork, they found it returned in 10 to 15 minutes.

“We wanted to know if it could remember the flowers it had emptied and go only to the flowers it hadn’t yet visited,” says Hurly. “The answer is yes, they, upon return, were quite good at avoiding flowers that they’d already emptied.”

The film crew used a special camera to capture hummingbird movements in high definition slow motion.

“The footage is breathtaking,” says Eisen.

Barrett and Dr. Peter Henzi, a U of L psychology professor who also studies primate behaviour, conduct research with three different vervet monkey troops in South Africa. A film crew accompanied the research team to the site and filmed vervets living their everyday lives in the wild — grooming, playing and reacting to vocal calls.

“Louise Barrett is one of those rare ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ who can explain science in a way that viewers can understand,” says Eisen. “She provides real insight into the complex problem-solving skills of these highly social animals.”

Pellis has analyzed vervet monkey play and, in Think Like an Animal, he shares his insights into the processes that build a thinking brain. Young vervets will create unpredictable situations during play and those uncertainties challenge the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain involved in problem solving and complex planning.

“Animals that have much more complex social decision making are also the ones that tend to use play for such training,” says Pellis.

When: Thursday, Nov. 24, 8 p.m. on CBC

UNews - Dr. Sergio Pellis

Annual PUBlic Professor series opens with examination of why play is so important for children

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U of L scientists to be featured on The Nature of Things

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