Technological and computational advances have enabled researchers to image the brain's wrinkled exterior in stunning detail, mapping the size and shape of each fold. Scientists pursuing this new discipline of "cortical cartography'' expect it to yield insights into how the brain develops and what happens when things go awry. WUSTL neurobiologist David Van Essen comments.

References:

1. Aug. 3, 2009 — Unfolding the mysteries of the brain in the The Boston Globe

WUSTL anatomy and neurobiology professor Timothy Holy comments on pets whose keen senses of smell and intuitions helped alert their owners to medical problems that they were unaware of.

References:

1. Aug. 27, 2008 — Doggie 'Doctors' Diagnose Their Owners' Ills in the MSNBC.com

and 2 others.

Commentary on insomnia mentions sleep studies of twins by WUSTL psychiatry professor Andrew Heath.

References:

1. March 30, 2008 — Commentary: Can insomnia kill? in the Los Angeles Times

David Brown writes about a study on sleep and learning using fruit flies in the journal Science.
WUSTL neurobiology researchers Jeff Donlea and Paul Shaw participated in the study.

References:

1. Sept. 25, 2006 — Science Notebook in the The Washington Post

WUSTL neurobiologists Timothy Holy and Zhongsheng Guo have analyzed the vocalizations of male mice and found that they have the characteristics of song — with distinct types of syllables uttered in phrases and motifs. The finding is reported in a paper in the journal PLoS Biology.
The researchers found that individual mice sing distinct songs. Dr. Holy said that this suggested that some element of learning might be involved.

References:

1. Nov. 1, 2005 — And Now, Please Welcome Modest Mouse in the New York Times
2. Nov. 1, 2005 — American idols? Mice can sing, scientists learn in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
3. Nov. 1, 2005 — Mice squeak into song in the Nature Magazine (UK)

and 50 others.

Michael Balter writes about various views on the question: are humans still evolving?
WUSTL professor of anatomy James Cheverud and a South African colleague say even very early evolutionary changes in the hominid line were not necessarily due to natural selection. They analyzed hominid faces over time, using formulas that model natural selection as well as random genetic drift, in which some traits or alleles become more common simply through chance.

References:

1. July 8, 2005 — Are humans still evolving? in the Science Magazine