iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Peter Cook

@pfcook.bsky.social

179 followers 162 following 179 posts

Associate Professor @marmamsci-ncf.bsky.social Studying memory, rhythm, vocal learning, and behavioral plasticity, and related brain, mostly in marine mammals, and most mostly in sea lions scholar.google.com/citations?user=L…

Posts Replies Media

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

link.springer.com/article/10.1... Just out - complicated integrative perspective with a bunch of great marine mammal folks, including @stephanielking.bsky.social and @andrearavignani.bsky.social. We take an expansive trip through the peripheral effector, CNS, and social domains of vocal rhythm.

Phylogeny, weaning time as a proxy for social complexity, brain connectivity, and call type across whale species.

02215

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

32/37 We suggest a preliminary phylogeny (evolutionary map) for vocal learning brain traits in the pinnipeds. It starts with breathing adaptations that loosen restrictions on vocal plasticity. Then, in select species, more specific adaptations for vocal learning emerge.

Possible evolutionary emergence of accumulating vocal control adaptations across the pinnipeds. The midbrain voice box control pathway may be related to volitional breathing control (yellow). The Auditory-motor connections (orange) may be related to auditory vocal learning. The reward-based vocal learning connections (red) may support advanced vocal control, such as in mimicry.

142

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

25/37 ✅Second, the seals, but not the sea lions, had robust pathways connecting auditory and motor regions.

Direct connections between auditory cortex (A1) and pre-vocal-motor cortex in the seals but not the sea lions

140

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

24/37 What did we find in our pinnipeds and coyotes? ✅First: all the pinniped brains, but none of the coyotes, had the apparently direct pathway to the voice box control nucleus in the brainstem, going right around the mid-brain automatic vocal control regions.

Direct pathways between vocal motor cortex (VMC) and the brainstem vocal motor output (N. Amb) passing the midbrain vocal control region (PAG) in all pinniped brains and none of the coyotes

160

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

17/37 We imaged 15 brains from these four species and modeled white matter connections (brain connectivity networks). How did the data look? Beautiful!

White matter brain network of a California sea lion. Brain viewed from above with the front of the brain toward the top of the image. Green fibers run front-to-back, red fibers left-to-right, and blue fibers up-to-down.

150

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

13/37 Now I had brains from three pinniped species presenting a potential spectrum of vocal learning abilities. Sea lions' calls are stereotypical (bark bark bark), but they are easily trained to start and stop their vocalizations on command - not easy to do with most mammals.

120

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

🧠🧪🧵1/37 Our new paper on how pinniped (seal and sea lion) brains evolved to unlock vocal plasticity is this week's @science.org cover. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

59741

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

New article with some legendary marine mammal research vets - we make the case for opportunistic, developmental studies of naturally occurring maternal exposure to algal neurotoxins in sea lions. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

032

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Phew when you’ve leapfrogged the coelacanth and dementia you know your article has picked up some juice….

010

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Curator brains inarguably prodigious in size. Croc skulls as well. CROC BRAINS though...

000

Peter Cook @pfcook.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Smooth-brained, but what lies beneath? First examination of corticocortical pathways in the manatee brain. California sea lion is a nice comparison -- same-sized brain but much wrinklier. Much more complicated social and foraging ecology too. www.frontiersin.org/journals/beh...

010