I have several avenues of research currently underway all stemming from my interest in comparative cognition. My research primarily focuses on cephalopods cognitive abilities in the team Cognitive Neuroethology of Cephalopods of the lab EthoS (University of Caen Normandie-University of Rennes 1-CNRS; France).
I currently have three major research projects in cuttlefish:
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visual laterality
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spatial learning abilities
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episodic-like memory.
News
Did I saw or did I smelt something?
January 01, 2020
In this study published in Scientific Reports, we showed that cuttlefish are able to retrieve retrieve perceptual features of a previous event, namely whether they had seen or smelled an item.
Flexibility and future-dependent foraging cognition
February 29, 2020
In this study published in Biology Letters, we showed that cuttlefish can adopt dynamic and flexible foraging behaviours including selective, opportunistic and future-dependent strategies, in response to changing foraging conditions. Cuttlefish are able to restrain themselves from eating crabs for lunch when there will be shrimp for dinner!
Fighting and mating success in the giant cuttlefish
March 27, 2019
In this study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, we studied whether behavioural lateralization influences fighting and mating success in Sepia apama. Our exciting results showed that mating success is increased when behavioural asymmetry of an individual is synchronized with most of its congeners, but fighting success is increased when behavioural asymmetry is opposite to most of the congeners, as found in human sporting activities.
Lateralization of eye use in cuttlefish: opposite direction for anti-predatory and predatory behaviors
December 11, 2016
In this study published in Frontiers in Physiology, cuttlefish were significantly more likely to favor the left visual field to scan for potential predators and the right visual field for prey attack. Moreover, individual cuttlefish that were leftward directed for vigilant scanning were predominately rightward directed for prey attack. Lateralized individuals also showed faster decision-making when presented with prey simultaneously. Cuttlefish appear to have opposite directions of lateralization for anti-predatory and predatory behavior.
Deletion of the serotonin receptor type 7 disrupts the acquisition of allocentric but not egocentric navigation strategies in mice
December 01, 2016
In this study published in Behavioural Brain Research, we showed that 5-HT7 genetic invalidation impaired the acquisition of allocentric but not egocentric strategies by using two versions of a water cross-maze task.
In a third version of the water maze, allowing the use of both egocentric and allocentric strategies to solve the task, only wild-type mice seem to learn both information in parallel. Altogether, these results provide evidence for the essential role of the 5HT7R in the acquisition of an allocentric strategy and in the ability to learn concomitantly both strategies.
Révolutions Animales : comment les animaux sont devenus intelligents
October 18, 2016
"Révolutions Animales" is a book published in October 2016. It is based on current scientific knowledge on animal abilities, and on the history of man/animal relationships. More than 80 researchers and photographers have participated to this book, edited by the journalist K.L. Matignon.
Spatial learning in the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis: preference for vertical over horizontal information
September 25, 2016
​In this paper published in Journal of Experimental Biology, we found that cuttlefish could separately recall the vertical and horizontal components of a learned two-dimensional target, and that they prefer vertical information to horizontal information. As in fish, the availability of hydrostatic pressure, combined with the ecological value of vertical movements, may determine the importance of vertical information.
