Etude sur la pensée animale : continuité neuro-cognitive de la catégorisation visuelle

Est-ce que les animaux pensent? Quelle est la nature des mécanismes qui dirigent leurs comportements? Peut-on comparer ces mécanismes au fonctionnement de l'esprit humain ? Ces questions animent les débats scientifiques, philosophiques et théologiques depuis des millénaires. L'idée d'une discontinuité fondamentale entre l'esprit humain et les rouages de l'animal-machine, prônée par Descartes, s'oppose à l'hypothèse de continuité de Darwin selon laquelle, la différence entre les capacités mentales de l'homme et de l'animal serait de degré et non de nature. Dans cette thèse, fort des récentes avancées méthodologiques et théoriques dans l'étude du comportement animal et des neurosciences, nous partons à la recherche de la pierre de rosette pouvant éclairer ce débat : l'homologie neuro-cognitive fonctionnelle. Existe-t-il un fonctionnement nerveux commun à plusieurs espèces (et notamment à l'homme), supportant un même fonctionnement cognitif ? Nous focalisons notre recherche sur l'une des fonctions clefs de l'esprit humain, qui semble aussi très répandue dans le monde animal : la catégorisation. Former des concepts -regrouper mentalement les objets ou événements auxquelles nous sommes confrontés en catégories- permet de simplifier, de donner un sens et de réagir de manière appropriée aux flux perceptuels incessants issus de nos sens. En testant des sujets humains et macaques dans un protocole rigoureusement identique de catégorisation visuelle rapide, en particulier, en contrôlant l'influence de l'information contextuelle de la scène visuelle sur les performances de catégorisation de l'objet, nous montrons ici que les deux espèces de primates semblent bien avoir recours à des représentations ou concepts visuels similaires pour résoudre cette tâche. Mieux, le développement de nouvelles méthodes d'analyses multivariées des potentiels de champs corticaux, nous permet de lire, essai par essai, l'émergence de représentations neuronales associées à cette tâche de catégorisation. En appliquant ces méthodes chez le singe, en EEG de surface chez l'homme et chez des patients épileptiques implantés pour raison médicale, on met en évidence le rôle analogue, chez ces deux espèces de primates, de la voie visuelle ventrale dans la formation ultra-rapide de ces représentations catégorielles. Pour résumer, la capacité de catégorisation visuelle rapide, semble être un trait neurocognitif partagé par l'homme et le macaque, probablement héritée d'un ancêtre commun. L'existence d'une telle homologie est un argument pour l'hypothèse de continuité et permet donc d'envisager une évolution de la cognition. Enfin, si on considère la catégorisation comme un élément clef de la pensée humaine, alors ces résultats suggèrent l'existence d'une pensée chez le macaque, dont au moins une partie fonctionne comme la nôtre.Do animals think? What are the mechanisms supporting their behavior? Can we compare these mechanisms with human mind? These questions animate scientific, philosophical and theological debates for millennia. The idea of a fundamental discontinuity between human mind and animal- machine workings, advocated by Descartes, is opposed to Darwin's assumption of continuity that suppose a difference of degree and not of kind between human's and animals' minds. In this thesis, based on recent theoretical and methodological advances in animal behavior and neuroscience, we go in search of the Rosetta Stone that can inform this debate: a functional neuro-cognitive homology. Is there a neural mechanism, shared by several species (including humans), supporting the same cognitive function? We focus our research on one of the key functions of human mind, which also seems widespread in the animal world: categorization ability. The making of concepts -to mentally regroup objects, or events, we face in categories- simplifies, makes sense and allows responding appropriately to the continuous perceptual streams. Testing humans and macaques in exactly the same protocol of rapid visual categorization, in particular, by controlling the influence of contextual information from the visual scene on object categorization performances, we show here that the two primates seem to rely on similar concepts or visual representations to solve this task. More, with a new multivariate pattern analysis for cortical field potentials, we can read, trial by trial, the emergence of neural representations associated with such categorization task. By applying these methods in monkeys, surface EEG in humans and in patients with epilepsy, implanted for medical reasons, we highlight the similar role of the ventral visual pathway to build quick categorical representations, in both species of primates. To summarize, the ability of rapid visual categorization seems to be a neuro-cognitive trait shared by humans and macaques, probably inherited from a common ancestor. The existence of such homology is an argument for the continuity hypothesis and can therefore justify an evolution of cognition. Finally, if we consider the categorization as a key element of human thought, then these results suggest the existence of a thought in macaques, which at least partially works like ours

Herbivory on the pedunculate oak along an urbanization gradient in Europe : Effects of impervious surface, local tree cover, and insect feeding guild

Urbanization is an important driver of the diversity and abundance of tree-associated insect herbivores, but its consequences for insect herbivory are poorly understood. A likely source of variability among studies is the insufficient consideration of intraurban variability in forest cover. With the help of citizen scientists, we investigated the independent and interactive effects of local canopy cover and percentage of impervious surface on insect herbivory in the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) throughout most of its geographic range in Europe. We found that the damage caused by chewing insect herbivores as well as the incidence of leaf-mining and gall-inducing herbivores consistently decreased with increasing impervious surface around focal oaks. Herbivory by chewing herbivores increased with increasing forest cover, regardless of impervious surface. In contrast, an increase in local canopy cover buffered the negative effect of impervious surface on leaf miners and strengthened its effect on gall inducers. These results show that – just like in non-urban areas – plant-herbivore interactions in cities are structured by a complex set of interacting factors. This highlights that local habitat characteristics within cities have the potential to attenuate or modify the effect of impervious surfaces on biotic interactions.Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Grant/Award Number: ANR-10--LABX-45; Fondation BNP Paribas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Herbivory on the pedunculate oak along an urbanization gradient in Europe : Effects of impervious surface, local tree cover, and insect feeding guild

Urbanization is an important driver of the diversity and abundance of tree-associated insect herbivores, but its consequences for insect herbivory are poorly understood. A likely source of variability among studies is the insufficient consideration of intra-urban variability in forest cover. With the help of citizen scientists, we investigated the independent and interactive effects of local canopy cover and percentage of impervious surface on insect herbivory in the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) throughout most of its geographic range in Europe. We found that the damage caused by chewing insect herbivores as well as the incidence of leaf-mining and gall-inducing herbivores consistently decreased with increasing impervious surface around focal oaks. Herbivory by chewing herbivores increased with increasing forest cover, regardless of impervious surface. In contrast, an increase in local canopy cover buffered the negative effect of impervious surface on leaf miners and strengthened its effect on gall inducers. These results show that-just like in non-urban areas-plant-herbivore interactions in cities are structured by a complex set of interacting factors. This highlights that local habitat characteristics within cities have the potential to attenuate or modify the effect of impervious surfaces on biotic interactions.Peer reviewe

Herbivory on the pedunculate oak along an urbanization gradient in Europe: Effects of impervious surface, local tree cover, and insect feeding guild

Urbanization is an important driver of the diversity and abundance of tree-associated insect herbivores, but its consequences for insect herbivory are poorly understood. A likely source of variability among studies is the insufficient consideration of intra-urban variability in forest cover. With the help of citizen scientists, we investigated the independent and interactive effects of local canopy cover and percentage of impervious surface on insect herbivory in the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) throughout most of its geographic range in Europe. We found that the damage caused by chewing insect herbivores as well as the incidence of leaf-mining and gall-inducing herbivores consistently decreased with increasing impervious surface around focal oaks. Herbivory by chewing herbivores increased with increasing forest cover, regardless of impervious surface. In contrast, an increase in local canopy cover buffered the negative effect of impervious surface on leaf miners and strengthened its effect on gall inducers. These results show that-just like in non-urban areas-plant-herbivore interactions in cities are structured by a complex set of interacting factors. This highlights that local habitat characteristics within cities have the potential to attenuate or modify the effect of impervious surfaces on biotic interactions

Neurocognitive continuity of visual categorization in primates

Do animals think? What are the mechanisms supporting their behavior? Can we compare these mechanisms with human mind? These questions animate scientific, philosophical and theological debates for millennia. The idea of a fundamental discontinuity between human mind and animal-machine workings, advocated by Descartes, is opposed to Darwin's assumption of continuity that supposes a difference of degree and not of kind between humans' and animals' minds. In this thesis, based on recent theoretical and methodological advances in animal behavior and neuroscience, we go in search of the Rosetta Stone that can inform this debate: a functional neurocognitive homology. Is there a neural mechanism, shared by several species (including humans), supporting the same cognitive function? We focus our research on one of the key functions of human mind, which also seems widespread in the animal world: categorization ability. The making of concepts - to mentally regroup objects, or events we face in categories - simplifies, makes sense and allows responding appropriately to the continuous perceptual streams. Testing humans and macaques in exactly the same protocol of rapid visual categorization, in particular by controlling the influence of contextual information from the visual scene on object categorization performances, we show here that the two primates seem to rely on similar concepts or visual representations to solve this task. More, with a new multivariate pattern analysis for cortical field potentials, we can read, trial by trial, the emergence of neural representations associated with such categorization task. By applying these methods in monkeys, surface EEG in humans and in patients with epilepsy, implanted for medical reasons, we highlight the similar role of the ventral visual pathway to build quick categorical representations, in both species of primates. To summarize, the ability of rapid visual categorization seems to be a neuro-cognitive trait shared by humans and macaques, probably inherited from a common ancestor. The existence of such homology is an argument for the continuity hypothesis and can therefore justify an evolution of cognition. Finally, if we consider the categorization as a key element of human thought, then these results suggest the existence of a thought in macaques, which at least partially works like ours.Est-ce que les animaux pensent? Quelle est la nature des mécanismes qui dirigent leurs comportements? Peut-on comparer ces mécanismes au fonctionnement de l'esprit humain? Ces questions animent les débats scientifiques, philosophiques et théologiques depuis des millénaires. L'idée d'une discontinuité fondamentale entre l'esprit humain et les rouages de l'animal-machine, prônée par Descartes, s'oppose à l'hypothèse de continuité de Darwin selon laquelle la différence entre les capacités mentales de l'homme et de l'animal serait de degré et non de nature. Dans cette thèse, fort des récentes avancées méthodo-logiques et théoriques dans l'étude du comportement animal et des neurosciences, nous partons à la recherche de la pierre de Rosette pouvant éclairer ce débat: l'homologie neuro-cognitive fonctionnelle. Existe-t-il un fonctionnement nerveux commun à plusieurs espèces (et notamment à l'homme), supportant un même fonctionnement cognitif? Nous focalisons notre recherche sur l'une des fonctions clefs de l'esprit humain, qui semble aussi très répandue dans le monde animal : la catégorisation. Former des concepts - regrouper mentalement les objets ou événements auxquelles nous sommes confrontés en catégories - permet de simplifier, de donner un sens et de réagir de manière appropriée aux flux perceptuels incessants issus de nos sens. En testant des sujets humains et macaques dans un protocole rigoureusement identique de catégorisation visuelle rapide, en particulier en contrôlant l'influence de l'information contextuelle de la scène visuelle sur les performances de catégorisation de l'objet, nous montrons ici que les deux espèces de primates semblent bien avoir recours à des représentations ou concepts visuels similaires pour résoudre cette tâche. Mieux, le développement de nouvelles méthodes d'analyses multivariées des potentiels de champs corticaux nous permet de lire, essai par essai, l'émergence de représentations neuronales associées à cette tâche de catégorisation. En appliquant ces méthodes chez le singe, en EEG de surface chez l'homme et chez des patients épileptiques implantés pour raison médicale, on met en évidence le rôle analogue, chez ces deux espèces de primates, de la voie visuelle ventrale dans la formation ultra-rapide de ces représentations catégorielles. Pour résumer, la capacité de catégorisation visuelle rapide semble être un trait neurocognitif partagé par l'homme et le macaque, probablement héritée d'un ancêtre commun. L'existence d'une telle homologie est un argument pour l'hypothèse de continuité et permet donc d'envisager une évolution de la cognition. Enfin, si l'on considère la catégorisation comme un élément clef de la pensée humaine, alors ces résultats suggèrent l'existence d'une pensée chez le macaque, dont au moins une partie fonctionne comme la nôtre

Cauchoix, Chow, van Horik et al.

To further our understanding of the evolution of cognition we gathered 44 datasets of 26 species and used meta-analysis to evaluate whether cognitive performance is repeatable across taxa. We assessed individual repeatability in performance on the same task presented at different time intervals (Temporal Repeatability), and on different tasks that measure the same putative cognitive ability (Contextual Repeatability). We found support for both temporal and contextual repeatability of individual variation in cognitive performance, with significant mean R estimates ranging between 0.15 and 0.28. Our overall findings highlight the widespread occurrence of consistent inter-individual variation in cognition

How plausible is a subcortical account of rapid visual recognition?

International audiencePrimates recognize objects in natural visual scenes with great rapidity. The ventral visual cortex is usually assumed to play a major role in this ability ("high- road"). However, the "low-road" alternative frequently proposed is that the visual cortex is bypassed by a rapid subcortical route to the amygdala, especially in the case of biologically relevant and emotional stimuli. This paper highlights the lack of evidence from psychophysics and computational models to support this "low-road" alternative. Most importantly, the timing of neural responses invites a serious reconsideration of the low-road role in rapid processing of visual objects

When does the visual system need to look back?

International audienc

Cognition in Context: Plasticity in Cognitive Performance in Response to Ongoing Environmental Variables

International audienceCognition has evolved to allow organisms to process, use and store information in their natural environment. Yet, cognitive abilities are traditionally measured in controlled laboratory conditions to obtain consistent and accurate measurements. Consequently, little is known about the actual effect of natural environmental variation on cognitive performances. Being able to modify cognitive performance according to environmental conditions (e.g., plasticity of attentional performances according to current predator densities) could provide evolutionary advantages. In this mini-review, we compile evidence for what we call “cognitive performance plasticity” (i.e., flexible adjustment of cognitive performance in response to the current environment). We then discuss methodological approaches associated with measurement of cognitive performance plasticity and cognition in general. Finally, we discuss the implications of acknowledging plasticity in cognitive performance, including a better understanding of the reproducibility crisis observed in cognitive sciences (Open Science Collaboration, 2015) and new lines of inquiry into the evolution of cognition and the adaptive value of cognitive performance plasticity