Animal Behavior and Cognition

Inter-brain Synchronization in the Alpha Band during Minimal Tactile Interaction

1. Chen Lam Loh
2. Leonardo Zapata-Fonseca
3. Mark M. James
4. Guillaume Dumas
5. Tom Froese

Reviewed by PREreview

Male chickadees with better spatial cognition sire more extra-pair young

1. Carrie L Branch
2. Benjamin R Sonnenberg
3. Joseph F Welklin
4. Bronwyn G Butcher
5. Virginia K Heinen
6. Angela M Pitera
7. Lauren M Benedict
8. Eli S Bridge
9. Irby J Lovette
10. Michael S Webster
11. Vladimir V Pravosudov

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study examines the benefits of spatial cognition in a wild population of mountain chickadees. Using robust genetic analyses and experimental design, the authors show with compelling evidence that females seeking out extra-pair copulations prefer males with strong spatial cognition, and that these males have a reproductive advantage over other males. This work is of broad interest to evolutionary and behavioural biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Specific Sensitivity to Rare and Extreme Events: Quasi-Complete Black Swan Avoidance vs Partial Jackpot Seeking in Rat Decision-Making

1. Mickaël Degoulet
2. Louis-Matis Willem
3. Christelle Baunez
4. Stéphane Luchini
5. Patrick A Pintus

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study represents an important contribution to the study of decision-making under risk, bringing an interdisciplinary approach spanning economic theory, behavioral neuroscience, and computational modeling to test how choice preference is influenced by rare and extreme events. The authors aim to test whether rats are indeed sensitive to these rare and extreme events despite their infrequent occurrence, and to isolate behavioral evidence for avoidance of "Black Swans" - rare and extreme losses. The evidence for specific sensitivity to rare and extreme events however remains incomplete, owing in part to the difficulty of isolating the effect of these events beyond that arising from risk preferences more generally in both task design and in the computational modeling of the choice behavior. Despite this, and given the approach here brings a relatively novel and highly interdisciplinary perspective, this paper will be of broad interest to those seeking to understand animal behavior through the lens of economic choice and decision theory.

Reviewed by eLife

Do monkeys see the way we do? Qualitative similarities and differences between monkey and human perception

1. Thomas Cherian
2. Georgin Jacob
3. SP Arun

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study presents a comprehensive comparison of human and macaque monkey behavior across a range of visual perceptual phenomena. The use of a unified oddball visual search paradigm enables direct cross-species comparison while minimizing task-related confounds. It provides solid evidence that visual perception is largely similar between these two species, with some interesting exceptions. These insights into qualitative and quantitative differences between species are relevant for evaluating macaques as a model organism for understanding human vision.

Reviewed by eLife