Overview
An interdisciplinary approach
My work focuses on the evolutionary and psychological mechanisms underlying human sociality. I expanded my initial approach based on behavioural ecology by developing research programs including approaches from behavioural economics and psychology. My research on cooperation has covered topics such as the influence of sexual selection on the evolution of cooperation, the existence of phenotypic cues of cooperativeness (facial, vocal or olfactory) and the role of hormones on cooperative behavior. I have also expanded the scope of my research to include cross-species comparison by testing the influence of cooperativeness on mate choice in two other social species, the mound-building mouse and sociable weavers. My new research project investigates our behavioural immunity, namely, whether humans, akin to other social species, use phenotypic cues of disease to detect infected conspecifics, and how their perception influences interpersonal decision-making.
I am currently a CNRS researcher sharing my time between the Center for Environmental Economics and the Evolutionary Anthropology team at the Institute for Evolutionary Sciences in Montpellier, and a research associate at the Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden)
Models
I mainly study human behavior but I have also studied the mound building mouse & the sociable weavers.
I use different methods to measure behaviours ranging from economic games in humans to observations in the field or in captivity in other social species.
Humans
2009 - present
I work in three different populations: France, Sweden & Senegal. In these populations I mainly use an experimental approach from psychology and economics (e.g. public goods game, dictator game, Trust game).
Sociable weavers
2014 - 2018
This bird endemic to southern Africa is known for its massive nests built communally and for the existence of helpers who forgo their own reproduction to assist other birds with rearing offspring. I use helpers' allofeeding rate as a measure of cooperativeness.
Mound building mouse
2011-2014
This eastern European mouse exhibits an amazing cooperative behavior: in autumn groups of several mice build mounds by the accumulation of plant materials covered with earth. I used wild mice captured in Bulgaria and measured their investment in cooperative mound building in captivity.
To know more
To read more about my collaborations and projects, please follow the links below
My current work - Webinar (in French)
Invited speaker - GDRO3
Titre: Identification précoce des indices de maladie via les sens
GDR - CNRS
Co-fondateur et membre du bureau du réseau RESHAPE (Réseau d’Etude de la Santé Humaine par des APproches Evolutives et historiques), né au début de l'année 2022, vise à mettre en relation les chercheurs et équipes travaillant sur la santé humaine avec une perspective historique et évolutionniste, notamment au travers de l'organisation de rencontres scientifiques.
Karolinska Institutet
The overarching goal of our research is to determine the neural and behavioral function of the olfactory system, and how it interacts with the other senses to interpret our environment in health and disease. To this end, several different lines of ongoing research explore various aspects of these questions using a wide range of experimental methods, including psychophysical and behavioral tests, functional brain imaging (fMRI and EEG/ERP), structural brain imaging, and psychophysiological measures
Our research is at the intersection of evolutionary biology, ecology and the social sciences. We aim to improve our understanding of behaviour and health in humans and non-human primates. Our group is based at the Montpellier Institute for Evolutionary Sciences (ISEM).
Researchers, faculty and doctoral students at CEEM study individual and group behaviour in various economic environments. Our research team relies strongly on laboratory experimentation to carry out those projects.
With Rita Covas (CIBIO & FitzPatrick Insitute) & Claire Doutrelant (CEFE-CNRS)
The sociable weaver research program uses an individually marked population of sociable weavers to study the evolutionary bases of cooperative behaviour and the rules that allow cooperation to persist.
Sociable Weavers Project on TV
Follow the team of the Sociable Weavers Research Project on youtube!
