Project description DEENESFRITPL The role of urban diet and gut microbiome on animal cognition Many ecological studies revealed cognitive differences between urban and non-urban dwelling animals linking them to the challenging dynamic nature of urban environments. However, lab-based studies proved the important effects of diet on cognitive development. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the UrbanCog project addresses the role of diet in urban-related cognition by merging theoretical frameworks and methodology from psychology, ecology and microbiology. UrbanCog will combine controlled laboratory experiments and measures of cognition in the wild, using feral pigeons, whose diet vary widely between urban and non-urban environments. It will test the effects of a high-fat high-sugar diet and the gut microbiome on cognition in three domains that are considered crucial for survival in urban environments: spatial learning, inhibitory control, and social learning. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Natural habitats are disappearing at record speeds, and our world is becoming increasingly urbanised. Recently, researchers started exploring how cognitive abilities (the mechanisms by which animals acquire, process, store and act on information from the environment) may allow animals to adapt to urban environments. Many of these studies revealed cognitive differences between urban and non-urban dwelling animals and linked these to informational challenges related to the highly dynamic nature of urban environments. Here I hypothesize that urban diets also contribute to such cognitive differences. Although lab-based studies indeed showed important effects of diet on the development of cognition, this idea so far received little attention in the urban cognition literature. I will address this important knowledge gap by combining theoretical frameworks and methodology from psychology, ecology, and microbial sciences. Furthermore, as most of the previous work linking urbanization with cognition was correlational in nature, I will supplement my interdisciplinary approach with a powerful combination of controlled laboratory experiments and measures of cognition in the wild. Specifically, I will test how high-fat high-sugar diets (WP1), and the gut microbiome (WP2) shape cognition in three domains that are considered crucial for survival in urban environments, namely spatial learning, inhibitory control, and social learning. I will use feral pigeons, a species that thrives in urban environments, and whose diet varies widely between urban and non-urban environments, as my model species. This project will build on my experience as an animal cognition researcher, allow me to develop new methods to measure cognition and acquire new skills in GPS tracking and microbiology. By combining approaches from different fields, and continuing implementing open-science practices, this project will raise my profile internationally in the field of cognitive ecology. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologysocial sciencespsychologymedical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutritionnatural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiology Keywords animal cognition diet gut microbiome urbanization pigeons Programme(s) HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme Topic(s) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01-01 - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 Call for proposal HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships Coordinator UNIVERSITEIT GENT Net EU contribution € 175 920,00 Address SINT PIETERSNIEUWSTRAAT 25 9000 Gent Belgium See on map Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Oost-Vlaanderen Arr. Gent Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost No data Partners (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITE PAUL SABATIER TOULOUSE III France Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address ROUTE DE NARBONNE 118 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 See on map Region Occitanie Midi-Pyrénées Haute-Garonne Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost No data
