Descripción del proyecto
El papel de la dieta urbana y el microbioma intestinal en la cognición de los animales
Numerosos estudios ecológicos han revelado diferencias cognitivas entre los animales que viven en las ciudades y los que no lo hacen, y las vinculan a la difícil naturaleza dinámica de los entornos urbanos. Sin embargo, estudios de laboratorio han demostrado los importantes efectos de la dieta en el desarrollo cognitivo. El equipo del proyecto UrbanCog, financiado por las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, aborda el papel de la dieta en la cognición relacionada con las ciudades mediante la combinación de marcos teóricos y metodologías de la psicología, la ecología y la microbiología. En UrbanCog se combinarán experimentos controlados de laboratorio y medidas de cognición en la naturaleza, utilizando palomas salvajes, cuya dieta varía mucho entre los entornos urbanos y los no urbanos. En él se comprobarán los efectos de una dieta rica en grasas y azúcares y del microbioma intestinal sobre la cognición en tres ámbitos que se consideran cruciales para la supervivencia en entornos urbanos: el aprendizaje espacial, el control inhibitorio y el aprendizaje social.
Objetivo
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.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinador
9000 Gent
Bélgica