Objective This project aims to answer a significant open question in evolutionary neurobiology: how social complexity shapes the brain structure, its associated metabolic costs, and the behavioural capability of individual members of a society. The Social Brain Hypothesis proposes that the complexity of living in group influences encephalization in vertebrates, but this theory has not been critically tested in invertebrate species. Social insects such as ants have miniaturized brains that nevertheless support highly coordinated collective behaviour and striking individual cognitive abilities. This collective behaviour produces an “externalized” distributed processing of information that may reduce energetic expenses in individual brains. We propose to address this question through the study of brain metabolic costs of ant foragers under different conditions of sociality. We will examine the effect of distributed information processing (such as the use of pheromones trails to coordinate group activity) on individual cognitive abilities (such as learning) and the energetic costs of specialized brain compartments that underlie behaviour. Our interdisciplinary methodology will combine techniques applied to the study of collective animal behaviour (individual tracking in collective choice and foraging experiments) and neurobiology (immunohistochemistry and neuroanatomical scaling, cytochrome oxidase staining and learning assays) in sister clades of ants that show strong differences in social complexity and thus the relative roles of individual workers and cooperative groups. This novel and integrated approach will allow us to analyze the evolutionary relationship between social complexity and brain evolution. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiologynatural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyentomologynatural scienceschemical sciencesanalytical chemistryquantitative analysisvolumetric analysisnatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiological behavioural sciencesethologynatural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencedata processing Keywords Collective behaviour Social insects Ants Foraging Pheromone trails Social brain hypothesis Immediate Early Genes Cytochrome Oxydase Videotracking Learning Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2014-GF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-GF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS Net EU contribution € 246 668,40 Address Rue michel ange 3 75794 Paris France See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris Activity type Research Organisations 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 Other funding € 0,00 Partners (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all Partner Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement. THE TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY United States Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address Commonwealth avenue 881 02215 Boston ma See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 160 130,40
