📄 Category

animal behavior and cognition

136 papers

Animal behavior and cognition explores the fascinating inner lives of creatures big and small, from how a crow solves a puzzle to why dogs seem to understand human emotions. This field investigates the mental processes and social interactions that drive the natural world, revealing that intelligence and awareness take many forms across species.

At Gist.Science, we bring these discoveries directly from bioRxiv to your screen. Our team processes every new preprint in this category from bioRxiv, ensuring you have access to the latest research through both detailed technical summaries and easy-to-understand plain-language explanations. Whether you are a researcher or a curious reader, you can dive deep into the data or grasp the core concepts without the barrier of dense academic jargon.

Below are the most recent papers exploring the minds and behaviors of animals, freshly processed and ready for you to explore.

📄 animal behavior and cognition

Sociality shapes context-dependent stress responses to anthropogenic disturbance in African elephants

This study demonstrates that social relationships in African elephants act as a context-dependent buffer against anthropogenic disturbance, where low-ranking individuals and those with fewer social connections experience elevated physiological stress specifically when exposed to management interventions like helicopter use, highlighting the need to integrate social dynamics into conservation strategies.

Funk, K. R., Newediuk, L., Brown, L. R., Ganswindt, A., Vander Wal, E.2026-10-02
📄 animal behavior and cognition

Alpha-Band Inter-brain Connectivity during Minimal Tactile Interaction: An Exploratory Hyperscanning Study

This exploratory hyperscanning study provides a proof-of-concept framework for investigating inter-brain synchronization in the alpha band during minimal tactile interactions in spatially isolated dyads, identifying candidate neural connections and behavioral patterns while highlighting the need for future hypothesis-driven research to confirm these preliminary findings.

Loh, C. L., Zapata-Fonseca, L., James, M. M., Dumas, G., Froese, T.2026-09-25
📄 animal behavior and cognition

The building blocks of social structure: simulating constraints of social network analysis for inference about group-level properties

This paper presents a simulation model that links global social network metrics to underlying behavioral processes—such as individual dispositions, ecological constraints, and observation biases—to demonstrate how ignoring these factors can lead to biased inferences about animal group-level social structures.

Brooks, J., Badihi, G., Samuni, L.2026-09-19
📄 animal behavior and cognition

Environmental volatility amplifies Pavlovian control in decision-making

Using a modified Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer paradigm, this study demonstrates that environmental volatility shifts decision-making control toward reward-predictive cues by amplifying Pavlovian mechanisms, which offer a stable alternative to computationally costly instrumental updates and can either increase or reduce choice entropy depending on the outcome.

Danti, C., Degni, L. A. E., Mattioni, L., Badioli, M., Starita, F., Cartoni, E., Garofalo, S., Di Pellegrino, G.2026-09-16
📄 animal behavior and cognition

Genetic and behavioural repertoires support olfactory communication in wild capuchin monkeys

This study demonstrates that wild white-faced capuchin monkeys possess evolutionarily constrained vomeronasal receptor genes and exhibit a diverse repertoire of olfactory behaviors, providing compelling evidence for the significant role of olfaction in their complex social lives.

Akhtar, M. S., . Kulick, N. K., Poirier, A. C., Hamou, H., Galan-Plana, C. F., Romero Morales, S., Cheves Hernandez, S. (…)2026-09-14
📄 animal behavior and cognition

Predator type shapes call-type composition and post-threat vocal dynamics in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica): a pilot case-series

This pilot case-series involving two Japanese quail demonstrates that predator identity (hawk vs. cat) significantly shapes vocal repertoire composition and that post-threat vocal dynamics shift consistently, providing hypothesis-generating evidence to justify a larger, fully powered follow-up study.

Ham, K., Park, S., Park, G., Kim, C.2026-09-14
📄 animal behavior and cognition

Paired exposure to blue light and nutrient alters subsequent photo-avoidance in Physarum polycephalum

This study demonstrates that while *Physarum polycephalum* can relax its aversion to blue light after repeated pairings with nutrients, the observed behavioral changes do not definitively confirm associative learning due to the lack of strengthening with additional training and the potential contribution of non-associative processes.

Wang, Q., Gaspers, N., Sims, M., Schlicht, T., Severs, L.2026-09-13