Research

My research focuses on two main areas that explore the complexity of animal minds. The first involves studying bird behavior, particularly social cognition. Birds, like pigeons, have remarkable ways of interacting with one another, and through my work, I aim to uncover how they perceive and respond to their peers. For example, I investigate how pigeons recognize individuals using different senses, how they interpret abstract social cues, and how they learn by observing others within their flocks.

The second part of my research aims to understand the evolution of cognition through the avian brain. Using neuroimaging techniques, such as fMRI, I explore the brain’s neural pathways that govern social and emotional processing in birds. By understanding how pigeons process social interactions, and recognize “emotions”, we gain insight into the evolutionary roots of social cognition.

In a new avenue of my research, I’m also exploring new ways for a comparative approach of consciousness. The question “Are animals conscious?” feels too simplistic. Instead, I focus on understanding how and why different animals experience the world in such unique ways. Every animal—from a human to a chimpanzee, from an elephant to a parrot, and even a bee—has evolved a nervous system that shapes its perception of reality. What does it feel like to be each of these creatures? How have their brains created distinct experiences of the world?

We all inhabit the same planet, yet each of us lives in a different world. We call this concept Umwelt—the unique, sensory universe of each species. That’s my dependent variable when studying consciousness.

Methods and research interests

• Social Cognition
• fMRI
• Animal Behavior
• Comparative Cognition
• Consciousness
• Computational Ethology
• Computational Neuroscience