Comparative Cognition Neuchâtel

Why Humans Talk to Babies: The Evolutionary Puzzle of Infant-Directed Speech Among all great apes, only Homo sapiens showers its infants with babbling, cooing, and high-pitched “baby talk.” A new study shows just how rare—and recent—this trait may be.

Why do humans "baby talk"? A new study shows we're the only great ape that does so regularly—and it may have shaped the evolution of language. #PrimateCommunication #HumanEvolution #BabyTalk #Anthropology #Linguistics #CognitiveScience @carolinefryns.bsky.social @franziswegdell.bsky.social

The evolution of infant-directed communication: Comparing vocal input across all great apes Human infants receive more directed communication than other great ape infants, indicating that it evolved alongside language.

1/n Hot off the press!
The first empirical chapter of my PhD and the fruit of a hugely collaborative project led with Franziska Wegdell and Johanna Schick is out! We explore if immature-directed vocalisations are present and in what quantity in wild great apes.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Did Baby Talk Give Rise to Language? The way that human adults talk to young children is unique among primates, a new study found. That might be one secret to our species’ grasp of language.

One thing that makes humans remarkable is baby talk. And that might be one reason why we have language. Here's my story [Gift link] nyti.ms/4k5duXd

1.4 million Swiss Francs to study wolves - NCCR Evolving Language NCCR researchers Klaus Zuberbühler, Gwendolyn Wirobski (University of Neuchâtel), and Friederike Range (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) have received a 1.4 million CHF WEAVE grant from the A...

NCCR researchers Klaus Zuberbühler, Gwendolyn Wirobski, and researcher Friederike Range have received a 1.4 million CHF grant to study communication and cognition in wolves and dogs 🐺🐶. 👉 More in this new article!

@cogcompneuch.bsky.social

evolvinglanguage.ch/1-4-million-...

Spontaneous Encoding of Event Roles in Hominids ABSTRACT. When observing social interactions, humans rapidly and spontaneously encode events in terms of agents, patients and causal relations. This propensity can be made visible empirically with the...

🧠🦍 Did you know? Like humans, chimpanzees automatically process 'who did what to whom' – a potential precursor for language.
👇 Check what we found in our new paper published in @openmindjournal.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1162/opmi...

🎙️Écoutez l'intervention de Quentin Gallot dans l'émission CQFD de la RTS, sur le système grammatical des colobes olive !

@cogcompneuch.bsky.social

www.rts.ch/audio-podcas...

Our new paper is out! 🐒🔊
We compared two wild chimpanzee populations and found that individuals adjust pant hoot acoustics based on context (feeding vs. travelling). Most patterns are shared, but subtle community differences may hint at a small role for vocal usage learning.
doi.org/10.1016/j.an...

a bald man in a blue suit is pointing at the words come join us . ALT: a bald man in a blue suit is pointing at the words come join us .

1/2 Parlons Terrain (*Let's Talk Fieldwork) is expanding!

Our group started for French speakers, but now we are welcoming EVERYONE no matter the language you speak!

You have done or will do #fieldwork? You want to connect with others to talk about your experience? Join us!

Enquête sur le Bien-être Équin pour les Acteurs du Secteur Équin Merci de prendre le temps de répondre à cette enquête ! Votre participation nous aidera à mieux comprendre votre expérience avec les chevaux et votre point de vue sur un outil que nous souhaiterions d...

A French version is also available: forms.gle/REAPyosimSgn...

Stakeholder Equine Choice Survey Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey! Your input will help us understand your experience with horses and your perspective on a proposed welfare tool that provides horses with social c...

We're looking for equine stakeholders (horse owners, breeders, stable managers, vets etc) to fill in this short survey, to help us assess feasibility of a possible horse welfare tool. Please share! shorturl.at/PIG2s

Alarm Calls Alarm calls, vocal signals given by animals in response to threats, have been studied for decades. For primates, results from alarm call studieshave p…

So excited that this encyclopedia chapter on meaning, pragmatics and learning of alarm calls is out!
This is my first collaboration with my old friend Julián León, and a new one with Klaus Zuberbühler from @cogcompneuch.bsky.social !

DM me for full text
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@gwenwiro.bsky.social joined our lab as a researcher. She studies how group cohesion and cooperation promote communication in social carnivores (wolves 🐺 and dogs 🐕) to ultimately understand the origins of human language @nccrlanguage.bsky.social
Check out her latest work: doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...

1/2 Notre workshop "Preparation au terrain" c'est ce jeudi a 18h CET.
Si vous partez bientot sur le terrain & avez des questions, c'est The place to be!
Decouvrez le panel des intervenant.e.s qu'on a reunit pour repondre a vos questions!

Lien du meeting: teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/…

Bastien Meunier will study wild sooty mangabeys of Taï as a postdoc in our lab in collaboration with @nccrlanguage.bsky.social He will investigate the extent to which sooty mangabeys' vocalizations have meaning by examining the flexibility in use across different contexts!

After a PhD in bioacoustics where he studied ultrasonic communication in rodents, Leo Perrier will work on emphasising the dynamics of animal vocalisations over time and space to study the diversification of vocal systems and how these are the precursors of language!

Sarah just started a new post-doc position in @nccrlanguage.bsky.social and is staying with our lab, investigating how symbolic representation influence world knowledge in both human and great apes

@sarahbrocard.bsky.social successfully defended her PhD in October 🎊 in our lab.
Her research explored the evolution of human syntax using touchscreen experiments with Basel zoo on great apes and humans 🦍🧠
Check out her first published chapter on agent preferences 🔗 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109996

@noemiefreymond.bsky.social started her PhD studying the influence of individual and social factors on the sleep 💤💤 in wild chimpanzees 🐵 and how variations in sleep affect their behaviour and cognition 🤔

Since we just arrived on this platform and quite a few members have joined our lab. We decided to present our team throughout the week!

Great apes visually track subject-object relationships like humans do - NCCR Evolving Language When observing someone interact with something, humans and apes alternate attention between the two subjects. Great apes  track events with their eyes in the same way that humans do, according to a st...

📰🐒According to a study by Vanessa Wilson @vd0ubleu.bsky.social and team, humans and apes alternate attention between the two subjects when observing someone interact with something. Learn more in the article from PLOS Biology, in DE, FR and EN on our website.

evolvinglanguage.ch/great-apes-t...

Hot off the press! Is there a pre-linguistic basis for event role attribution? In our new paper out in PLoS Biology, we take a comparative eye tracking approach to explore temporal gaze distribution to agents and patients in dyadic interactions tinyurl.com/mryk7kmb

Grammar lessons with olive colobus monkeys - NCCR Evolving Language The olive colobus, a discreet primate from the forests of the Ivory Coast, surprises by the richness of its vocal communication. According to a study by the University of Neuchâtel and the NCCR Evolvi...

📰🐒Although Olive colobus monkeys have a limited vocal repertoire, researchers from the University of Neuchâtel showed they can share a wide variety of info by combining calls following grammar-like rules! More in the #article available on our website.
evolvinglanguage.ch/grammar-less...

👥On Tuesday, the NCCR Evolving Language introduced its ambitions for the second phase of the consortium to the public. Many thanks to the host institutions, speakers and everyone who was present, both onsite and online!

YouTube video by NCCR Evolving Language Learning about cognition with the Work Package Events - NCCR Evolving Language

📽️Are other animals incapable of communicating about complex events, or are they simply unwilling? In this video, dive into the research of the WP Events with Klaus Zuberbühler, Sarah Brocard, and Carla Pascual Guàrdia!

youtu.be/j6vyVy1v20E?...

We will slowly but surely be posting on this platform. Stay tuned !