How, why, and when consciousness evolved remain hotly debated topics. Addressing these
issues requires considering the distribution of consciousness across the animal …

Many species from diverse and often distantly related animal groups (eg monkeys, crows,
fish and bees) have a sense of number. This means that they can assess the number of …

Magnitude-sensitivity refers to the result that performance in decision-making, across
domains and organisms, is affected by the total value of the possible alternatives. This …

To what degree are non-human animals conscious? We propose that the most meaningful
way to approach this question is from the perspective of functional neurobiology. Here we …

Internal states can profoundly alter the behavior of animals. A quantitative understanding of
the behavioral changes upon metabolic challenges is key to a mechanistic dissection of how …

The brain coordinates the movements that constitute behavior, but how descending neurons
convey the myriad of commands required to activate the motor neurons of the limbs in the …

Animals execute one particular behavior among many others in a context-dependent
manner, yet the mechanisms underlying such behavioral choice remain poorly understood …

Nervous systems must not only generate specific adaptive behaviors, such as reproduction,
aggression, feeding, and sleep, but also select a single behavior for execution at any given …

Colonies of the red harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) differ in how they regulate
collective foraging activity in response to changes in humidity. We used transcriptomic …

Honey bee ecology demands they make both rapid and accurate assessments of which
flowers are most likely to offer them nectar or pollen. To understand the mechanisms of …