Octopamine- and dopamine-based neuromodulatory systems play a critical role in learning and learning-related behaviour in insects. To further our understanding of these systems and resulting phenotypes, we quantified DNA sequence variations at six loci coding octopamine-and dopamine-receptors and their association with aversive and appetitive learning traits in a population of honeybees. We identified 79 polymorphic sequence markers (mostly SNPs and a few insertions/deletions) located within or close to six candidate genes. Intriguingly, we found that levels of sequence variation in the protein-coding regions studied were low, indicating that sequence variation in the coding regions of receptor genes critical to learning and memory is strongly selected against. Non-coding and upstream regions of the same genes, however, were less conserved and sequence variations in these regions were weakly associated with between-individual differences in learning-related traits. While these associations do not directly imply a specific molecular mechanism, they suggest that the cross-talk between dopamine and octopamine signalling pathways may influence olfactory learning and memory in the honeybee.

In contemporary western cultures, most humans talk to their pet companions. Speech register addressed to companion animals shares common features with speech addressed to young children, which are distinct from the typical adult-directed speech (ADS). The way dogs respond to dog-directed speech (DDS) has raised scientists' interest. In contrast, much less is known about how cats perceive and respond to cat-directed speech (CDS). The primary aim of this study was to evaluate whether cats are more responsive to CDS than ADS. Secondarily, we seek to examine if the cats' responses to human vocal stimuli would differ when it was elicited by their owner or by a stranger. We performed playback experiments and tested a cohort of 16 companion cats in a habituation-dishabituation paradigm, which allows for the measurement of subjects' reactions without extensive training. Here, we report new findings that cats can discriminate speech specifically addressed to them from speech addressed to adult humans, when sentences are uttered by their owners. When hearing sentences uttered by strangers, cats did not appear to discriminate between ADS and CDS. These findings bring a new dimension to the consideration of human-cat relationship, as they imply the development of a particular communication into human-cat dyads, that relies upon experience. We discuss these new findings in the light of recent literature investigating cats' sociocognitive abilities and human-cat attachment. Our results highlight the importance of one-to-one relationships for cats, reinforcing recent literature regarding the ability for cats and humans to form strong bonds.

No abstract

Across all species, communication implies that an emitter sends signals to a receiver, through one or more channels. Cats can integrate visual and auditory signals sent by humans and modulate their behaviour according to the valence of the emotion perceived. However, the specific patterns and channels governing cat-to-human communication are poorly understood. This study addresses whether, in an extraspecific interaction, cats are sensitive to the communication channel used by their human interlocutor. We examined three types of interactions—vocal, visual, and bimodal—by coding video clips of 12 cats living in cat cafés. In a fourth (control) condition, the human interlocutor refrained from emitting any communication signal. We found that the modality of communication had a significant effect on the latency in the time taken for cats to approach the human experimenter. Cats interacted significantly faster to visual and bimodal communication compared to the “no communication” pattern, as well as to vocal communication. In addition, communication modality had a significant effect on tail-wagging behaviour. Cats displayed significantly more tail wagging when the experimenter engaged in no communication (control condition) compared to visual and bimodal communication modes, indicating that they were less comfortable in this control condition. Cats also displayed more tail wagging in response to vocal communication compared to the bimodal communication. Overall, our data suggest that cats display a marked preference for both visual and bimodal cues addressed by non-familiar humans compared to vocal cues only. Results arising from the present study may serve as a basis for practical recommendations to navigate the codes of human–cat interactions.

Across all species, a dyadic interaction entails that an emitter sends signals to a receiver through one or more channels. The receiver decodes the signals and reacts accordingly, potentially turning into an emitter himself. Like dogs and horses, cats can integrate visual and auditory signals sent by humans and modulate their behaviour according to the valence of the emotion perceived. However, the specific patterns and channels governing cat-to-human communication are poorly understood. This study addresses whether, in an extraspecific interaction, cats adapt their communication channel to those used by their human interlocutor. We examined three types of interactions: vocal, visual and bimodal (visual plus vocal), through coding video clips of 12 cats living in cat cafés. There was a significant effect of the modality of communication on the latency for cats to approach the human experimenter. Cats interacted significantly faster in the visual and bimodal compared to the “no communication” pattern as well as to the vocal condition. There was a significant effect of communication modality on the tail wagging behaviour. Cats significantly displayed more tail wagging when the experimenter engaged no communication compared to the visual and bimodal conditions. Cats also displayed more tail wagging in the vocal compared to the bimodal condition. Taken together, these results suggest that cats display a marked preference for both visual and bimodal cues addressed by non-familiar humans, over vocal cues only. Our data bring further evidence for the emergence of human-compatible socio-cognitive skills in cats, that favour their adaptation to a human driven niche.