Jeanne Seressia
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Jeanne Seressia

Jeanne Seressia

Doctorante

Formation :

  • Depuis 2023 : Doctorat en Cognition et Comportement Animal au Centre INRAE Val de Loire de Nouzilly (France), au sein de l’équipe Cognition-Éthologie-Bien-être animal (CEB)
  • 2020-2023 : École d’ingénieur agronome - L’Institut Agro Rennes-Angers
  • 2019-2020 : Préparatoire ATS Bio - Lycée la Roque Rodez
  • 2017-2019 : IUT Génie Biologique, Option Analyses Biologiques et Biochimiques - IUT de Laval

 

Recherches :

Sujet de thèse : Relations entre le niveau de sociabilité de l’individu, les comportements sociaux, les capacités cognitives et les bases neurobiologiques associées chez un oiseau domestique

Encadrants : Ludovic CALANDREAU et Vitor FERREIRA

La question de l’évolution des capacités cognitives suscite de l’intérêt depuis de nombreuses années. De plus en plus d’études récentes montrent qu’au sein d’un même groupe, les individus ont des traits de personnalité différents, qui peuvent influencer leurs capacités cognitives. Un aspect majeur de la personnalité est la sociabilité. Cependant, notre compréhension de l’influence de la variation interindividuelle du niveau de sociabilité de l’individu sur son comportement et sa cognition reste limitée, en particulier chez les oiseaux. Ainsi, ce projet de thèse vise à étudier l’influence du niveau de sociabilité sur des comportements importants pour l’organisation et la vie de groupe, sur les capacités cognitives physiques; sans lien apparent avec le traitement des informations sociales et sur les capacités cognitives sociales; en lien avec le traitement des informations sociales. Nous utilisons pour cela la 76ième génération de 2 lignées de cailles japonaises plus et moins sociables (S+ et S-), sélectionnées sur leur motivation sociale et nous comparons ces deux lignées à travers divers tests comportementaux et cognitifs. Outre son intérêt fondamental, ce projet permettra d'accroître nos connaissances sur le comportement social d'une espèce d'élevage. En effet, certaines altérations comportementales majeures rencontrées dans les systèmes de production avicole (picage sévère, agressivité) sont liées au comportement social. Une meilleure compréhension de ces comportements chez les oiseaux domestiques pourrait permettre de proposer des solutions potentiellement plus efficaces et plus précises.

 

HAL : Dernières publications

  • [hal-05247104] Effects of selection for divergent levels of social motivation on behavioral repertoire and synchronization in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

    Behavioral synchronization occurs when individuals perform the same behavior simultaneously and in close proximity. It is widely recognized as a key mechanism that fosters social cohesion, coordination, and cooperation within groups, providing substantial adaptive benefits. However, since individuals within a group often exhibit inter-individual differences in social tendencies, these variations may influence group organization and the extent to which synchronization occurs. Here, we investigated how genetic selection for social motivation (i.e., an individual's internal drive to seek contact, approach and remain close to a group of conspecifics) in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) impacts their behavioral repertoire and their behavioral synchronization, by comparing 10 trios (groups of three) constituted of individuals selected for high social motivation (S+) and 10 trios constituted of individuals selected for low social motivation (S-). For this purpose, trios were placed for 24 consecutive hours in an arena filled with wood shavings and providing ad libitum access to feed and water. Birds' behaviors were recorded and analyzed during four one-hour time windows (hour 1: 8:30-9:30 am, hour 2: 11:00-12:00 am, hour 3: 1:30-2:30 pm and hour 4: 4:00-5:00 pm). Results revealed that S- quail exhibited more locomotion behaviors, while S+ quail displayed more inactivity behaviors and particularly "sit relaxed" behaviors. Also, S+ individuals had a longer total synchronization duration than S- individuals. Specifically, S+ quail performed more synchronized "sit relaxed" behaviors, spent more time in this state and remained synchronized longer during a "sit relaxed" bout compared to S- quail. The S+ group also exhibited a significantly higher overall Kappa coefficient, as well as a higher Kappa coefficient for the behavior "Sit relaxed", both of which significantly differed from 0, indicating a structured pattern of behavioral synchronization consistent with coordinated group dynamics. Notably, during synchronization bouts of the behavior "Sit relaxed", birds reduced inter-individual distances, indicating an active preference for staying closer together during this activity. Overall, these findings suggest that individuals with higher social motivation are more likely to engage in synchronized behaviors, particularly during resting behaviors, which may promote close proximity and strengthen social bonds. Such synchronization may foster social cohesion and lead to more harmonious and stable group dynamics. Further studies will be necessary to better elucidate these effects and confirm these different hypotheses. This research highlights the critical role of individual differences in social motivation in shaping collective behavior. These insights enhance our understanding of animal social dynamics and could contribute to more effective management strategies in animal husbandry.

    ano.nymous@ccsd.cnrs.fr.invalid (Jeanne Seressia) 09 Sep 2025

    https://hal.science/hal-05247104v1
  • [hal-04637092] Early and late cognitive and behavioral aspects associated with range use in free-range laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus)

    Individual differences in free-range chicken systems are important factors in fluencing how birds use the range (or not), even if individuals are reared in the same environmental conditions. Here, we investigated how various aspects of the birds ' behavioral and cognitive tendencies, including their optimism/pessimism, cognitive flexibility, sociability, and exploration levels, are associated with range use and how they may change over time (before and after range access). To achieve this, 100 White Leghorn laying hen chicks underwent three distinct behavioral/cognitive tests - the cognitive bias test, the detour test, and the multivariate test -prior to gaining access to the range, between 9 and 39 days of age. After range access was allowed (from day 71), birds ' range use was evaluated over 7 nonconsecutive days (from 74 -91 days of age). Subsequently, a subset of birds, classi fied as high rangers (n = 15) and low rangers (n = 15) based on their range use, underwent retesting on the same three previous tests between 94 and 108 days of age. Our results unveiled a negative correlation trend between birds ' evaluation of the ambiguous cue and their subsequent range use (rho =0.19, p = 0.07). Furthermore, low rangers were faster to learn the detour task ( x2 = 7.34, df = 1, p = 0.006), coupled with increased sociability during the multivariate test (rho = -0.23, p = 0.02), contrasting with their highranging counterparts, who displayed more exploratory behaviors (F[1,27] = 3.64, p = 0.06). These behavioral patterns fluctuated over time (before and after range access); however, conclusively attributing these changes to birds ' aging and development or the access to the range remains challenging. Overall, our results corroborate that behavioral and cognitive individual differences may be linked to range use and offer novel perspectives on the early behavioral and cognitive traits that may be linked to range use. These findings may serve as a foundation for adapting environments to meet individual needs and improve animal welfare in the future.

    ano.nymous@ccsd.cnrs.fr.invalid (Vitor Hugo Bessa Ferreira) 05 Jul 2024

    https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04637092v1
  • [hal-04548377] Discrimination of familiar and unfamiliar human voices is independent of prolonged human-animal interaction in domestic chicks

    Different animal species, both domestic and wild, can discriminate between various human cues, such as voices, and adjust their behavior based on whether they are familiar or unfamiliar with these cues. To investigate whether this ability extends to a domesticated species not specifically bred for human interaction and whether it can manifest at an early age, even under commercial-like conditions with limited human interaction, we conducted human vocal discrimination tests on domestic chicks at two ages (25 and 67 days old). Our findings showed that chicks could discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar voices at both ages, exhibiting increased vigilance when a known sentence was spoken by an unfamiliar voice compared to a familiar voice. We also found that chicks were more vigilant after a familiar voice delivered an unknown sentence, compared to an unfamiliar voice delivered a known sentence. This suggests a violation of expectation when animals are confronted with mixed familiar/unfamiliar heterospecific signals. Our findings support that neither specific selection for interaction with humans, nor an extended history of exposure to humans, is a prerequisite for animals to discriminate heterospecific cues, such as human voices.

    ano.nymous@ccsd.cnrs.fr.invalid (Vitor Hugo Bessa Ferreira) 16 Apr 2024

    https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04548377v1

 

Contact

Jeanne SERESSIA
UMR Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements (PRC)
Centre INRAE Val-de-Loire
Équipe Cognition-Éthologie-Bien-être animal (CEB)
37380 Nouzilly
France

Courriel : jeanne.seressia@inrae.fr 
Téléphone : 07 82 39 68 00

Date de modification : 07 février 2025 | Date de création : 11 septembre 2024 | Rédaction : Vitor Ferreira