Neurophysiologie du comportement et cognition : intérêt de l’approche comparative

Résumé 0

Research in neurophysiology of behaviour and cognitive abilities is costly in time and money ; hence it could seem reasonable to concentrate investigations primarily on humans and closely related organisms, supposedly for optimal efficiency. But the results of neurophysiological studies in very diverse animal species clearly demonstrate the interest of comparative biology in this discipline. This article aims at underlying some important discoveries in neurophysiology of behaviour, illustrating the crucial contribution of the study of rather “simple” organisms for understanding the structure and functioning of more complex ones. Also, despite the limited series of extensively studied species, the phylogenetic perspective can help to choose optimal targets for future investigations in order to shed light on relevant evolutionary pathways. For instance, modern phylogenetics indicate crocodilians as a clade of choice for supplementing our knowledge of the evolution of vocalization behaviour in birds and of its neurological correlates, to be compared with the evolution of similar properties in mammals.