Supported projects

In vertebrates, the evolution of the brain is associated with the ability to navigate in a complex and changing environment, in order to access reproduction and resources with high nutritional value. By overturning the ecological, developmental and social constraints of certain animal species, domestication has greatly altered the evolutionary trajectory of their brains, providing an ideal testing ground. Nevertheless, the role of domestication in brain evolution is controversial and still poorly understood. In today’s domesticated taxa, behavioural constraints and selective programs have produced neuroanatomical changes that have been well identified by neuroscientists. However, we do not know if and how neuroanatomical adaptations during the initial domestication process and over the course of the history of domestication differ from those observed over the last three centuries. To help answer this fundamental question, the DogBrain project aims to follow the evolution of the dog’s brain over 10,000 years of archaeological record in Western Europe, from the first dogs of the upper Paleolithic to contemporary breeds. This neuroanatomical evolution will be traced using endocasts (i.e. the imprint of the brain on the skull) derived from X-ray tomograms (CT) of selected skulls as proxy. Multivariate analyses will make it possible to identify changes dog’s brain evolution over time and through socio-cultural dynamics. This bioarchaeological approach, by giving access to key elements in the evolution of dog’s brain during its domestication history, will provide a new understanding of the role played by human societies in the brain evolution of its closest domestic animal.