Dr Elodie F Briefer

My primary research interests are cognition and vocal communication in mammals and birds. The main aims of my research are understanding how animals use vocal signals to encode information about their identity (e.g. species, group, individual identity), their quality (e.g. body size, dominance status, age) and their affective states (emotions, mood), as well as the impact of such information on conspecifics.

 

I am currently an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen. My main current project aims at understanding the link between the valence (positive/negative) and arousal (or intensity) of the emotions experienced by animals and the characteristics of their vocalisations, as well as intra- and interspecific vocal contagion of emotions. Future (soon-to-be) projects include vocal production mechanisms in horses and the relationship between group cohesion and vocal communication in plains zebras.