Ants possess sophisticated cognitive abilities that allow them to accurately predict the visual consequences of their own movements. In other words, they anticipate how their visual representation will change based on their movement and what they perceive in their environment.
This finding comes from a study conducted by Océane Dauzère, a PhD student at Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University within the Animal Cognition Research Center (CRCA-CBI - CNRS/UT3), published on December 1 in Nature Communications. This result challenges the cognitive limits of insects, bringing them closer to vertebrates.
Several studies support the idea that not only vertebrates but also some invertebrates, including cephalopods (like octopuses), decapod crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp), and certain insects, are capable of representing the external world, thus having a consciousness of it. The study by Océane Dauzère provides evidence that ants can predict what they will observe even before they move.
The ability to anticipate the sensory consequences of one’s own actions is now considered an essential function of nervous systems. The novelty lies in the fact that insects, despite having a rudimentary brain, perform visual predictions that are much more sophisticated than previously thought.
To demonstrate this hypothesis, the PhD student from Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University used a unique virtual reality device. The ants were placed on a floating ball that acted as a treadmill when they walked, allowing for precise recording of their movements. Simultaneously, images of a realistic environment were projected around them to either follow or not follow their movement.
“The results revealed surprising predictive mechanisms: ants adjust their visual expectations based on their surroundings,” explains Océane Dauzère. “They anticipate and mentally calculate how their vision will change according to their own movement.”
This prediction is not a mere mechanical recording but an active anticipation that integrates multiple sensory inputs. By varying the weight of the ball, the scientists also demonstrated that proprioception—the perception of body movements—plays a crucial role in these predictions.
“These findings prompt us to re-examine our understanding of the cognitive abilities of invertebrates. They suggest that insect brains perform complex calculations, thereby reducing the significant gap often perceived between invertebrates and vertebrates, inviting us to rethink traditional definitions of intelligence,” concludes the PhD student.