Pellis, Sergio

Faculty

Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN)

Phone
(403) 329-2078
Email
pellis@uleth.ca
Lab
Phone
(403) 329-2410

Current Research


​Title
​Location
​Principal Investigator ​Co-Researchers ​Grant Agency
​Grant Amount
Grant Time Period ​
How perceptions guide behaviour (involves using a variety of animals including rats, fish, arthropods, and pigs with data mostly collected in Lethbridge, but some collected at other locations (e.g., San Diego Zoo) Various locations S. Pellis, University of Lethbridge (data analyzed in Lethbridge) Bill Cade, University of Lethbridge; Various collaborators
Brain-behaviour relationships in the development of social behaviour in rats Lethbridge, AB S. Pellis, University of Lethbridge Bryan Kolb, University of Lethbridge; Various collaborators NSERC $43,134.00 2008-13
Brain-behaviour relationships in the development of social behaviour in rats Lethbridge, AB S. Pellis, University of Lethbridge Bryan Kolb, University of Lethbridge; Various collaborators
The evolution of social play in primates Various locations; (e.g., zoos, primate research centers) around the world S. Pellis, University of Lethbridge (data analyzed in Lethbridge) Bernard Thierry, University of Louis Pasteur, Strabourg, France; Various collaborators


Previous Research

​Title ​Grant Agency ​Completion Date
​Competing to Cooperate: Developing a Social Brain ​NSERC ​2008-13
​Play as a Tool for Social Assessment and Manipulation ​NSERC ​2003-08

Publications

Reinhart, C. J., Metz, G., McIntyre, D. C., & Pellis, S. M. (2006). Play fighting between kindling-prone (FAST) and kindling-resistant (SLOW) rats. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 120: 19-30.

Pellis, S. M., Hastings, E., Shimizu, T., Kamitakahara, H., Komorowska, J., Forgie M. L. & Kolb, B. (2006). The effects of orbital frontal cortex damage on the modulation of defensive responses by rats in playful and non-playful social contexts. Behavioral Neuroscience, 120: 72-84.

Pellis, S. M., & Pellis, V. C. (2006). Play and the development of social engagement: A comparative perspective. In: P. J. Marshall & N. A. Fox, (Eds.), The Development of Social Engagement: Neurobiological Perspectives (pp. 247-274). Oxford University Press; Oxford, UK.

Kamitakahara, H., Monfils, M.-H., Forgie, M. L., Kolb, B. & Pellis, S. M. (2007). The modulation of play fighting in rats: Role of the motor cortex. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121: 164-176.

Pellis, S. M. & Pellis, V. C. (2007). Rough and tumble play and the development of the social brain. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16: 95-98.

Lingle, S., Rendall, D. & Pellis, S. M. (2007). Altruism and recognition in the antipredator defence of deer: I. Species and individual variation in fawn distress calls. Animal Behaviour, 73: 897-905.

Lingle, S., Rendall, D., Wilson, W. F., Deyoung, R. W. & Pellis, S. M. (2007). Altruism and recognition in the antipredator defence of deer: II. Why mule deer help non-offspring fawns. Animal Behaviour,73: 907-916.

Field, E. F. & Pellis, S. M. (2008). The brain as the engine of sex differences in the organization of movement in rats. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37: 30-42.

Ellis, L., Hershberger, S., Field, E. F., Wersinger, S., Pellis, S. M., Geary, D., Palmer, C., Hoyenga, K., Hetsroni, A., & Karadi, K. (2008). Sex Differences: Summarizing more than a Century of Scientific Research. Psychology Press (formerly Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers); Hillsdale, NJ.

Degrees

B.Sc. (Hons.) (Zoology and Genetics); Diploma of Education; Ph.D. (Zoology/Ethology)

In The Media

CCBN Researchers - A"head" of the Game; Legend; November 2001.

Research Areas


The role of play fighting experience in juvenile rats to the development of the social brain
A comparative analysis of the organization of play fighting and its evolution in the order Primates
The rules minimizing neural computation time in the orchestration of organized sequences of movements
A cybernetic analysis of combat in non-human animals

Previous Research Areas

The brain mechanisms underlying the regulation of play fighting in rats
The role of visual signals in facilitating play fighting in primates
The endocrinological bases for the development of play fighting in rats and the differential expression of this behaviour between the sexes
The comparative analysis of play fighting in rodents
The role of postural mechanisms in regulating organized sequences of movement in people with Parkinson’s disease
The development of postural mechanisms
The organization of posture in animal models of parkinsonism

Expertise

Brain mechanisms in social cognition
Development of behaviour
Organization of movement
Social interactions

Languages

Italian