Arnaud Tognetti
My research focuses on the evolutionary and psychological mechanisms underlying human sociality, adopting interdisciplinary approaches at the intersection of evolutionary anthropology, behavioral ecology, experimental psychology and behavioral economics.
My current main research project explores human behavioral immunity, a facet of our sociality linked to the infectious risk imposed by group living, favoring pathogen transmission through increased physical proximity to infected individuals. The aim is to better understand our behavioral immune system, by examining whether humans, like other social species, are able to detect sick conspecifics through phenotypic cues such as facial features or body odors, and whether the perception of these signals induces avoidance behaviors and influences interpersonal decision-making. This research project is being carried out in close collaboration with Mats J. Olsson, Julie Lasselin and Mats Lekander of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.
My previous research has focused on cooperation, addressing topics such as the influence of sexual selection on the evolution of cooperation, the existence of phenotypic cues to cooperation, and the role of hormones in cooperative behavior. I have also extended the scope of my research to interspecific comparisons, testing the influence of the propensity to cooperate on mate choice in two other social species, the gleaner mouse(Mus spicilegus) and social weavers(Philetairus socius).
For more information on my research, please see my Google Scholar page and my personal web page.
- Pietro B D’amelio, Nora V. Carlson, Arnaud Tognetti, Marina Sentís, Liliana R. Silva, et al.. Is provisioning rate of parents and helpers influenced by the simulated presence of novel individuals?. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2025, 79, pp.14. ⟨10.1007/s00265-024-03548-2⟩. ⟨hal-04892327⟩
- Supreet Saluja, Anna Laura Tóth, Moa G Peter, Robin Fondberg, Arnaud Tognetti, et al.. Congenital anosmia and subjective tactile function: A pilot study. Behavioural Brain Research, 2025, 484, ⟨10.1016/j.bbr.2025.115487⟩. ⟨hal-04982540⟩
- Arnaud Tognetti. The behavioral defense against disease: Humans can identify early cues of sickness. FRESH 2024 Annual Meeting, Nov 2024, Lausanne, Switzerland. ⟨hal-04973906⟩
- Johannes Frasnelli, Arnaud Tognetti, Anja Winter, Evelina Thunell, Mats Olsson, et al.. High prevalence of long-term olfactory disorders in healthcare workers after COVID-19: A case-control study. PLoS ONE, 2024, 19 (7), pp.e0306290. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0306290⟩. ⟨hal-04682717⟩
- Arnaud Tognetti. The human behavioral defense against disease : passed and future projects. Journée d’études "Ecology and Evolution of Disease Network", Jun 2024, Montpellier, France. ⟨hal-04973928⟩
- Arnaud Tognetti. The behavioral defense against disease: Humans can identify early cues of sickness. Annual Conference of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association, Apr 2024, Montpellier, France. ⟨hal-04974231⟩
- Nick S Menger, Arnaud Tognetti, Michael C Farruggia, Carla Mucignat, Surabhi Bhutani, et al.. Giving a Voice to Patients With Smell Disorders Associated With COVID-19: Cross-Sectional Longitudinal Analysis Using Natural Language Processing of Self-Reports. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 2024, 10, pp.e47064. ⟨10.2196/47064⟩. ⟨hal-04590267⟩
- L.S. Hansson, Arnaud Tognetti, P. Sigurjónsson, E. Brück, K. Wåhlén, et al.. Perception of unfamiliar caregivers during sickness – Using the new caregiver perception task (CgPT) during experimental endotoxemia. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 2024, 119, pp.741-749. ⟨10.1016/j.bbi.2024.04.031⟩. ⟨hal-04566863⟩
- Anna Andreasson, Arnaud Tognetti, Mike Jones, Mats Lekander, Julie Lasselin. Assessing sickness behavior in the French: Validation of the French translation of the sickness questionnaire (SicknessQ) in a non-clinical French population. Brain, Behavior & Immunity - Health, 2023, 34, pp.100708. ⟨10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100708⟩. ⟨hal-04308357⟩
- Arnaud Tognetti, Evelina Thunell, Marta Zakrzewska, Jonas Olofsson, Mats Lekander, et al.. Discriminating between sick and healthy faces based on early sickness cues: an exploratory analysis of sex differences. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, In press, ⟨10.1093/emph/eoad032/7284093⟩. ⟨hal-04235692v2⟩
Documents retrieved from the HAL open archive 
Perception of unfamiliar caregivers during sickness - Using the new Caregiver Perception Task (CgPT) during experimental endotoxemia
High prevalence of long-term olfactory disorders in healthcare workers after COVID- 19: A case-control study
