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⟩
- Megan N Cesarini-Williams, Julie Lasselin, Mats Lekander, John Axelsson, Mats J Olsson, et al.. Facial cues of sickness reduce trustworthiness judgements, with stronger effects in women. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 2025, 130, pp.106102. ⟨10.1016/j.bbi.2025.106102⟩. ⟨hal-05271984⟩
- Michael E W Varnum, Amanda P Kirsch, Daniel J Beal, Cari M Pick, Laith Al-Shawaf, et al.. Commonly observed sex differences in direct aggression are absent or reversed in sibling contexts. PNAS Nexus, 2025, 4, ⟨10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf239⟩. ⟨hal-05235352⟩
- Lina S Hansson, Arnaud Tognetti, E Tavakoli-Berg, J M Stache, M Kakeeto, et al.. Identifying sick people while sick yourself: a study of identification of facial cues and walking patterns of sick individuals during experimental endotoxemia. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 2025, 129, pp.399-408. ⟨10.1016/j.bbi.2025.06.013⟩. ⟨hal-05114097⟩
- 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⟩
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
