This $283,968 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) aims to establish an "AI Forest" research platform to study the social and environmental factors underlying complex behavioral traits in wild white-faced capuchin monkeys.
The project will leverage laboratory-based behavioral paradigms to assess reward valuation, inhibitory control, and behavioral flexibility in the wild capuchin population living in the Taboga Forest Reserve in Costa Rica. Smart testing stations equipped with computer vision and deep learning algorithms will automate data collection on individual monkey behaviors, while vocal recognition will track social and environmental challenges. This multidimensional behavioral and environmental data will be integrated to examine how factors like predation, disease, and social adversity impact the development of behavioral traits across the primates' lifespans. The innovative "AI Forest" approach seeks to bridge the gap between controlled laboratory studies and natural ecological contexts, transforming the ability to study complex behaviors in a wild primate population. The project will run from March 2025 to February 2027 and is being carried out by the Regents of the University of Michigan.
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