University of Sussex

School of Psychology University of Sussex

We investigate the physiology and behaviours of human and non-human great apes to gain a better understanding of how cognition arises in both evolution and development. Our participants include gorillas, chimpanzees, and human infants.

Our evolutionary research considers the emergence of social and communication abilities with a special focus on the role of motor-sensory functions. Our developmental research considers neurotypical and non-neurotypical motor-sensory trajectories, from birth, with a special focus on neurodiverse conditions like autism.

Much of our research takes place in the field and in the homes of our participants using novel, translational methods including thermal imaging, video-based pose estimation, and computational modelling.

Programmes of research

Two strands, one question: how does cognition arise? We follow it through the first months of human life and across our great ape relatives.

Development

Baby Grow

Identifying Early Markers of Autistic Spectrum Disorder in Naturalistic Motor Behavior using High-Frequency Sampling

  • Sotoodeh, M.S., Donati, G., Ossmy, O., Rowan, H., Forrester, G.S. (2026). Movement-related differences between infants with high and low likelihood of autism: A longitudinal study using markerless motion tracking. Sensors, 26, 5643.
  • Sotoodeh, S., Ossmy, O., Hall, J., Rowan, H., Donati, G., Forrester, G.S. (2026). Automatic pose estimation in newborn infants: Lessons from the Baby Grow study. Behavior Research Methods.
  • Ossmy, O., Rowan, H., Sotoodeh, S., Hall, J., Donati, G., Forrester, G. (2025). Frequent, scalable and global use of “intelligent onesies” to quantify newborns’ spontaneous movements in natural settings. IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL), 54. doi:10.1109/ICDL63968.2025.11204424
  • Ossmy, O., Donati, G., Kaur, A., Sotoodeh, M.S., Forrester, G.S. (2025). Towards automatic assessment of atypical early motor development? Brain Research Bulletin. doi:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2025.111311

Baby Glow In development

Evolution

GASP

Great Ape Thermal Stress Protocol

  • Theroude, P., Paisley, M., Thompson, M., Wheeler, A., Donati, G., Forrester, G.S. (2026). The nose knows: Thermal responses to active psychological stressors. PLoS One, 21(1). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0338108
  • Malatesta, G., Forrester, G.S. (2025). Hand, limb, and other motor preferences. In Lateralized Brain Functions: Methods in Human and Non-Human Species (Neuromethods), pp. 171–215.
  • Donati, G., Edginton, T., Bardo, A., Kivell, T.L., Ballieux, H., Stamate, C., Forrester, G.S. (2024). Motor-sensory biases are associated with cognitive and social abilities in humans. Scientific Reports, 14, 14724. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-64372-2
  • Forrester, G.S. (2024). Why most people are right handed but left eyed. The Conversation. theconversation.com
  • Théroude, P., Forrester, S., Forrester, G.S. FellAPEtio: Report of fellatio in captive juvenile chimpanzees occurring during social play. Commentary. Under review

Looking for our wider publications?

The team

Gillian ForresterPrincipal Investigator

Research staff

Shenoy Undergraduate Research Fellows in Neuroscience

Associate members

Recent funding and awards

  1. 2026
    Strategic Commercialisation & Business Engagement, University of SussexAutomated Thermal Sampling
    £10,000
  2. 2025
    Simons Foundation Human Cognitive and Behavioral Science (SFARI) project grantIdentifying Early Markers of Autistic Spectrum Disorder in Naturalistic Motor Behavior using High-Frequency Sampling (part 2). PI: Forrester
    $250,000
  3. 2023
    NERCBio-Psychological Monitoring of Great Ape Wellbeing Pre and Post Transition
    £25,000
  4. 2023
    Simons Foundation Human Cognitive and Behavioral Science project grantIdentifying Early Markers of Autistic Spectrum Disorder in Naturalistic Motor Behavior using High-Frequency Sampling (part 1). PI: Forrester
    $500,000
  5. 2022
    Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support FundTranslational Research
    £20,000

Collaborators

Universities, industry partners and primate sanctuaries in the UK, Europe and Africa.

  • Birkbeck, University of London
    Birkbeck, University of London
  • University of Reading
    University of Reading
  • FLIR
    FLIR
  • EI: SMART
    EI: SMART
  • Fondation Lékédi Biodiversité
    Fondation Lékédi Biodiversité, Gabon
  • The Aspinall Foundation
    Aspinall Foundation, UK
  • Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
    Tacugama, Sierra Leone
  • Budongo Conservation Field Station
    Budongo Conservation Field Station, Uganda
  • Fundació MONA
    Fundació MONA, Spain