Publications

Emotion recognition in cats

Recent studies demonstrated that cats form social bonds with both conspecifics and humans. One of the key factors regulating social interactions is the transfer of emotions between the individuals. The present study aimed at investigating cats’ spontaneous ability to match...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Quaranta, A., d’Ingeo, S., Amoruso, R. et al. 2020. Emotion recognition in cats. Animals 10(7), 1107.

Endpoint in ovarian cancer xenograft model predicted by nighttime motion metrics

Despite several therapeutics showing promise in nonclinical studies, survival from ovarian cancer remains poor. New technologies are urgently needed to optimize the translation of nonclinical studies into clinical successes. While most nonclinical settings utilize subjective measures of physiological parameters, which...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Humane EndpointAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Nwagwu, C. D., Defensor, E., Jiang, M. Y. et al. 2020. Endpoint in ovarian cancer xenograft model predicted by nighttime motion metrics. Lab Animal 49(8), 227–232.

Enriched environment effect on lipopolysaccharide-induced spatial learning, memory impairment and hippocampal inflammatory cytokine levels in male rats

Neuro-inflammation is responsible for cognitive impairments and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, we aimed to investigate the enriched environment (EE) effect on learning and memory impairment as well as on pro-inflammatory cytokines changes induced by lipopolysaccharide...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Keymoradzadeh, A., Hedayati Ch, M., Abedinzade, M. et al. 2020. Enriched environment effect on lipopolysaccharide-induced spatial learning, memory impairment and hippocampal inflammatory cytokine levels in male rats. Behavioural Brain Research 394, 112814.

Enriched environment exposure accelerates rodent driving skills

Although rarely used, long-term behavioral training protocols provide opportunities to shape complex skills in rodent laboratory investigations that incorporate cognitive, motor, visuospatial and temporal functions to achieve desired goals. In the current study, following preliminary research establishing that rats could...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Crawford, L. E., Knouse, L. E., Kent, M. et al. 2020. Enriched environment exposure accelerates rodent driving skills. Behavioural Brain Research 378, 112309.

Enriched environments enhance cognition, exploratory behaviour and brain physiological functions of Sparus aurata

Environmental enrichment is considered as a recommended tool to guarantee or improve the welfare of captive fish. This study demonstrates for the first time that structural environmental enrichment enhances cognition, exploratory behaviour and brain physiological functions of gilthead seabream (Sparus...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Arechavala-Lopez, P., Caballero-Froilán, J. C., Jiménez-García, M. et al. 2020. Enriched environments enhance cognition, exploratory behaviour and brain physiological functions of Sparus aurata. Scientific Reports 10, 11252.

Enrichment preferences of singly housed zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Despite the increasing popularity of zebrafish (Danio rerio) as an animal model, the environmental enrichment preferences of this species have been largely unexplored. We sought to determine the preferences of mature female zebrafish that were singly housed with or without...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Krueger, L. D., Thurston, S. E., Kirk, J. et al. 2020. Enrichment preferences of singly housed zebrafish (Danio rerio). JAALAS 59(2), 148–155.

Environmental enrichment rescues visually-mediated behavior in Ten-m3 knockout mice during an early critical period

Environmental enrichment (EE) has been shown to promote neural plasticity. Its capacity to induce functional repair in models which exhibit profound sensory deficits due to aberrant axonal guidance has not been well-characterized. Ten-m3 knockout (KO) mice exhibit a highly-stereotyped miswiring...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Blok, J., Black, D. A., Petersen, J. et al. 2020. Environmental enrichment rescues visually-mediated behavior in Ten-m3 knockout mice during an early critical period. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 14, 22.

Evaluation of an acute osmotic stress in European sea bass via skin mucus biomarkers

European sea bass is a marine teleost which can inhabit a broad range of environmental salinities. So far, no research has studied the physiological response of this fish to salinity challenges using modifications in skin mucus as a potential biological...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Husbandry & Management, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Ordóñez-Grande, B., Guerreiro, P. M., Sanahuja, I. et al. 2020. Evaluation of an acute osmotic stress in European sea bass via skin mucus biomarkers. Animals 10(9), 1546.

Evaluation of cotton dental rolls as environmental enrichment for mice

Historically, we provided 2 compressed cotton squares for nesting and enrichment. The logistics of managing nesting material distribution, disposal, and costs are major considerations for our program, which provides husbandry to approximately 60,000 rodent cages weekly. We identified cotton dental...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Rodgers, J. C., Ricart Arbona, R. J., Lieggi, C. et al. 2020. Evaluation of cotton dental rolls as environmental enrichment for mice. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 70-71.

Evaluation of infrared thermography as a non-invasive method of measuring the autonomic nervous response in sheep

Eye temperature measured using infrared thermography (IRT) can be used as a non-invasive measure of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in cattle. The objective of this study was to evaluate if changes in eye temperature (measured using IRT) can be...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Sheep

Citation: Sutherland, M. A., Worth, G. M., Dowling, S. K. et al. 2020. Evaluation of infrared thermography as a non-invasive method of measuring the autonomic nervous response in sheep. PLOS ONE 15(5): e0233558.