Publications

Pavlovian influences on learning differ between rats and mice in a counterbalanced Go/NoGo judgement bias task

Judgement bias tests of animal affect and hence welfare assume that the animal's responses to ambiguous stimuli, which may herald positive or negative outcomes, are under instrumental control and reflect ‘optimism' or ‘pessimism' about what will happen. However, Pavlovian control...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Jones, S., Paul, E. S., Dayan, P. et al. 2017. Pavlovian influences on learning differ between rats and mice in a counterbalanced Go/NoGo judgement bias task. Behavioural Brain Research 331, 214-224.

Enriched environment alters the behavioral profile of tenascin-C deficient mice

Tenascin-C (TnC) is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein implicated in a variety of processes ranging from brain development to synaptic plasticity in the adult vertebrates. Although the role of the TnC gene in regulation of behavior has been investigated, it remained...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Stamenkovic, V., Milenkovic, I., Galjak, N. et al. 2017. Enriched environment alters the behavioral profile of tenascin-C deficient mice. Behavioural Brain Research 331, 241-253.

Bottlenose dolphins engaging in more social affiliative behaviour judge ambiguous cues more optimistically

Cognitive bias tests measure variation in emotional appraisal and are validated methods to assess animals' affective states. However, the link between social behaviours and cognitive bias has not yet been investigated. Bottlenose dolphins are a gregarious species for whom welfare...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Social Housing & Companionship, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Clegg, I. L., Rödel, H. G., Delfour, F. 2017. Bottlenose dolphins engaging in more social affiliative behaviour judge ambiguous cues more optimistically. Behavioural Brain Research 322, 115-122.

Effects of environmental enrichment on anxiety-like behavior, sociability, sensory gating, and spatial learning in male and female C57BL/6J mice

The influence of housing on cognition and emotional regulation in mice presents a problem for the study of genetic and environmental risk factors for neuropsychiatric disorders: standard laboratory housing may result in low levels of cognitive function or altered levels...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Hendershott, T. R., Cronin, M. E., Langella, S. et al. 2016. Effects of environmental enrichment on anxiety-like behavior, sociability, sensory gating, and spatial learning in male and female C57BL/6J mice. Behavioural Brain Research 314, 215-225.

Cows are highly motivated to access a grooming substrate

In natural environments, cattle use trees and other abrasive surfaces to scratch and groom themselves. Modern indoor dairy cattle housing systems often lack appropriate grooming substrates, restricting the animals' ability to groom. We assessed the motivation of dairy cows to...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: McConnachie, E., Smid, A. M. C., Thompson, A. J. et al. 2018. Cows are highly motivated to access a grooming substrate. Biology Letters 14(8), 20180303.

Can the way pigs are handled alter behavioural and physiological measures of affective state?

Research on human-animal relationship in animal production has been mainly focused on its effect on stress, productivity and meat quality. Only few studies have assessed its effects on the animals' affective state. In the present study, the influence of positive...

Year Published: 2017Topics: HandlingAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Carreras, R., Arroyo, L., Mainau, E. et al. 2017. Can the way pigs are handled alter behavioural and physiological measures of affective state? Behavioural Processes 142, 91-98.

Environmental enrichment choices of shelter cats

Choices made by cats between different types of environmental enrichment may help shelters to prioritize how to most effectively enrich cat housing, especially when limited by space or funds. This study investigates the environmental enrichment use of cats in a...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Ellis, J. J., Stryhn, H., Spears, J. 2017. Environmental enrichment choices of shelter cats. Behavioural Processes 141, 291-296.

A review of over three decades of research on cat-human and human-cat interactions and relationships

This review article covers research conducted over the last three decades on cat-human and human-cat interactions and relationships, especially from an ethological point of view. It includes findings on catcat and cat-human communication, cat personalities and cat-owner personalities, the effects...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Turner, D. C. 2017. A review of over three decades of research on cat-human and human-cat interactions and relationships. Behavioural Processes 141, 297-304.

Social interaction, food, scent or toys? A formal assessment of domestic pet and shelter cat (Felis silvestris catus) preferences

Domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) engage in a variety of relationships with humans and can be conditioned to engage in numerous behaviors using Pavlovian and operant methods Increasingly cat cognition research is providing evidence of their complex socio-cognitive and problem...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Vitale Shreve, K. R., Mehrkam, L. R., Udell, M. A. R. 2017. Social interaction, food, scent or toys? A formal assessment of domestic pet and shelter cat (Felis silvestris catus) preferences. Behavioural Processes 141, 322-328.

Facial correlates of emotional behaviour in the domestic cat (Felis catus)

Leyhausen's (1979) work on cat behaviour and facial expressions associated with offensive and defensive behaviour is widely embraced as the standard for interpretation of agonistic behaviour in this species. However, it is a largely anecdotal description that can be easily...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Bennett, V., Gourkow, N., Mills, D. S. 2017. Facial correlates of emotional behaviour in the domestic cat (Felis catus). Behavioural Processes 141, 342-350.