Emotion, Pain, & Sentience

Collective emotional contagion in zebrafish

Seeking to match our emotional state with one of those around us is known as emotional contagion-a fundamental biological process that underlies social behavior across several species and taxa. While emotional contagion has been traditionally considered to be a prerogative...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Burbano Lombana, D. A., Macrì, S., Porfiri, M. 2021. Collective emotional contagion in zebrafish. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 15, 730372.

A perspective on strategic enrichment for brain development: Is this the key to animal happiness? Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 720422

Livestock animals are sentient beings with cognitive and emotional capacities and their brain development, similar to humans and other animal species, is affected by their surrounding environmental conditions. Current intensive production systems, through the restrictions of safely managing large numbers...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Cattle, Chicken, Fowl, Goat, Mink, Pig, Sheep

Citation: Campbell, D. L. M., Lee, C. 2021. A perspective on strategic enrichment for brain development: Is this the key to animal happiness? Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 720422.

The use of artificial intelligence in assessing affective states in livestock

In order to promote the welfare of farm animals, there is a need to be able to recognize, register and monitor their affective states. Numerous studies show that just like humans, non-human animals are able to feel pain, fear and...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Neethirajan, S. 2021. The use of artificial intelligence in assessing affective states in livestock. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 715261.

Can tail and ear postures be suitable to capture the affective state of growing pigs? Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 24(4), 411-423

The present study examined whether tail and ear postures in fattening pigs (n = 228) housed in different environments could be suitable for assessing their affective state. In doing so, it investigated the appearance of curled-up, hanging, raised, tucked-under or...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Krugmann, K. L., Mieloch, F. J., Krieter, J. 2021. Can tail and ear postures be suitable to capture the affective state of growing pigs? Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 24(4), 411-423.

Infrared thermography in the study of animals’ emotional responses: A critical review

Whether animals have emotions was historically a long-lasting question but, today, nobody disputes that they do. However, how to assess them and how to guarantee animals their welfare have become important research topics in the last 20 years. Infrared thermography...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Bird, Cat, Cattle, Chicken, Chimpanzee, Dog, Equine, Fowl, Macaque, Marmoset, Mouse, Nonhuman Primate, Other Bird, Pig, Rabbit, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Travain, T., Valsecchi, P. 2021. Infrared thermography in the study of animals' emotional responses: A critical review. Animals 11(9), 2510.

Effect of chronic handling and social isolation on emotion and cognition in adolescent rats

Adolescence is a critical period of establishing social relations through social interactions that affect the emotional development associated with stress responses, anxiety, depression, and cognitive development. We investigated the behavioral and neurobiological changes induced by handling and social isolation in...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, HandlingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Song, M. K., Lee, J. H., Kim, Y.-J. 2021. Effect of chronic handling and social isolation on emotion and cognition in adolescent rats. Physiology & Behavior 237, 113440.

Does farm animals experience emotions and feelings? Journal of Animal Behaviour and Biometeorology 7(4), 170-175

In recent years, there has been a great increase in the interest of "emotion" and how it can be studied and translated from animals. Emotions arise when the brain receives an external stimulus, while the feeling is a response to...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Cattle, Chicken, Equine, Fowl, Goat, Pig, Sheep

Citation: Machado, M., Oliveira da Silva, I. J. 2019. Does farm animals experience emotions and feelings? Journal of Animal Behaviour and Biometeorology 7(4), 170-175.

Animal-centric Care and Management – Enhancing Refinement in Biomedical Research

The concept of the 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction and Replacement) has been used as a framework for improving the welfare of laboratory animals for the last half century. By establishing an animal-centric view on housing and management, Animal-centric Care and Management:...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Animal Training, Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Human-Animal Interaction, Husbandry & Management, Natural Behavior, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: All/General, Dog, Fish, Macaque, Marmoset, Mouse, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate, Pig, Rabbit, Rat, Rodent, Zebrafish

Citation: Sørensen, D., Cloutier, S., Gaskill, B. (Eds.). 2021. Animal-centric Care and Management - Enhancing Refinement in Biomedical Research. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

Paw preference as a tool for assessing emotional functioning and welfare in dogs and cats: A review

Dogs and cats have been extensively studied of late in relation to their paw preferences, with both species showing preferential motor bias at the level of the individual. Over the years, a wide range of measures have been designed to...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cat, Dog

Citation: Wells, D. L. 2021. Paw preference as a tool for assessing emotional functioning and welfare in dogs and cats: A review. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 236, 105148.

A test of the effects of the equine maternal pheromone on the clinical and ethological parameters of equines undergoing hoof trimming

“Pheromonal therapy” has been promoted as a promising alternative therapy to improve the human-animal relationship and to reduce behavioral reactions to stressful stimuli. This placebo-controlled double blind study evaluated the use of a synthetic equine maternal pheromone (EMP) in animals...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Alves de Paula, R., Cruz Aleixo, A. S., Peternelli da Silva, L. et al. 2019. A test of the effects of the equine maternal pheromone on the clinical and ethological parameters of equines undergoing hoof trimming. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 31, 28-35.