Emotion, Pain, & Sentience

Ethical guidelines for investigations of experimental pain in conscious animals

Investigators ... should accept a general attitude in which the animal is regarded not as an object for exploitation, but as a living individual [p. 109].

Year Published: 1983Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Regulations & Ethical ReviewAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Zimmermann, M. 1983. Ethical guidelines for investigations of experimental pain in conscious animals. Pain 16, 109-110.

Animal boredom – A model of chronic suffering in captive animals and its consequences for environmental enrichment

Discussion of the term 'animal boredom' and of basic environmental enrichment options for rabbits.

Year Published: 1994Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: All/General, Rabbit

Citation: Wemelsfelder, F. 1994. Animal boredom - A model of chronic suffering in captive animals and its consequences for environmental enrichment. Humane Innovations and Alternatives in Animal Experimentation 8, 587-591.

Gentled and nonhandled Wistar rats in a mildly novel open-field situation

Open-field behaviour of individually gentled and nonhandled adult male Wistar rats was studied in a mildly novel test situation. The gentled rats were more active and showed fewer signs of fear on the first trial. This difference gradually descended on...

Year Published: 1995Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Handling, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hirsjärvi, P. A., Väliaho, T. 1995. Gentled and nonhandled Wistar rats in a mildly novel open-field situation. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 22(3), 265-269.

Fear and adaptability in poultry: insights, implications and imperatives

Environmental enrichment can reduce fear responses and feather pecking.

Year Published: 1996Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Jones, R. B. 1996. Fear and adaptability in poultry: insights, implications and imperatives. World's Poultry Science Journal 52, 131-174.

Power for captive animals – Contingencies and nature

Some of the examples provided here serve to illustrate that being able to maintain some control, even over limited aspects of their environment, is also of critical importance to nonhuman primates.

Year Published: 1998Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Markowitz, H. , Aday, C. 1998. Power for captive animals - Contingencies and nature. In: Second Nature - Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals. Shepherdson, D. H., Mellen, J. D., Hutchins, M. (eds), 47-58. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.

Rearing environmental enrichment in two inbred strains of mice: 1

Inanimate enrichment promoted body weight increase and reduced fear reactions.

Year Published: 1999Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Chapillon, P., Mannechi, C., Belzung, C. et al. 1999. Rearing environmental enrichment in two inbred strains of mice: 1. Effects on emotional reactivity. Behavior Genetics 29, 41-46.

50-kHz chirping (laughter?) in response to conditioned and unconditioned tickle-induced reward in rats: effects of social housing and genetic variables

In these studies the incidence of conditioned and unconditioned 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in young rats was measured in response to rewarding manual tickling by an experimenter. We found that isolate-housed animals vocalize much more then socially housed ones, and...

Year Published: 2000Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Panksepp, J., Burgdorf, J. 2000. 50-kHz chirping (laughter?) in response to conditioned and unconditioned tickle-induced reward in rats: effects of social housing and genetic variables. Behavioural Brain Research 115, 25-38.

Tickling induces reward in adolescent rats

In adolescent rats, 50-kHz vocalizations are most evident during tickling and rough-and-tumble play. The following experiments evaluated whether 50-kHz vocalizations reflect positive social affect by determining (1) if tickling is a rewarding event, (2) if social or isolate housing conditions...

Year Published: 2001Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Burgdorf, J., Panksepp, J. 2001. Tickling induces reward in adolescent rats. Physiology and Behavior 72, 167-173.

Laughing rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy?

Rapid finger movements across the nape, where rats usually solicit play, followed by tickling of the bellly simulates the rat's own playful interaction. Recent affective neuroscience research has yielded the discovery of play- and tickle-induced ultrasonic vocalization patterns ( approximately...

Year Published: 2003Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Panksepp, J., Burgdorf, J. 2003. Laughing rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy? Physiology and Behavior 79, 25-38.

Stress response in mice to a stressful situation experienced by another cage mate

We have just finished a study of the effects on cage mates when balb/c mice are handled/weighed or subjected to 1 hour restraint stress and then returned to the cage. We did this once daily for 14 days. The cage...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Einstein, R. 2004. Stress response in mice to a stressful situation experienced by another cage mate. Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum (electronic discussion group), November 24, 2004.