Emotion, Pain, & Sentience

Stress and distress: A discussion by the Refinement and Enrichment Forum

The question was asked: "The terms 'stress' and 'distress' are often used in the scientific literature but usually without a definition. If you use these terms, how do you define them? What are the signs that tell you that an...

Year Published: 2006Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Roberts, S., Van Loo P., Schultz, P. et al. 2006. Stress and distress: A discussion by the Refinement and Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology and Welfare 5(2), 99-102.

Impaired well-being, pain and suffering

There are general signs - reduced alertness, lack of interest in food and enrichment gadgets, unusual coat condition, unusual response to human presence - and species-specific signs that tell you that an animal does not feel well. The response of...

Year Published: 2007Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: LAREF [Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum] 2007. Impaired well-being, pain and suffering. In: Making Lives Easier for Animals in Research Labs: Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Baumans, V., Coke, C., Green, J., Moreau, E., Morton, D., Patterson-Kane, E., Reinhardt, A., Reinhardt, V., Van Loo, P. (eds), 32-35. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

Self-awareness – do animals recognize themselves? In: Making Lives Easier for Animals in Research Labs: Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum

Some species we are working with respond to the reflection they perceive in a mirror. They may use a mirror to see objects that they could otherwise not see, and they may respond to the reflection of other conspecifics and...

Year Published: 2007Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: LAREF [Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum] 2007. Self-awareness - do animals recognize themselves? In: Making Lives Easier for Animals in Research Labs: Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Baumans, V., Coke, C., Green, J., Moreau, E., Morton, D., Patterson-Kane, E., Reinhardt, A., Reinhardt, V., Van Loo, P. (eds), 24-25. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

Stress and distress

Stress as such is not harmful, even though it challenges the subject's physiological equilibrium. Severe stress or prolonged stress both develop into distress, when the subject can no longer cope with the stressor and shows maladaptive responses. A stressed animal...

Year Published: 2007Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: LAREF [Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum] 2007. Stress and distress. In: Making Lives Easier for Animals in Research Labs: Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Baumans, V., Coke, C., Green, J., Moreau, E., Morton, D., Patterson-Kane, E., Reinhardt, A., Reinhardt, V., Van Loo, P. (eds), 36-37. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

Does distress matter?

Year Published: 2008Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: MacArthur Clark, J. 2008. Does distress matter? AATEX (Alternatives to Animal Testing and Experimentation) 14(Special Issue), 93-95.

Sentience and sensation

A sentient animal is one that has the ability to obtain and interpret stimuli from its internal and external environment and has at least a basic ability for memory, judgment and emotions. [p. 465] The moose, the mouse and the...

Year Published: 2008Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience

Citation: Silverman, J. 2008. Sentience and sensation. Lab Animal 37(10), 465-467.

Anxiolytic effect of music exposure on BDNFMet/Met transgenic mice

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been reported to play important roles in the modulation of anxiety, mood stabilizers, and pathophysiology of affective disorders. Recently, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the BDNF gene (Val66Met) has been found to be associated...

Year Published: 2010Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Li, W. J., Yu, H., Yang, J. M. et al. 2010. Anxiolytic effect of music exposure on BDNFMet/Met transgenic mice. Brain Research 1347, 71-79.

The effect of three different items of cage furniture on the behaviour of male C57BL/6J mice in the plus-maze test

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of specific regimens of enrichment on the behaviour of C57BL/6J mice in the elevated plus-maze test (EPM). A total of 192 male C57BL/6J mice were allocated randomly to 32 cages....

Year Published: 2010Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Õkva, K., Nevalainen, T., Mauranen, K. et al. 2010. The effect of three different items of cage furniture on the behaviour of male C57BL/6J mice in the plus-maze test. Animal Welfare 19(4), 401-409.

Environmental enrichment induces optimistic cognitive bias in rats

People's affective or emotional state can alter their cognitive processing, biasing interpretation of ambiguous stimuli. Those in a more positive state interpret such stimuli in a more optimistic manner than those in a negative state. Recently this research has extended...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Brydges, N. M., Leach, M., Nicol, K. et al. 2011. Environmental enrichment induces optimistic cognitive bias in rats. Animal Behaviour 81(1), 169-175.

Rats free each other from cages

Following a two-week introduction period, pairs of rats were put inside an arena. One was trapped inside a central restrainer, while the other roamed free in the larger space. By day six or seven, on average, the roaming rat learned...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Gewin, V. 2011. Rats free each other from cages. Nature News.