Emotion, Pain, & Sentience

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.

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.