Emotion, Pain, & Sentience

Indicators of positive and negative emotions and emotional contagion in pigs

For the welfare of group-housed animals, such as pigs, the emotional state of an individual pig is relevant, but also the extent to which pen mates are affected by the distress or pleasure of other individuals, i.e. emotional contagion, a...

Year Published: 2012Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Reimert, I., Bolhuis, J. E., Kemp, B. 2012. Indicators of positive and negative emotions and emotional contagion in pigs. Physiology & Behavior 109, 42-50.

The effect of social buffering on fear responses in sheep (Ovis aries)

Fear in farm animals has been extensively studied because of its close relation to animal welfare. Numerous studies have categorized the behavioral responses of animals to stimuli that can elicit a fear reaction under social isolation conditions. However, farm animals...

Year Published: 2013Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Sheep

Citation: Gonzaleza, M., Averosa, X., de Herediaa, I. B. et al. 2013. The effect of social buffering on fear responses in sheep (Ovis aries). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 149(1-4), 13-20.

Pro-social behavior in rats is modulated by social experience

In mammals, helping is preferentially provided to members of one's own group. Yet, it remains unclear how social experience shapes pro-social motivation. We found that rats helped trapped strangers by releasing them from a restrainer, just as they did cagemates....

Year Published: 2014Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Bartal, I. B.-A., Rodgers, D. A., Sarria, M. S. et al. 2014. Pro-social behavior in rats is modulated by social experience. eLife 3, e01385.

A review of behavioural methods to study emotion and mood in pigs (Sus scrofa)

The study of emotions in animals is of increasing importance to a number of disciplines such as animal welfare science and affective neuroscience. Pigs are a common farm animal species, most often reared in intensive systems. Moreover, they are increasingly...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Murphy, E., Nordquist, R. E., van der Staay, F. J. 2014. A review of behavioural methods to study emotion and mood in pigs (Sus scrofa). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 159, 9-28.

Assessing the emotions of laboratory rats

Rats are one of the most commonly used species in research, and decades of testing have yielded a large amount of information pertaining to their experience of emotion. The aim of this review is to bring together information on rat...

Year Published: 2013Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Makowska, I. J., Weary, D. M. 2013. Assessing the emotions of laboratory rats. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 148, 1-12.

Social context and other factors influence the behavioural expression of pain by lambs

There is evidence that the presence of a conspecific can alter the experience of pain in humans and other animals. This ‘social buffering' may be mediated by factors such as relatedness and familiarity. This study investigates whether and how the...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Body Modification/Mutilation, Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Sheep

Citation: Guesgen, M. J., Beausoleil, N. J., Minot, E. O. et al. 2014. Social context and other factors influence the behavioural expression of pain by lambs. Applied Animal Behavioural Science 159, 41-49.

The effects of environmental enrichment and age-related differences on inhibitory avoidance in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

The inhibitory avoidance paradigm allows the study of mechanisms underlying learning and memory formation in zebrafish (Danio rerio Hamilton). For zebrafish, the physiology and behavior associated with this paradigm are as yet poorly understood. We therefore assessed the effects of...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental Enrichment, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Manuel, R., Gorissen, M., Stokkermans, M. et al. 2015. The effects of environmental enrichment and age-related differences on inhibitory avoidance in Zebrafish (Danio rerio). Zebrafish 12(2), 152-165.

Depressive-like behavioral profiles in captive-bred single- and socially-housed rhesus and cynomolgus macaques: A species comparison

Background: To unravel the causes of major depressive disorder (MDD), the third leading cause of disease burden around the world, ethological animal models have recently been proposed. Our previous studies highlighted a depressive-like profile among single- and socially-housed farm-bred cynomolgus...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Camus, S. M. J., Rochais, C., Blois-Heulin, C. et al. 2014. Depressive-like behavioral profiles in captive-bred single- and socially-housed rhesus and cynomolgus macaques: A species comparison. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 8, 47.

Defining and assessing animal pain

The detection and assessment of pain in animals is crucial to improving their welfare in a variety of contexts in which humans are ethically or legally bound to do so. Thus clear standards to judge whether pain is likely to...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: All/General, Amphibian, Bird, Cephalopod, Crocodile & Alligator, Crustacean, Finch, Fish, Fowl, Frog & Toad, Insect & Spider, Invertebrate, Lizard, Other Bird, Other Fish, Other Invertebrate, Parrot, Reptile, Salamander, Salmon, Snake, Tilapia, Trout, Turtle & Tortoise, Zebrafish

Citation: Sneddon, L. U., Elwood, R. W., Adamo, S. A. et al. 2014. Defining and assessing animal pain. Animal Behaviour 97, 201-212.

Social buffering in a bird

The presence of a conspecific can ameliorate an individual's stress response. This social buffering is known to be widespread in social mammals but the capacity of birds to act as social buffers has not yet been determined. We previously demonstrated...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Edgar, J., Held, S., Paul, E. et al. 2015. Social buffering in a bird. Animal Behaviour 105, 11-19.