Environmental Enrichment

Reaction to novel objects and fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in two species of nocturnal geckos

Many reptiles are maintained in captivity and heavily traded, although welfare measures for many species are not well established and are under-researched compared to other animals. In this study, we focused on two of these species: crested geckos (Correlophus ciliatus)...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Lizard, Reptile

Citation: Fernández-Lázaro, G., Latorre, R., Fontanillas Pérez, J. C. et al. 2023. Reaction to novel objects and fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in two species of nocturnal geckos. Animals 13(21), 3384.

A practical approach to providing environmental enrichment to pigs and broiler chickens housed in intensive systems

In Europe, regulations contain guidance to maintain high standards of animal welfare. In many parts of the world, large buyers for supermarkets or restaurants are the main enforcers of basic animal welfare standards. They can have considerable influence on improving...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken, Pig

Citation: Grandin, T. 2023. A practical approach to providing environmental enrichment to pigs and broiler chickens housed in intensive systems. Animals 13(14), 2372.

Bridging pure cognitive research and cognitive enrichment

Cognitive enrichment is a growing subset of environmental enrichment for captive animals. However, it has been difficult for practitioners to design, implement, and evaluate relevant and appropriate cognitive challenges. Even though pure comparative cognition researchers focus on fundamental evolutionary questions,...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Clark, F. E. 2022. Bridging pure cognitive research and cognitive enrichment. Animal Cognition 25(6), 1671–1678.

In the zone: Towards a comparative study of flow state in primates

Flow is an altered state of feeling ‘in the zone' when fully absorbed in a challenge and is associated with positive affective state (feelings). Despite almost five decades of research, Flow has not yet been recognized in nonhuman animals, despite...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Chimpanzee, Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Clark, F. E. 2023. In the zone: Towards a comparative study of flow state in primates. Animal Behavior and Cognition 10(1), 62–88.

Effect of environmental exposure to a maternally-learned odorant on anxiety-like behaviors at weaning in mice

Early sensory experience, such as exposure to maternal or other environmental factors, is considered to influence neurocognitive development and behaviors. In many species, exposure to odorants during pregnancy or lactation impacts the morpho-functional development of the olfactory circuitry with changes...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental Enrichment, Rearing & WeaningAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Dewaele, A., Badonnel, K., Persuy, M.-A. et al. 2020. Effect of environmental exposure to a maternally-learned odorant on anxiety-like behaviors at weaning in mice. Animal Cognition 23(5), 881–891.

Environmental enrichment improves hippocampus-dependent spatial learning in female C57BL/6 mice in novel IntelliCage sweet reward-based behavioral tests

The IntelliCage is an automated home-cage system that allows researchers to investigate the spontaneous behavior and learning abilities of group-housed mice. The IntelliCage enables us to increase the standardization and reproducibility of behavioral outcomes by the omission of experimenter–mouse interactions....

Year Published: 2023Topics: Animal Training, Behavioral & Cognitive Testing, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Bramati, G., Stauffer, P., Nigri, M. et al. 2023. Environmental enrichment improves hippocampus-dependent spatial learning in female C57BL/6 mice in novel IntelliCage sweet reward-based behavioral tests. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.

Investigating the effect of enrichment on the behavior of zoo-housed southern ground hornbills

Enrichment is essential for the welfare of many zoo-housed animals, yet the value of enrichment is not well understood for all taxa. As an intelligent, long-lived species, the southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) is a good model for enrichment research....

Year Published: 2021Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Other Bird

Citation: Brereton, J. E., Myhill, M. N. G., Shora, J. A. 2021. Investigating the effect of enrichment on the behavior of zoo-housed southern ground hornbills. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 2(4), 600–609.

Environmental enrichment improves cognitive flexibility in rainbow trout in a visual discrimination task: First insights

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Trout

Citation: Brunet, V., Lafond, T., Kleiber, A. et al. 2023. Environmental enrichment improves cognitive flexibility in rainbow trout in a visual discrimination task: First insights. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.

Structural environmental enrichment and the way it is offered influence cognitive judgement bias and anxiety-like behaviours in zebrafish

Environmental enrichment in zebrafish generally reduces anxiety-related behaviours, improves learning in maze trials and increases health and biological fitness. However, certain types of enrichment or certain conditions induce the opposite effects. Therefore, it is essential to study the characteristics of...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Buenhombre, J., Daza-Cardona, E. A., Sousa, P. et al. 2023. Structural environmental enrichment and the way it is offered influence cognitive judgement bias and anxiety-like behaviours in zebrafish. Animal Cognition 26(2), 563–577.

A touchscreen-based, multiple-choice approach to cognitive enrichment of captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Research on the psychological and physiological well-being of captive animals has focused on investigating different types of social and structural enrichment. Consequently, cognitive enrichment has been understudied, despite the promising external validity, comparability, and applicability. As we aim to fill...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Calapai, A., Pfefferle, D., Cassidy, L. C. et al. 2023. A touchscreen-based, multiple-choice approach to cognitive enrichment of captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Animals 13(17), 2702.