Begall, S., Malkemper, E. P., Cervený, J., Nemec, P., & Burda, H. (2013). Magnetic alignment in mammals and other animals. Mamm. Biol., 78(1), 10–20.
Abstract: Magnetic alignment (MA) constitutes the simplest directional response to the geomagnetic field. In contrast to magnetic compass orientation, MA is not goal directed and represents a spontaneous, fixed directional response. Because animals tend to align their bodies along or perpendicular to the magnetic field lines, MA typically leads to bimodal or quadrimodal orientation, although there is also growing evidence for a fixed unimodal orientation not necessarily coinciding with the magnetic cardinal directions. MA has been demonstrated in diverse animals including insects, amphibians, fish, and mammals. Alignment can be expressed by animals during resting as well as on the move (e.g. while grazing, hunting, feeding, etc.). Here, we briefly survey characteristic features and classical examples of MA and review the current knowledge about the occurrence of MA in mammals. In addition, we summarize what is known about mechanisms underlying MA and discuss its prospective biological functions. Finally, we highlight some physiological effects of alignment along the magnetic field axes reported in humans. We argue that the phenomenon of MA adds a new paradigm that can be exploited for investigation of magnetoreception in mammals.
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Behrens, T. E. J., Hunt, L. T., Woolrich, M. W., & Rushworth, M. F. S. (2008). Associative learning of social value. Nature, 456(7219), 245–249.
Abstract: Our decisions are guided by information learnt from our environment. This information may come via personal experiences of reward, but also from the behaviour of social partners1, 2. Social learning is widely held to be distinct from other forms of learning in its mechanism and neural implementation; it is often assumed to compete with simpler mechanisms, such as reward-based associative learning, to drive behaviour3. Recently, neural signals have been observed during social exchange reminiscent of signals seen in studies of associative learning4. Here we demonstrate that social information may be acquired using the same associative processes assumed to underlie reward-based learning. We find that key computational variables for learning in the social and reward domains are processed in a similar fashion, but in parallel neural processing streams. Two neighbouring divisions of the anterior cingulate cortex were central to learning about social and reward-based information, and for determining the extent to which each source of information guides behaviour. When making a decision, however, the information learnt using these parallel streams was combined within ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that human social valuation can be realized by means of the same associative processes previously established for learning other, simpler, features of the environment.
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Bekoff M. (1997). Deep Ethology, Animal Rights, and the Great Ape/Animal Project: Resisting Speciesism and Expanding the Community of Equals. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 10, 269–296.
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Bekoff M. (2003). Minding Animals, Minding Earth: Old Brains, New Bottlenecks. Zygon, 38, 911–941.
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Bekoff M. (2003). Consciousness and Self in Animals: Some Reflections. Zygon, 38, 229–245.
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Bekoff, M. (2006). Animal Passions And Beastly Virtues: Cognitive Ethology As The Unifying Science For Understanding The Subjective, Emotional, Empathic, And Moral Lives Of Animals. Zygon, 41, 71–104.
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Bekoff, M. (1994). Cognitive Ethology and the Treatment of Non-Human Animals: How Mati'ers of Mind Inform Mati'ers of Welfare. Animal Welfare, 3, 75–96.
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Bekoff, M., Allen, C., & Burghardt, G. M. (2003). The cognitive animal: Empirical and theoretical perspectives on animal cognition. Computers and Mathematics with Applications, 46, 508–509.
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Bell, A. M. (2007). Evolutionary biology: animal personalities (Vol. 447).
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Bell, F. R. (1972). Sleep in the larger domesticated animals. Proc R Soc Med, 65(2), 176–177.
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