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Author Abeyesinghe, S.M.; Nicol, C.J.; Wathes. C.M.; Randall, J.M.
Title Development of a raceway method to assess aversion of domestic fowl to concurrent stressors Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume 56 Issue 3 Pages 175-194
Keywords previous termConcurrent stressors; Aversion; Domestic fowlnext term; Transport; Vibration; Hyperthermia
Abstract The requirement for assessing the effects of stressor combinations in improving the welfare of animals has not been widely recognised. Knowledge of the effects of concurrent stressors is needed to improve environments such as transport, where animals are presented with many simultaneous challenges. However, no method for measuring the effects of different stressors with a common unit is currently available. A locomotor passive avoidance method was developed as a common currency measure of the aversion of domestic fowl to concurrent stressors, using vibrational and thermal stressors as an exemplar. Juvenile fowl, fasted overnight, were trained to run a raceway into a goal-box for small food rewards (FR1). When running consistently, the reinforcement schedule was superimposed with a FR5 treatment schedule (60 min confinement in the goal-box with either a control of no other stressors [N] or concurrent vibration and thermal stressors [VT]). Subsequent latency to return to the goal-box was recorded as a measure of aversion. The factors affecting bird response were addressed in a series of experiments to optimise the method and clarify interpretation of results. Pre-feeding (20% ration 2 h prior to testing) did not affect response, but increasing the number of treatment presentations facilitated learning and increased method sensitivity. Treatment responses were consistent across experiments; overall VT was avoided (P<0.001), but N was not. However, there was large individual variation in response to VT. A final experiment indicated that, given a visual discriminatory cue, birds were capable of learning the required association between entering the goal-box and receiving the treatment, suggesting that the delay responses were due to aversion rather than the immediate impact of treatment on ability to respond. Further work is required to test the singular stressors, but the method retains common currency potential for assessing aversion to multiple stressors.
Address Bio-Engineering Division, Silsoe Research Institute, Wrest Park, Silsoe, MK45 4HS, Bedford, UK
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ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11738510 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 85
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Author Aureli, F.; de Waal, F.B.
Title Inhibition of social behavior in chimpanzees under high-density conditions Type Journal Article
Year 1997 Publication American journal of primatology Abbreviated Journal Am. J. Primatol.
Volume 41 Issue 3 Pages 213-228
Keywords Aggression/*psychology; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Crowding; Female; Male; Pan troglodytes/*psychology; Population Density; *Social Environment; Stress, Psychological
Abstract This is the first study to investigate the short-term effects of high population density on captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Subjects of the study were 45 chimpanzees living in five different groups at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center. The groups were observed under two conditions: 1) when they had access to both the indoor and outdoor sections of their enclosures; 2) during cold days when they were locked into the indoor runs, which reduced the available space by more than half. Under the high-density condition, allogrooming and submissive greetings decreased, but juvenile play increased. Remarkably, the rate of various forms of agonistic behavior, such as aggression, bluff charge, bluff display, and hooting, occurred less frequently under the high-density condition. This general decrease in adult social activity, including agonistic behavior, can be interpreted as an inhibition strategy to reduce opportunities for conflict when interindividual distances are reduced. This strategy is probably effective only in the short run, however. Behavioral indicators of anxiety, such as rough scratching and yawning, showed elevated rates, suggesting increased social tension under the high-density condition.
Address Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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ISSN 0275-2565 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:9057966 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 203
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Author Rietmann, T.R.; Stuart, A.E.A.; Bernasconi, P.; Stauffacher, M.; Auer, J.A.; Weishaupt, M.A.
Title Assessment of mental stress in warmblood horses: heart rate variability in comparison to heart rate and selected behavioural parameters Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 88 Issue 1-2 Pages 121-136
Keywords Horse; Hrv; Heart rate; Mental stress; Behaviour; Autonomic nervous system
Abstract The aim of the study was to investigate whether heart rate variability (HRV) could assess alterations of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) at different levels of excitement. The behavioural and physiological responses of 20 warmblood horses to a challenging ground exercise task were studied. Prior to the experiment, the horses were evaluated at rest and during forward walking (FW). The horses were then forced to move backwards continuously during 3 min according to a standardised protocol (BW1). Subsequently, the horses were exposed to two training sessions, after which the backward walking (BW2) was re-evaluated. Heart rate (HR) and HRV-parameters such as the standard deviation of the beat-to-beat intervals (SDRR), the low (LF; sympathetic tone) and high frequency (HF) component of HRV (HF; parasympathetic tone) and their ratio (LF/HF; index representing the sympatho-vagal balance) were sampled at rest, and during FW, BW1 and BW2. Stress-related behaviour during BW1 and BW2 was determined from video recordings. The results of the different evaluations were compared to each other. Compared to rest and FW, the first backward experiment induced a significant rise in HR, LF and LF/HF and a significant decrease of HF. SDRR decreased from both FW and rest with only the latter reaching significance. In BW2 after the training sessions, HR and the parameters of the sympathetic branch of the ANS (LF, LF/HF) were decreased and the vagal tone (HF) increased compared to BW1; all changes were significant. The duration of stress indicating behavioural patterns revealed also a significant decrease of excitement after the training, when backward walking did not differ from forward walking in any parameter. Correlations between HRV-parameters and stress indicating behaviour as well as HR were found. We conclude that the HRV-parameters LF and HF are valuable measures to quantify sympatho-vagal balance, which allows a more precise assessment of the responses of HR and SDRR to mental stress during low intensity exercise.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 314
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Author Mendl, M.
Title Performing under pressure: stress and cognitive function Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 65 Issue 3 Pages 221-244
Keywords Stress; Cognition; Attention; Learning; Memory; Welfare
Abstract The way in which cognitive functioning is affected by stressors is an important area of research for applied ethologists because stress caused by captive conditions may disrupt cognitive processes and lead to welfare and husbandry problems. Such problems may be minimised through an understanding of the links between stress and cognition. The effects of stress on cognitive function have been studied in disciplines ranging from human perceptual psychology to animal neuroscience. The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to this research, focusing on the effects of stressors on attention, memory formation and memory recall. Findings from such a diverse literature with little apparent inter-disciplinary communication are inevitably complex and often contradictory. Nevertheless, some generalities do emerge. The idea that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between an individual's state of stress or arousal and its ability to perform a cognitive task effectively, the so-called Yerkes-Dodson law, is commonly encountered. The law has limited explanatory value because it is unlikely that different stressors act on cognitive function via the same intervening, non-specific state. Furthermore, the law only provides a very general description of the relationship between stress and cognitive function. Empirical research on attention and memory processes reveals more specific findings. Stressors appear to cause shifts, lapses and narrowing of attention, and can also influence decision speed. These processes may be viewed as serving an adaptive role helping the animal to search for and scrutinise a source of danger. There is conflicting evidence as to whether hormones involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress response play a part in these processes. These hormones and those involved in the sympathetic-adrenomedullary stress response do appear to play an important role in memory formation. Low or moderate concentrations of circulating glucocorticoids and catecholamines can enhance memory formation, while excessively high or prolonged elevations of these hormones can lead to memory disruption. The effects of stressors on memory recall are less clear. There is evidence for disruptive effects, and for facilitatory effects indicating state-dependent memory recall; events experienced under conditions of high arousal may be best recalled under similar conditions. Applied ethologists have the opportunity to extend work in this area, which often involves studies of single stressors/stress hormones acting in isolation and limited measures of cognitive function, by focusing on real-life husbandry stressors encountered by captive animals. This will yield fundamental information which also has direct relevance to animal welfare and management issues.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 393
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Author Griffin, A.S.
Title Social learning in Indian mynahs, Acridotheres tristis: the role of distress calls Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.
Volume 75 Issue 1 Pages 79-89
Keywords Acridotheres tristis; distress vocalizations; head saccades; Indian mynah; predator avoidance learning; social learning
Abstract Socially acquired predator avoidance is a phenomenon in which individuals acquire an avoidance response towards an initially neutral stimulus after they have experienced it together with the antipredator signals of social companions. Earlier research has established that alarm calls used for intraspecific communication are effective stimuli for triggering acquisition. However, animals produce a large range of other antipredator responses that might engage antipredator learning. Here, I examine the effects of conspecific distress calls, a signal that is produced by birds when restrained by a predator, and that appears to be directed towards predators, rather than conspecifics, on predator avoidance learning in Indian mynahs, Acridotheres tristis. Distress calls reflect high levels of alarm in the caller and should, therefore, mediate robust learning. Experiment 1 revealed that subjects performed higher rates of head movements in response to a previously unfamiliar avian mount after it had been presented simultaneously with playbacks of conspecific distress vocalizations. Experiment 2 revealed that increased rates of head saccades resembled the spontaneous response evoked by a novel stimulus more closely than it resembled the response evoked by a perched raptor, suggesting that distress calls inculcated a visual exploratory response, rather than an antipredator response. While it is usually thought that the level of acquisition in learners follows a simple relationship with the level of alarm shown by demonstrators, the present results suggest that this relationship may be more complex. Antipredator signals with different functions may have differential effects on learners.
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ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4696
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Author Keay, J.M.; Singh, J.; Gaunt, M.C.; Kaur, T.
Title Fecal glucocorticoids and their metabolites as indicators of stress in various mammalian species: a literature review Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Journal of zoo and wildlife medicine : official publication of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians Abbreviated Journal J Zoo Wildl Med
Volume 37 Issue 3 Pages 234-244
Keywords Animals; *Animals, Wild/metabolism; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods/veterinary; Circadian Rhythm; Conservation of Natural Resources; *Ecosystem; Feces/*chemistry; Glucocorticoids/*analysis/metabolism; Humans; Seasons; Species Specificity; Specimen Handling/methods/veterinary; Stress, Psychological/*metabolism
Abstract Conservation medicine is a discipline in which researchers and conservationists study and respond to the dynamic interplay between animals, humans, and the environment. From a wildlife perspective, animal species are encountering stressors from numerous sources. With the rapidly increasing human population, a corresponding increased demand for food, fuel, and shelter; habitat destruction; and increased competition for natural resources, the health and well-being of wild animal populations is increasingly at risk of disease and endangerment. Scientific data are needed to measure the impact that human encroachment is having on wildlife. Nonbiased biometric data provide a means to measure the amount of stress being imposed on animals from humans, the environment, and other animals. The stress response in animals functions via glucocorticoid metabolism and is regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Fecal glucocorticoids, in particular, may be an extremely useful biometric test, since sample collection is noninvasive to subjects and, therefore, does not introduce other variables that may alter assay results. For this reason, many researchers and conservationists have begun to use fecal glucocorticoids as a means to measure stress in various animal species. This review article summarizes the literature on many studies in which fecal glucocorticoids and their metabolites have been used to assess stress levels in various mammalian species. Variations between studies are the main focus of this review. Collection methods, storage conditions, shipping procedures, and laboratory techniques utilized by different researchers are discussed.
Address Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, 0442 Duck Pond Drive, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
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ISSN 1042-7260 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:17319120 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 616
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Author Rivera, E.; Benjamin, S.; Nielsen, B.; Shelle, J.; Zanella, A.J.
Title Behavioral and physiological responses of horses to initial training: the comparison between pastured versus stalled horses Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 78 Issue 2-4 Pages 235-252
Keywords Horses; Housing; Training; Behavior; Stress; Cortisol; Welfare
Abstract Horses kept in stalls are deprived of opportunities for social interactions, and the performance of natural behaviors is limited. Inadequate environmental conditions may compromise behavioral development. Initial training is a complex process and it is likely that the responses of horses may be affected by housing conditions. Sixteen 2-year-old Arabian horses were kept on pasture (P) (n=8) or in individual stalls (S) (n=8). Twelve horses (six P and six S) were subjected to a standardized training procedure, carried out by two trainers in a round pen, and 4 horses (two P and two S) were introduced to the round pen but were not trained (C; control). On sample collection day 0, 7, 21 and 28, behavior observations were carried out, blood samples were drawn and heart rates were monitored. Total training time for the stalled horses was significantly higher than total time for the pastured horses (S: 26.4+/-1.5 min; P: 19.7+/-1.1; P=0.032). The stalled group required more time to habituate to the activities occurring from the start of training to mounting (S: 11.4+/-0.96; P: 7.3+/-0.75 min; P=0.007). Frequency of unwanted behavior was higher in the stalled horses (S: 8.0+/-2.0; P: 2.2+/-1.0; P=0.020). Pastured horses tended to have higher basal heart rates on day 0 (S: 74.7+/-4.8; P: 81.8+/-5.3 bpm; P=0.0771). While the physiological data failed to identify differences between housing groups, the behavioral data suggest that pasture-kept horses adapt more easily to training than stalled horses.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 717
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Author Hoshaw, B.A.; Evans, J.C.; Mueller, B.; Valentino, R.J.; Lucki, I.
Title Social competition in rats: Cell proliferation and behavior Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Behavioural Brain Research Abbreviated Journal Behav. Brain. Res.
Volume 175 Issue 2 Pages 343-351
Keywords Social stress; Depression; Forced swim test; Neurogenesis
Abstract Behavioral and physiological changes were studied following prolonged exposure to social competition in pairs of non-food-deprived rats competing daily for a limited supply of graham cracker crumbs. Stable dominant-subordinate relationships developed in most pairs, as measured by feeding time, which were maintained over a 5-6-week study period. In other behavioral tests, subordinates demonstrated a decreased latency to immobility in the forced swim test compared with dominants, but no difference in locomotor activity. Subordinates had increased bladder size, decreased adrenal gland size, and a 35% reduction of hippocampus cell proliferation compared with the dominant member. Therefore, prolonged social competition, based on restricted access to palatable substances, produced hierarchies among individuals that were associated with differences in behavior, physiology and hippocampal cell proliferation.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 802
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Author Deutsch, J.; Lee, P.
Title Dominance and feeding competition in captive rhesus monkeys Type Journal Article
Year 1991 Publication International Journal of Primatology Abbreviated Journal Int. J. Primatol.
Volume 12 Issue 6 Pages 615-628
Keywords female dominance – feeding competition – nutrition – stress
Abstract The feeding behavior of 16 adult female rhesus monkeys living in three captive social groups was observed. Estimates of relative food intake, feeding rate, and location of feeding in relation to food sources were compared between females of different dominance ranks. Higher-ranking females had greater access to feeding sites and were supplanted or threatened less frequently while feeding than subordinates. However, no consistent differences in estimates of total intake were found between females of high and females of low rank. The effects of dominance on feeding behavior were most pronounced in the group receiving the least food relative to estimates of overall group nutritional requirements. Higher-ranking females, both over the long term and during the study period, tended to produce more surviving offspring. The effects of dominance on reproductive performance appeared to be less related to food intake than to competitive and aggressive interactions, potentially resulting in higher levels of stress for subordinates.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 813
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Author Berger, A.; Scheibe, K.-M.; Eichhorn, K.; Scheibe, A.; Streich, J.
Title Diurnal and ultradian rhythms of behaviour in a mare group of Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), measured through one year under semi-reserve conditions Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 64 Issue 1 Pages 1-17
Keywords Horse; Przewalski horse; Circadian rhythm; Ultradian rhythm; Feeding and nutrition; Telemetry; Stress
Abstract Investigations were conducted on four horses from a group of 12 Przewalski mares raised in different zoos and kept in a 44-ha enclosure under semi-natural conditions. Activity and feeding were continuously measured every second and were saved every 15 min by the storage-telemetry system ETHOSYS, from June 1995 to July 1996. Body mass of the horses was regularly recorded. Daily and monthly mean values, power spectra and DFC (as a measure for stability of rhythms synchronised with circadiurnal period) for activity and feeding were calculated. The general pattern of activity and feeding over the year was closely related to sunrise and sunset. Feeding accounted for 40% of total activity in summer and 62% in spring (all-year average being 52%). The level of activity was lowest in winter; whereas feeding was lowest in summer. The time budget for feeding reflected both feeding conditions and the annual pattern of body condition. Greatest activity occurred during daylight hours. Only on hot summer days, activity at night was higher than during daylight hours. Spectral analysis of activity and feeding in Przewalski horse showed a time pattern which was characterised by 24-h rhythmicity, but also by ultradian components with period lengths between 4.8 and 12 h, i.e., an activity pattern of up to five strong bouts per day. Annual variation in the pattern of power spectra was not high during the year. Results are discussed in connection with horse feeding strategy. Analysing the time structure of long-term and continuously measured activity and feeding could be a useful method to follow the general living conditions, especially the nutritional situation and to detect stressful conditions.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2236
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