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 Individual characteristics such as temperament or stereotypies influence learning  Vertebral problems, depression and anemia lower attentional and sensory engagement  Type of training/reinforcement influences cognition, welfare and motivation to work  Brain lateralization and EEG are promising tools for measuring cognition and welfare  Evolution of brain functions and life conditions are influential in shaping cognition ABSTRACTResearch in cognitive psychology has repeatedly shown how much cognition and emotions are mutually related to one another. Psychological disorders are associated with cognitive (attention, memory and judgment) biases and chronic pain may affect attention, learning or memory. Laboratory studies have provided useful insights about the processes involved but observations about spontaneous animal models, living in different stress/welfare conditions may help understand further how cognition and welfare are interrelated in the « real world ».Domestic horses constitute such a model as they live in a variety of conditions that impact J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f 2 differently their welfare state. In the present review, we try and provide an overview of the scientific literature on cognition and welfare of domestic horses and their interrelationship. We address how emotions and welfare may affect cognitive processes in horses and impact the way they perceive their environment (including work). We propose new methods for assessing the relationship between welfare and cognition and open up the discussion on the evolution of the brain and the part domestication may have played.

Perinatal mortality is a widespread problem in laboratory mouse breeding and is often manifested by the loss of the entire litter within the first days of life. High mortality is an animal health and welfare concern that violates the 3R principles of reduction and refinement. High pup mortality is often considered "normal" in mouse breeding and the underlying causes are poorly understood. This study investigated the role of the social environment on pup survival and parental behaviour in C57BL/6 mice. Before parturition, multiparous females were allocated to three treatments: single-housing (SH, n=54) or group-housing in trios of two females and a male, with group-housing further divided into trios with (GH1, n=20) or without (GH0, n=35) the presence of another litter. Mouse behaviour was recorded from 24h before to 24h after parturition. Mouse breeding performance (offspring survival and weight) was analysed using logistic and generalized linear models, and behaviours using logistic and multivariable linear models. We confirmed previous findings of high mortality rates for all treatments, but the highest rates were found in GH1 where half of the litters were lost entirely. Social environment had an impact on breeding performance. On the one hand, the presence of adult cagemates in GH0 did not affect litter survival nor pup body weight at 20 days. Adult cagemates shared the work of breeding by performing nest building before and after litter birth, and parental care after birth. GH0 and GH1 dams were less frequently seen performing nest building before and after parturition than SH dams. GH0 and GH1 dams were also less frequently seen inside the nest and performing parental behaviour after parturition than were SH dams. On the other hand, the risks for litter and pup loss were dramatically increased by 2.3 and 1.8 times, respectively, in GH1 compared to GH0. Parturition lasted longer in GH1 than in GH0 treatment. While dam behaviour did not differ between GH1 and GH0, GH1 adult cagemates spent less time performing parental care than did GH0 cagemates. Plausible reasons for the higher mortality in the presence of another litter are insufficient parental care, competition for milk access, poor nest quality, and crushing of newborns by older pups in the nest. This study indicates that being born in a cage where there is already an older litter, so-called reproductive asynchrony, is a major risk factor for litter loss.