Frontal brain deactivation during a non-verbal cognitive judgement bias test in sheep

Guldimann, Kathrin; Vögeli, Sabine; Wolf, Martin; Wechsler, Beat; Gygax, Lorenz

doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2014.11.004

Cited by 21 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A possible explanation for this difference between studies may be that ear postures depend not only on the valence of the stimuli but also on the way the stimuli were presented. While the stimuli in the present study and the studies by Boissy et al [13], Guldimann et al [20], and Veissier et al [44] were presented visually, the stimuli in the studies by Reefmann et al [14] and Vögeli et al [12] were physical and perceived by the touch receptors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…[12]). Emotional reactions investigated in previous studies include physical stimuli [12,18] and situations with ambiguous information [20] in sheep, feed and feed frustration in goats [19] as well as interactions with a human handler in dogs [21]. In all these studies an attempt has been made to vary valence of the stimuli to a certain extent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Housing conditions influence cortical and behavioural reactions of sheep in response to videos showing social interactions of different valence

Vögeli¹,

Wolf²,

Wechsler

et al. 2015

Behavioural Brain Research

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mood, as a long-term affective state, is thought to modulate short-term emotional reactions in animals, but the details of this interplay have hardly been investigated experimentally. Apart from a basic interest in this affective system, mood is likely to have an important impact on animal welfare, as bad mood may taint all emotional experience. In the present study about mood -emotion interaction, 29 sheep were kept under predictable, stimulus-rich or unpredictable, stimulus-poor housing conditions, to induce different mood states. In an experiment, the animals were confronted with video sequences of social interactions of conspecifics showing agonistic interactions, ruminating or tolerantly co-feeding as stimuli of different valences. Emotional reactions were assessed by measuring frontal brain activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy and by recording behavioral reactions. Attentiveness of the sheep decreased from videos showing agonistic interactions toruminating sheep to those displaying co-feeding sheep. Seeing agonistic interactions was also associated with a deactivation of the frontal cortex, specifically in animals living under predictable, stimulus-rich housing conditions. These sheep generally showed less attentiveness and locomotor activity and they had their ears in a forward position less often and in a backward position more often than the sheep from the unpredictable, stimulus-poor conditions. Housing conditions influenced how the sheep behaved, which can either be thought to be mediated by mood or by the animals' previous experience with stimulusrichness in their housing conditions. Frontal cortical activity may not depend on valence only, but also on the perceptual channel through which the stimuli were perceived.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Housing conditions influence cortical and behavioural reactions of sheep in response to videos showing social interactions of different valence

Vögeli¹,

Wolf²,

Wechsler

et al. 2015

Behavioural Brain Research

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The experiment was performed with 24 focal female, non-reproducing and non-gestating Lacaune sheep randomly chosen out of a group of 29 sheep of an average age of 2.5 years and an approximate average weight of 80 kg. To induce different mood states, the animals were housed in 2 pens with 14 and 15 sheep under unpredictable, stimulus-poor and predictable, stimulus-rich conditions, respectively, at Agroscope in Tänikon, Switzerland ( 3 , 4 , 28 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Except during winter time, sheep were kept on pasture during the night (from April 2013 onward in the year of this experiment). Animals were fed regularly (in the current experiment daily between 07:30 and 08:00 h and between 16:30 and 17:00 h) with a diet of hay and a salt block (Kroni-385 Magnesia Natura), had access to water ad libitum and were provided with natural daylight ( 3 , 4 , 28 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Frontal Brain Activity and Behavioral Indicators of Affective States are Weakly Affected by Thermal Stimuli in Sheep Living in Different Housing Conditions

Vögeli

Wolf²,

Wechsler

et al. 2015

Front. Vet. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many stimuli evoke short-term emotional reactions. These reactions may play an important role in assessing how a subject perceives a stimulus. Additionally, long-term mood may modulate the emotional reactions but it is still unclear in what way. The question seems to be important in terms of animal welfare, as a negative mood may taint emotional reactions. In the present study with sheep, we investigated the effects of thermal stimuli on emotional reactions and the potential modulating effect of mood induced by manipulations of the housing conditions. We assume that unpredictable, stimulus-poor conditions lead to a negative and predictable, stimulus-rich conditions to a positive mood state. The thermal stimuli were applied to the upper breast during warm ambient temperatures: hot (as presumably negative), intermediate, and cold (as presumably positive). We recorded cortical activity by functional near-infrared spectroscopy, restlessness behavior (e.g., locomotor activity, aversive behaviors), and ear postures as indicators of emotional reactions. The strongest hemodynamic reaction was found during a stimulus of intermediate valence independent of the animal’s housing conditions, whereas locomotor activity, ear movements, and aversive behaviors were seen most in sheep from the unpredictable, stimulus-poor housing conditions, independent of stimulus valence. We conclude that, sheep perceived the thermal stimuli and differentiated between some of them. An adequate interpretation of the neuronal activity pattern remains difficult, though. The effects of housing conditions were small indicating that the induction of mood was only modestly efficacious. Therefore, a modulating effect of mood on the emotional reaction was not found.

show abstract

The orbitofrontal cortex of the sheep. Topography, organization, neurochemistry, digital tensor imaging and comparison with the chimpanzee and human

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Areas dedicated to higher brain functions such as the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) are thought to be unique to hominidae. The OFC is involved in social behavior, reward and punishment encoding and emotional control. Here, we focused on the putative corresponding area in the sheep to assess its homology to the OFC in humans. We used classical histology in five sheep (Ovis aries) and four chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as a six-layered-cortex primate, and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) in three sheep and five human brains. Nissl’s staining exhibited a certain alteration in cortical lamination since no layer IV was found in the sheep. A reduction of the total cortical thickness was also evident together with a reduction of the prevalence of layer one and an increased layer two on the total thickness. Tractography of the sheep OFC, on the other hand, revealed similarities both with human tracts and those described in the literature, as well as a higher number of cortico-cortical fibers connecting the OFC with the visual areas in the right hemisphere. Our results evidenced the presence of the basic components necessary for complex abstract thought in the sheep and a pronounced laterality, often associated with greater efficiency of a certain function, suggested an evolutionary adaptation of this prey species.

show abstract

Frontal brain deactivation during a non-verbal cognitive judgement bias test in sheep

Cited by 21 publications

References 33 publications

Housing conditions influence cortical and behavioural reactions of sheep in response to videos showing social interactions of different valence

Housing conditions influence cortical and behavioural reactions of sheep in response to videos showing social interactions of different valence

Frontal Brain Activity and Behavioral Indicators of Affective States are Weakly Affected by Thermal Stimuli in Sheep Living in Different Housing Conditions

The orbitofrontal cortex of the sheep. Topography, organization, neurochemistry, digital tensor imaging and comparison with the chimpanzee and human

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About