Heart rate modulation in bystanding geese watching social and non-social events

Abstract

Simply observing other individuals interacting has been shown to affect subsequent behaviour and also hormones in 'bystander' individuals. However, immediate physiological responses of an observer have been hardly investigated. Here we present results on individuals' heart rate (HR) responses during various situations, which occur regularly in a flock of greylag geese (Anser anser, e.g. agonistic encounters, vehicles passing by). We recorded simultaneously HR and behaviour of 21 semi-tame free-roaming geese, equipped with fully implanted transmitters. We considered 304 social and 81 non-social events during which the focal individuals did not respond behaviourally. Independent of the spatial distance to the event, these HR responses were significantly greater in social contexts (e.g. departing or landing geese, agonistic interactions) than in non-social situations (e.g. vehicles passing by, thunder). Focal individuals showed a significantly higher maximum HR as well as a greater HR increase in response to agonistic interactions, in which the pair partner or a family member was involved, as compared with a non-affiliated goose. Also, HR was significantly higher when the bystander watched non-affiliated geese interacting, which were higher ranking than the focal. We conclude that these differences are due to different relevance of the recorded events for the focal individual, depending on the individuals involved in the observed interaction.

Empathy as a driver of prosocial behaviour: highly conserved neurobehavioural mechanisms across species

“…This is indeed the case with birds where often both males and females provide parental care. For example, members of a graylag geese flock that observed a conflict involving either their partner or a family member experienced more distress (measured by an increase in heart rate)-consistent with an empathic response [20]. Additionally, it has been found that members of breeding pairs perform affiliation behaviours following conflicts, which suggests that pair-bonded rooks may actually be consoling their partner when s/he is distressed [21].…”

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

“…They all showed sheep from the focal sheep's group engaged in social interactions. Videos showing a dyad of sheep engaged in head butts or displacements with body contact were used for the presumed negative valence (following the argument of research on agonistic interactions in species as diverse as geese [28], chimpanzees [29], and humans [30,31,32]). For an intermediate valence, videos with one or two sheep ruminating while lying were presented.…”

Avian maternal response to chick distress

“…This can lead to physiological and behavioural responses, and involves 'state-matching'-when the emotional state of the observer 'mirrors' that of the object. Although birds have not been traditional subjects in this area, recent work suggests a more sophisticated capacity for emotional response to conspecifics than previously realized [5,6].…”