Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T12:37:03.770Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Emotions and cognition: A new approach to animal welfare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

A Boissy ,
C Arnould ,
E Chaillou ,
L Désiré ,
C Duvaux-Ponter ,
L Greiveldinger ,
C Leterrier ,
S Richard ,
S Roussel  and
H Saint-Dizier
...Show all authors
A Boissy*
Affiliation:
INRA, UR1213 Herbivores, Site de Theix, F-63122 Saint-Genès Champanelle, France
C Arnould
Affiliation:
INRA, CNRS, Université Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
E Chaillou
Affiliation:
INRA, CNRS, Université Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
L Désiré
Affiliation:
INRA, UR1213 Herbivores, Site de Theix, F-63122 Saint-Genès Champanelle, France
C Duvaux-Ponter
Affiliation:
INRA, AgroParisTech, UMR791 Physiologie de la Nutrition et Alimentation, F-75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
L Greiveldinger
Affiliation:
INRA, UR1213 Herbivores, Site de Theix, F-63122 Saint-Genès Champanelle, France
C Leterrier
Affiliation:
INRA, CNRS, Université Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
S Richard
Affiliation:
INRA, CNRS, Université Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
S Roussel
Affiliation:
INRA, AgroParisTech, UMR791 Physiologie de la Nutrition et Alimentation, F-75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
H Saint-Dizier
Affiliation:
INRA, CNRS, Université Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
MC Meunier-Salaün
Affiliation:
INRA, Agrocampus, UMR1079 Système d'Elevage et Nutrition Animale et Humaine, F-35590 Saint-Gilles, France
D Valance
Affiliation:
INRA, CNRS, Université Tours, Haras Nationaux, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
I Veissier
Affiliation:
INRA, UR1213 Herbivores, Site de Theix, F-63122 Saint-Genès Champanelle, France
*
* Correspondence: boissy@clermont.inra.fr
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The concept of quality of life in animals is closely associated with the concepts of animal sentience and animal welfare. It reflects a positive approach that inquires what animals like or prefer doing. The assessment of farm animal welfare requires a good understanding of the animals' affective experience, including their emotions. However, affective experience in animals is difficult to measure because of the absence of verbal communication. Recent studies in the field of cognitive psychology have shown that affective experience can be investigated without using verbal communication by examination of the interactions between emotions and cognition. On the one hand, appraisal theories provide a conceptual framework which suggests that emotions in humans are triggered by a cognitive process whereby the situation is evaluated on a limited number of elementary criteria such as familiarity and predictability. We have applied these appraisal theories to develop an experimental approach for studying the elementary criteria used by farm animals to evaluate their environment and the combinations of those criteria that trigger emotions. On the other hand, an increasing body of research, first in humans and then in other animals, suggests that emotions also influence cognitive processes by modifying attention, memory and judgement in a short- or long-term manner. Cognitive processes could therefore be manipulated and measured to provide new insights into how not only emotions but also more persistent affective states can be assessed in animals. Further work based on these cognitive approaches will offer new paradigms for improving our understanding of animal welfare, thus contributing to ‘a life of high quality’ in animals.

Keywords

animal welfarecognitionemotionfarm animalsquality of life
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 16 , Issue S1: Quality of Life: the heart of the matter: Proceedings of the UFAW/BVA Ethics Committee International Symposium, The Royal Society, London, 13-14 September 2006. , May 2007 , pp. 37 - 43
Copyright
© 2007 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnold, MB 1960 Emotion and Personality. Vol 1: Psychological Aspects. Columbia University Press: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Arnould, C, Quekenborn, D, Mills, AD and Faure, JM 2002 Behaviour and emotional reactivity of quails reared in stable or unstable groups. In: Proceedings of the 36th International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology p 170. International Society for Applied Ethology: Wageningen, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Boissy, A, Manteuffel, G, Jensen, MB, Moe, RO, Spruijt, B, Keeling, LJ, Winckler, C, Forkman, B, Dimitrov, I, Langbein, J, Bakken, M, Veissier, I and Aubert, A 2007 Assessment of positive emotions in animals to improve their welfare. Physiology & Behavior: in press (OnlineEarly Articles doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.02.003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boissy, A, Nowak, R, Orgeur, P and Veissier, I 2001a Les liens sociaux chez les ruminants d'élevage: limites et moyens d'action pour favoriser l'intégration de l'animal dans son milieu. INRA Productions Animales 14: 79–90 [Title translation: Social relationships in domestic ruminants: constraints and means for the integration of the animal into its environment]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boissy, A, Veissier, I and Roussel, S 2001b Emotional reactivity affected by chronic stress: an experimental approach in calves subjected to environmental instability. Animal Welfare 10: S175–S185CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, BP, Mogg, K and Lee, SC 1997 Attentional biases for negative information in induced and naturally occurring dysphoria. Behavioural Research Therapies 35: 911–927CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colson, V, Orgeur, P, Foury, A and Mormède, P 2006 Consequences of weaning piglets at 21 and 28 days on growth, behaviour and hormonal responses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 98: 70–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coutellier, L, Arnould, C, Boissy, A, Orgeur, P, Prunier, A, Veissier, I and Salaun, MC 2007 Pig's responses to repeated social regrouping and relocation during the growing–finishing period. Applied Animal Behaviour Science: in pressGoogle Scholar
Damasio, AR, Grabowski, TJ, Bechara, A, Damasio, H, Ponto, LL, Parvizi, J and Hichwa, RD 2000 Subcortical and cortical brain activity during the feeling of self-generated emotions. Nature Neuroscience 3: 1049–1056CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dantzer, R 1989 L'Illusion Psychosomatique. Editions Odile Jacob: Paris, FranceGoogle Scholar
Dantzer, R 2002 Can farm animal welfare be understood without taking into account the issues of emotion and cognition? Journal of Animal Science 80: E1–E9Google Scholar
Dawkins, MS 1983 La Souffrance Animale. Editions du Point Vétérinaire: Maisons-Alfort, FranceGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, MS 2001 How can we recognise and assess good welfare? In: Broom DM (ed) Coping with Challenge: Welfare in Animals Including Humans pp 63–76. Dahlem University Press: Berlin, GermanyGoogle Scholar
Désiré, L, Boissy, A and Veissier, I 2002 Emotions in farm animals: a new approach to animal welfare in applied ethology. Behavioural Processes 60: 165–180CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Désiré, L, Veissier, I, Després, G and Boissy, A 2004 On the way to assess emotions in animals: do lambs evaluate an event through its suddenness, novelty or unpredictability? Journal of Comparative Psychology 118: 363–374CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Désiré, L, Veissier, I, Després, G, Delval, E, Toporenko, G and Boissy, A 2006 Appraisal process in sheep: interactive effect of suddenness and unfamiliarity on cardiac and behavioural responses. Journal of Comparative Psychology 120: 280–287CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Després, G, Boissy, A, Désiré, L, Le Neindre, P and Veissier, I 2003 Validation of the measure of sympatho-vagal effect in lambs through autonomic blockades and heart rate variability indexes. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances 2: 615–619Google Scholar
Duncan, IJH 1996 Animal welfare in terms of feelings. Acta Agricultura Scandinavica 27: 29–35Google Scholar
Gibbs, ME and Summers, RJ 2000 Separate roles for β2- and β3-adrenoceptors in memory consolidation. Neuroscience 95: 913–922CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greiveldinger, L, Veissier, I and Boissy, A 2007 Predictability and expectations influence emotional responses in lambs. (Poster presentation.) Animal Welfare 16 (S): 170Google Scholar
Harding, EJ, Paul, ES and Mendl, M 2004 Cognitive bias and affective state. Nature 427: 312CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kappas, A 2006 Appraisals are direct, immediate, intuitive, and unwitting… and some are reflective. Cognition and Emotion 20: 952–975CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, M, Meurisse, M and Levy, F 2005 Mapping of brain networks involved in consolidation of lamb recognition memory. Neuroscience 133: 359–369CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lang, FR, Staudinger, UM and Carstensen, LL 1998 Perspectives on socio-emotional selectivity in late life: how personality and social context do (and do not) make a difference. Journal of Gerontology 53: 21–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazarus, RS 1991 Progress on a cognitive–motivational–relational theory of emotion. American Psychology 46: 819–834CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lensink, BJ, Veissier, I and Boissy, A 2006 Enhancement of performances in a learning task in suckler calves after weaning and relocation: motivational versus cognitive control? A pilot study. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 100: 171–181CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, JW 1971 A re-evaluation of the concept of “non-specificity” in stress theory. Journal of Psychiatry Research 8: 323–333CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendl, M and Paul, ES 2004 Consciousness, emotion and animal welfare: insights from cognitive science. Animal Welfare 13: S17–S25CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendl, M, Burman, O, Laughlin, K and Paul, E 2001 Animal memory and animal welfare. Animal Welfare 10: S141–S159CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Panksepp, J 1994 Evolution constructed the potential for subjective experience within the neurodynamics of the mammalian brain. In: Eckman, P and Davidson, RJ (eds) The Nature of Emotion: Fundamental Questions pp 336–399. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Panksepp, J 1998 Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions. Oxford University Press: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Panksepp, J 2003 Can anthropomorphic analyses of separation cries in other animals inform us about the emotional nature of social loss in humans? Psychological Review 110: 376–388CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Panksepp, J 2005 Affective consciousness: core emotional feelings in animals and humans. Consciousness and Cognition 14: 30–80CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pardon, MC, Perez-Diaz, F, Joubert, C and Cohen-Salmon, C 2000 Influence of a chronic ultramild stress procedure on decision-making in mice. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience 25: 167–177Google ScholarPubMed
Paul, ES, Harding, EJ and Mendl, M 2005 Measuring emotional processes in animals: the utility of a cognitive approach. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 29: 469–491CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reisberg, D and Heuer, F 1995 Emotion's multiple effects on memory. In: McGaugh, JL, Weiberger, NM and Lynch, G (eds) Brain and Memory: Modulation and Mediation of Neuroplasticity pp 84–92. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richard, S, Davies, DC and Faure, JM 2003 Stress-induced activation of Fos-like immunoreactivity in the Japanese quail brain. Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis 63: 48Google Scholar
Rolls, ET 2005 Emotion Explained. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roussel, S, Boissy, A, Montigny, D, Hemsworth, PH and Duvaux-Ponter, C 2005 Gender-specific effects of prenatal stress on emotional reactivity and stress physiology of goat kids. Hormones and Behavior 47: 256–266CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roussel, S, Hemsworth, PH, Leruste, H, White, C, Duvaux-Ponter, C, Nowak, R and Boissy, A 2006 Repeated transport and isolation during pregnancy in ewes: effects on the reactivity to humans and to their offspring after lambing. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 97: 172–189CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sandi, C, Loscertales, M and Guaza, C 1997 Experience-dependent facilitating effect of corticosterone on spatial memory formation in the water maze. European Journal of Neurosciences 9: 637–642CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scherer, KR 1987 Toward a dynamic theory of emotion: the component process model of affective states. Geneva Studies in Emotion and Communication 1: 1–98Google Scholar
Scherer, KR 1999 Appraisal theories. In: Dalgleish, T and Power, M (eds) Handbook of Cognition and Emotion pp 637–663. Wiley: Chichester, UKGoogle Scholar
Spruijt, BM, van den Bos, R and Pijlman, FT 2001 A concept of welfare based on reward evaluating mechanisms in the brain: anticipatory behavior as an indicator for the state of reward systems. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 72: 145–171CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valance, D, Boissy, A, Desprès, G, Constantin, P and Leterrier, C 2007a Emotional reactivity modulates autonomic responses to an acoustic challenge in quail. Physiology & Behavior 90: 165–171CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valance, D, Desprès, G, Boissy, A, Mignon-Grasteau, S, Constantin, P and Leterrier, C 2007b Genetic selection on a behavioral fear trait is associated with changes in heart rate variability in quail. Genes, Brain and Behaviour: in press (OnlineEarly Articles doi: 10.1111/j.1601-183X.2006.00262.x)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valance, D, Leterrier, C, Desprès, G, Galand, C, Favreau, A and Boissy, A 2006 Behavioural and cardiac responses to changes in the social and non social environment in quail. In: Proceedings of the 40th International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology p 190. International Society for Applied Ethology: Wageningen, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Veissier, I, Boissy, A, de Passillé, AM, Rushen, J, van Reenen, CG, Roussel, S, Andanson, S and Pradel, P 2001 Calves' responses to repeated social regrouping and relocation. Journal of Animal Sciences 79: 2580–2593Google ScholarPubMed
von Frijtag, JC, Reijmers, LG, van der Harst, JE, Leus, IE, van den Bos, R and Spruijt, BM 2000 Defeat followed by individual housing results in long-term impaired reward- and cognition-related behaviors in rats. Behavioural Brain Research 117: 137–146CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wright, WF and Bower, GH 1992 Mood effects on subjective probability assessment. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 52: 276–291CrossRefGoogle Scholar