scholarly journals Cognitive and Composite Behavioural Welfare Assessments of Pet Cats between the Ages of 9–22 Months, Living in Single and Multi-Cat Households

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1793
Author(s):  
Sezan Ozgunay ◽  
Jane K. Murray ◽  
Elizabeth Rowe ◽  
Nancy R. Gee ◽  
Marije Bartholomeus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acute Stress ◽  
Mood State ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Agonistic Interactions ◽  
Welfare Impact ◽  
Judgment Bias ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Spatial Judgment

Although agonistic interactions between cats are often regarded clinically as a source of stress, there is currently limited research evidence regarding the welfare impact of keeping multiple cats as pets. The aim of this study was to compare welfare indicators between cats living in domestic single and multi-cat households, as well as between multi-cat households where agonistic behaviour was/was not reported by owners. Indicators included a spatial judgment bias task (JBT), where longer latencies to ambiguous probes are interpreted as being related to a more ‘pessimistic’ mood state, and the cat stress score (CSS), where high scores are indicative of high stress levels. Of 128 focal cats between the ages of 9–22 months, 94 were from multi-cat households, 126 had useable CSS data and 42 had JBT results suitable for analysis. CSSs were significantly lower for cats showing a more ‘pessimistic’ response in the JBT. It is possible that the cats that appeared to be the most relaxed may have been showing inactivity relating to negative affective states and/or were the least active/food motivated, and therefore slower in the JBT. CSSs were significantly higher in cats from single compared with multi-cat households, and did not vary with reports of agonistic interactions in multi-cat households. JBT results did not vary depending on the presence of, or reports of agonistic behaviours between, cohabiting cats. These data suggest that cats from single-cat households may be more likely to show signs of acute stress than those in multi-cat households. Alternative explanations are possible. For example, lower CSSs in the multi-cat group may reflect ‘relief’ effects resulting from separating cats for the test period, or inactivity relating to negative affective states. Due to the narrow sample population and broad scope of husbandry conditions, the potential for confounding variables limits the degree by which results can be used to inform causation of the relationships identified. Further research is warranted to replicate this work and explore potential confounders.

scholarly journals Negative emotional contagion and cognitive bias in common ravens (Corvus corax)

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (23) ◽  
pp. 11547-11552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie E. C. Adriaense ◽  
Jordan S. Martin ◽  
Martina Schiestl ◽  
Claus Lamm ◽  
Thomas Bugnyar
Keyword(s):  
Emotional State ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Emotional Contagion ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Judgment Bias ◽  
Negative State ◽  
Negative Condition ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Communication And Coordination

Emotional contagion is described as an emotional state matching between subjects, and has been suggested to facilitate communication and coordination in complex social groups. Empirical studies typically focus on the measurement of behavioral contagion and emotional arousal, yet, while highly important, such an approach often disregards an additional evaluation of the underlying emotional valence. Here, we studied emotional contagion in ravens by applying a judgment bias paradigm to assess emotional valence. We experimentally manipulated positive and negative affective states in demonstrator ravens, to which they responded with increased attention and interest in the positive condition, as well as increased redirected behavior and a left-eye lateralization in the negative condition. During this emotion manipulation, another raven observed the demonstrator’s behavior, and we used a bias paradigm to assess the emotional valence of the observer to determine whether emotional contagion had occurred. Observers showed a pessimism bias toward the presented ambiguous stimuli after perceiving demonstrators in a negative state, indicating emotional state matching based on the demonstrators’ behavioral cues and confirming our prediction of negative emotional contagion. We did not find any judgment bias in the positive condition. This result critically expands upon observational studies of contagious play in ravens, providing experimental evidence that emotional contagion is present not only in mammalian but also in avian species. Importantly, this finding also acts as a stepping stone toward understanding the evolution of empathy, as this essential social skill may have emerged across these taxa in response to similar socioecological challenges.

Immunological variability associated with experimentally-induced positive and negative affective states

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 231-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann D. Futterman ◽  
Margaret E. Kemeny ◽  
David Shapiro ◽  
William Polonsky ◽  
John L. Fahey
Keyword(s):  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Immunological Parameters ◽  
Neutral State ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
Experimentally Induced

SYNOPSISFunctional and phenotypic immunological parameters were examined immediately before, after, and 30 minutes after experimentally-induced short-term positive (happiness) and negative (anxiety, depression) affective states and a neutral state, in five healthy subjects. Results indicated that all affective states induced more immune fluctuations (regardless of the direction) than the neutral state. Furthermore, among the affective states, anxiety induced the most immunological variability and depression the least.

Pain, negative affective states and opioid-based analgesics: Safer pain therapies to dampen addiction

2021 ◽  
pp. 31-68
Author(s):  
Nicolas Massaly ◽  
Tamara Markovic ◽  
Meaghan Creed ◽  
Ream Al-Hasani ◽  
Catherine M. Cahill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Affective States ◽  
Negative Affective States

The healing power of well-being

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 145-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jobin Mathew ◽  
Cheramadathikudyl Scariya Paulose
Keyword(s):  
Brain Function ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Neuroendocrine System ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Functional Correlation ◽  
Enhanced Resistance ◽  
Healing Power ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Physiological Benefits

Neuroendocrine system plays an important role in modulating our body functions and emotions. At the same time, emotions implicate a pivotal role in the regulation of brain function and neuroendocrine system. Negative affective states such as depression and stress are associated with premature mortality and increase the risk of various fatal diseases. It has been suggested that positive affective states are protective and improve our health and productiveness. Several potential mechanisms have been posited to account for these associations including improved health behaviour, direct physiological benefits, enhanced resistance and recovery from stress among individuals with high versus low positive emotional resources. This review summarises information concerning the neuronal and hormonal systems in mood, impact of negative and positive affective states on the level of cortisol, epinephrine, serotonin, dopamine and endorphins. The functional correlation of neuronal and hormonal systems in the development of diseases and their ability to enhance health-relevant biological processes are also evaluated.

scholarly journals Distinct facial expressions represent pain and pleasure across cultures

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (43) ◽  
pp. E10013-E10021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaona Chen ◽  
Carlos Crivelli ◽  
Oliver G. B. Garrod ◽  
Philippe G. Schyns ◽  
José-Miguel Fernández-Dols ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Information Theoretic ◽  
Complementary Approach ◽  
Dynamic Facial Expressions ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Affective Experiences ◽  
New Research

Real-world studies show that the facial expressions produced during pain and orgasm—two different and intense affective experiences—are virtually indistinguishable. However, this finding is counterintuitive, because facial expressions are widely considered to be a powerful tool for social interaction. Consequently, debate continues as to whether the facial expressions of these extreme positive and negative affective states serve a communicative function. Here, we address this debate from a novel angle by modeling the mental representations of dynamic facial expressions of pain and orgasm in 40 observers in each of two cultures (Western, East Asian) using a data-driven method. Using a complementary approach of machine learning, an information-theoretic analysis, and a human perceptual discrimination task, we show that mental representations of pain and orgasm are physically and perceptually distinct in each culture. Cross-cultural comparisons also revealed that pain is represented by similar face movements across cultures, whereas orgasm showed distinct cultural accents. Together, our data show that mental representations of the facial expressions of pain and orgasm are distinct, which questions their nondiagnosticity and instead suggests they could be used for communicative purposes. Our results also highlight the potential role of cultural and perceptual factors in shaping the mental representation of these facial expressions. We discuss new research directions to further explore their relationship to the production of facial expressions.

scholarly journals Toward a Brain-Based Bio-Marker of Guilt

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 263310552095763
Author(s):  
Hongbo Yu ◽  
Leonie Koban ◽  
Molly J. Crockett ◽  
Xiaolin Zhou ◽  
Tor D. Wager
Keyword(s):  
Functional Mri ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Moral Cognition ◽  
Interpersonal Interactions ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Neuroscience Research ◽  
Negative Affective States

Guilt is a quintessential emotion in interpersonal interactions and moral cognition. Detecting the presence and measuring the intensity of guilt-related neurocognitive processes is crucial to understanding the mechanisms of social and moral phenomena. Existing neuroscience research on guilt has been focused on the neural correlates of guilt states induced by various types of stimuli. While valuable in their own right, these studies have not provided a sensitive and specific bio-marker of guilt suitable for use as an indicator of guilt-related neurocognitive processes in novel experimental settings. In a recent study, we identified a distributed Guilt-Related Brain Signature (GRBS) based on 2 independent functional MRI datasets. We demonstrated the sensitivity of GRBS in detecting a critical cognitive antecedent of guilt, namely one’s responsibility in causing harm to another person, across participant populations from 2 distinct cultures (ie, Chinese and Swiss). We also showed that the sensitivity of GRBS did not generalize to other types of negative affective states (eg, physical and vicarious pain). In this commentary, we discuss the relevance of guilt in the broader scope of social and moral phenomena, and discuss how guilt-related biomarkers can be useful in understanding their psychological and neurocognitive mechanisms underlying these phenomena.

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