Efficacy of Intra-Operative Topical Wound Anaesthesia to Mitigate Piglet Castration Pain—A Large, Multi-Centred Field Trial

Piglet castration results in acute pain and stress to the animal. There is a critical need for effective on-farm methods of pain mitigation. Local anaesthesia using Tri-Solfen® (Animal Ethics Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Australia), a topical local anaesthetic and antiseptic formulation instilled to the wound during surgery, is a newly evolving on-farm method to mitigate castration pain. To investigate the efficacy of Tri-Solfen®, instilled to the wound during the procedure, to alleviate subsequent castration-related pain in neonatal piglets, we performed a large, negatively controlled, randomised field trial in two commercial pig farms in Europe. Piglets (173) were enrolled and randomised to undergo castration with or without Tri-Solfen®, instilled to the wound immediately following skin incision. A 30 s wait period was then observed prior to completing castration. Efficacy was investigated by measuring pain-induced motor and vocal responses during the subsequent procedure and post-operative pain-related behaviour in treated versus untreated piglets. There was a significant reduction in nociceptive motor and vocal response during castration and in the post-operative pain-related behaviour response in Tri-Solfen®-treated compared to untreated piglets, in the first 30 min following castration. Although not addressing pain of skin incision, Tri-Solfen® is effective to mitigate subsequent acute castration-related pain in piglets under commercial production conditions.

Feed-forward inhibition fine-tunes response timing in auditory-vocal interactions

The ability to regulate vocal timing is a fundamental aspect of communicative interactions for many species, including conversational speech among humans, yet little is known about the neural circuitry that regulates the input-dependent timing of vocal replies. Exploring this topic in the zebra finch premotor area HVC, we identify feed-forward inhibition as a key regulator of vocal response timing. Based on a spiking network model informed by behavioral and electrophysiological data from communicating zebra finches, we predicted that two different patterns of inhibition regulate vocal-motor responses. In one scenario, the strength of production-related premotor inhibition translates into plasticity in vocal response delays. In the other scenario, fast transient interneuron activity in response to auditory input results in the suppression of call production while a call is heard, thereby reducing acoustic overlap between callers. Extracellular recordings in HVC during the listening phase confirm the presence of auditory-evoked response patterns in putative inhibitory interneurons, along with corresponding signatures of auditory-evoked activity suppression. The proposed model provides a parsimonious framework to explain how auditory-vocal transformations can give rise to vocal turn-taking and highlights multiple roles of local inhibition for behavioral modulation at different time scales.

Conspecific odor cues induce different vocal responses in serrate-legged small treefrogs, but only in the absence of acoustic signals

Background Signal detection is crucial to survival and successful reproduction, and animals often modify behavioral decisions based on information they obtained from the social context. Undeniably, the decision-making in male-male competition and female choice of anurans (frogs and toads) depends heavily on acoustic signals. However, increasing empirical evidence suggests that additional or alternative types of cue (e.g., visual, chemical, and vibratory) can be used to detect, discriminate and locate conspecifics in many anuran species. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated whether conspecific odor cues affect male’s calling behavior. In this study, we conducted an experiment to investigate whether and how different chemical cues (male odors, female odors, and stress odors) from conspecifics affect male’s calling strategies in serrate-legged small treefrogs (Kurixalus odontotarsus), and whether the combined chemical and acoustic stimuli have additive effects on calling behavior or not. Results We found that compared with female odors, male K. odontotarsus reduced calling investment in response to male odors or stress odors, in the absence of rival’s advertisement calls. When odor stimuli and advertisement calls were presented simultaneously, however, there were no differences in the vocal response of focal males among odor groups. Conclusions These results provide evidence that male treefrogs switch calling investment according to different odor cues from conspecifics, and further demonstrate that calling behavior can be affected by chemical cues in anuran species. Our study highlights the potential role of airborne chemical cues in sex identification and contributes to increase our understanding of anuran communication.

Testing the maintenance of natural responses to survival-relevant calls in the conservation breeding population of a critically endangered corvid (Corvus hawaiiensis)

Vocal communication serves an important role in driving animals' social interactions and ultimately their survival. However, natural vocal behavior can erode in human care. Determining if animals in conservation breeding programs exhibit and respond appropriately to species-specific vocalizations is therefore important for ensuring their survival post-release. We tested whether endangered 'alala (Corvus hawaiiensis), which are extinct in nature, have retained their natural responses to survival-relevant vocal calls. We conducted our studies on breeding populations derived from a small number of founding 'alala maintained in human care since their extinction in the wild in 2002. We presented pairs of 'alala with alarm, territorial intrusion, and two types of control playback calls (a non-threatening territorial maintenance call and a novel heterospecific call). 'Alala were significantly more likely to approach the speaker following alarm call playback than other call types, and were more likely to respond to territorial intrusion calls with the same aggressive territorial calls. Males were more likely to make these aggressive calls than females, mirroring their roles in territory defense. We also found individual consistency in the level of vocal behavior response across all call types, indicating that some individuals are more vocal than others. These results are encouraging, showing that 'alala exhibit relevant, species-specific behaviors despite generations under human care. It does illustrate, however, that all individuals do not respond uniformly, so vocal response may be an important factor to consider in determining the release suitability of individuals.

Constraints on vocal production learning in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulates)

Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) are small Australian parrots with a well-documented, learned vocal repertoire and a high degree of vocal production learning. These birds live in large, social flocks and they vocally interact with each other in a dynamic, reciprocal manner. We assume that budgerigars must process and integrate a wide variety of sensory stimuli when selecting appropriate vocal responses to conspecifics during vocal interactions, but the relative contributions of these different stimuli to that process are next to impossible to tease apart in a natural context. Here we show that budgerigars, under operant control, can learn to respond to specific stimuli with a specific vocal response. Budgerigars were trained to produce contact calls to a combination of auditory and visual cues. Birds learned to produce specific contact calls to stimuli that differed either in location (visual or auditory) or quality (visual). Interestingly, the birds could not learn to associate different vocal responses with different auditory stimuli coming from the same location. Surprisingly, this was so even when the auditory stimuli and the responses were the same (i.e., the bird’s own contact call). These results show that even in a highly controlled operant context, acoustic cues alone were not sufficient to support vocal production learning in budgerigars. From a different perspective, these results highlight the significant role that social interaction likely plays in vocal production learning so elegantly shown by Irene Pepperberg’s work in parrots.

Investigating cow−calf contact in cow-driven systems: behaviour of the dairy cow and calf

Research is needed on how technology can facilitate cow−calf contact (CCC). This research communication describes the behaviour of dairy cow−calf pairs in two cow-driven CCC-systems differing in cows' access to the calves through computer-controlled access gates (smart gates, SG). Specifically, cow traffic through SG when visiting their calves, allogrooming, suckling and cross-suckling, cows' eating and resting behaviour and finally vocal response to separation were assessed. After 3 d in an individual calving pen, pairs (n = 8) were moved to the CCC compartment with a cow area, a calf creep and a meeting area. During the next 31 d calves could suckle the cows whenever they visited the meeting area (suckling phase). Cows had free (group 1, n = 4 pairs) or restricted access to the calves based on previous activity in the automatic milking system (group 2, n = 4 pairs). SG's controlled cow traffic between the meeting area and the cow area, in which the cows could access resources such as feed, cubicles, and the automatic milking system. Following the suckling phase cow access into the meeting area was gradually decreased over 9 d (separation phase). During the suckling phase, cows paid frequent and short visits to their calves. Pairs spent in total approximately one h/d suckling and allogrooming. However, the duration and frequencies of these events varied among pairs and groups, as did the vocal response to separation. Restricted access − cows performed more (unrewarded) attempts to visit the calves who cross-suckled more. Collectively, free access to the calves may have been more intuitive and welfare friendly. Although a low sample size limits interpretation beyond description and enabling hypothesis formulation for future research, the results indicate that the cow is motivated to visit her calf, albeit through a SG, thus facilitating particular behaviours for which cow-calf pairs are highly motivated.

Sex differences in the development and expression of a preference for familiar vocal signals in songbirds

Production and perception of birdsong critically depends on early developmental experience. In species where singing is a sexually dimorphic trait, early life song experience may affect later behavior differently between sexes. It is known that both male and female songbirds acquire a life-long memory of early song experience, though its function remains unclear. In this study, we hypothesized that male and female birds express a preference for their fathers’ song, but do so differently depending on the developmental stage. We measured preference for their father’s song over an unfamiliar one in both male and female Bengalese finches at multiple time points across ontogeny, using phonotaxis and vocal response as indices of preference. We found that in males, selective approach to their father’s song decreased as they developed while in females, it remained stable regardless of age. This may correspond to a higher sensitivity to tutor song in young males while they are learning and a retained sensitivity in females because song is a courtship signal that is used throughout life. In addition, throughout development, males vocalized less frequently during presentation of their father’s song compared to unfamiliar song, whereas females emitted more calls to their father’s song. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of why songbirds acquire and maintain such a robust song memory.

Interview during the Russian language Basic State Exam: Interpretation of assessment criteria

This paper sets out to clarify the criteria «Performance of a communicative task» and «Ability to consider the conditions of a speech situation» used for assessing the dialogue assignment at the Basic State Exam interview in the Russian language, as well as to outline directions for training conversational vocal responsiveness. The applied methodology included a correlation and discourse analysis of 9th-grade Russian students’ responses to the questions of the interlocutor-examiner, as well as a review of research and methodological sources. The author of the paper postulates that the fulfilment of the first criterion – «Performance of a communicative task» – entails an adequate interpretation of the question and consequent formulation of a detailed vocal response correlating with the question. A correlation analysis of interviews revealed that students’ inability to interpret questions and their insufficient apperception base generate such errors as violation of the subject domain of the question, question substitution, violation of the theme-rhematic structure of the answer, tautological character of the answer, poorly defined nominal group in the answer, absence of an answer to one of the questions in the series (question pair), formalistic answer. The second assessment criterion «Consideration of the conditions of a speech situation» – is correlated with the recipient factor, expressed in the speech code through the speaker’s performance of rapport-building and metalinguistic speech actions. A discourse analysis of interviews showed that students use numerous non-speech and nominal-speech units in their responses, which enable them to regulate their own mental activity, but appear to be invalid in terms of organising their speech with regard to a recipient. Vocalised pauses, puffs of sounds and filler phrases in the responses indicate tense speech production and a low level of lamprophony, thus making such responses difficult for the examiner to perceive. On the basis of the proposed interpretation of the criteria used for assessing dialogue speech, the author postulates the necessity of training speech responses in a dialogue situation, which can be organised in the following areas: 1) enrichment of the apperception base; 2) training the interpretation of interrogative statements; 3) teaching rapport-building and metalinguistic speech actions aimed at regulating mental activity and considering a recipient. The obtained results can be used for improving the methodology of preparing students for task 4 of the final interview in the Russian language, strengthening the continuity of training for interview at the 9th and Unified State Exam at the 11th grade.

Prefrontal Cortex Involvement during Dual-Task Stair Climbing in Healthy Older Adults: An fNIRS Study

Executive function and motor control deficits adversely affect gait performance with age, but the neural correlates underlying this interaction during stair climbing remains unclear. Twenty older adults (72.7 ± 6.9 years) completed single tasks: standing and responding to a response time task (SC), ascending or descending stairs (SMup, SMdown); and a dual-task: responding while ascending or descending stairs (DTup, DTdown). Prefrontal hemodynamic response changes (∆HbO2, ∆HbR) were examined using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), gait speed was measured using in-shoe smart insoles, and vocal response time and accuracy were recorded. Findings revealed increased ∆HbO2 (p = 0.020) and slower response times (p < 0.001) during dual- versus single tasks. ∆HbR (p = 0.549), accuracy (p = 0.135) and gait speed (p = 0.475) were not significantly different between tasks or stair climbing conditions. ∆HbO2 and response time findings suggest that executive processes are less efficient during dual-tasks. These findings, in addition to gait speed and accuracy maintenance, may provide insights into the neural changes that precede performance declines. To capture the subtle differences between stair ascent and descent and extend our understanding of the neural correlates of stair climbing in older adults, future studies should examine more difficult cognitive tasks.

A Relationship between the Characteristics of the Oval Nucleus of the Mesopallium and Parrot Vocal Response to Playback

Correlations between differences in animal behavior and brain structures have been used to infer function of those structures. Brain region size has especially been suggested to be important for an animal’s behavioral capability, controlled by specific brain regions. The oval nucleus of the mesopallium (MO) is part of the anterior forebrain vocal learning pathway in the parrot brain. Here, we compare brain volume and total number of neurons in MO of three parrot species (the peach-fronted conure, <i>Eupsittula aurea</i>, the peach-faced lovebird, <i>Agapornis roseicollis</i>, and the budgerigar, <i>Melopsittacus undulatus</i>), relating the total neuron numbers with the vocal response to playbacks of each species. We find that individuals with the highest number of neurons in MO had the shortest vocal latency. The peach-fronted conures showed the shortest vocal latency and largest number of MO neurons, the peach-faced lovebird had intermediary levels of both, and the budgerigar had the longest latency and least number of neurons. These findings indicate the MO nucleus as one candidate region that may be part of what controls the vocal capacity of parrots.