Pain and stress in crustaceans?
We consider evidence that crustaceans might experience pain and stress in ways that are analogous to those of vertebrates. Various criteria are applied that might indicate a potential for pain experience: (1) a suitable central nervous system and receptors, (2) avoidance learning, (3) protective motor reactions that might include reduced use of the affected area, […]
The relationship between housing and social rant on cortisol, Beta endorphin and dynorphin secretion in sows
Endogenous opioids and glucocorticoids may be useful welfare indicators in pigs. Measures of plasma cortisol were carried out in plasma samples collected hourly, from 8:00 to 17:00 h from High Ranking (HR) (n=5) Middle Ranking (MR) (n=7) and Low Ranking (LR) (n=4) group housed sows and from eight Stall Housed Sows (SHS). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) […]
Stereotypic behavior, endogenous opioids, and postfeeding hypoalgesia in pigs
Tethered sows, some of which performed marked behavioral stereotypies after feeding, were injected IM with 1 mg/kg of naloxone 30 min before feeding (with 2 saline control days). Tail-flick latencies on a pain-sensitivity test were recorded before and after feeding. On control days, tail-flick latencies after feeding were longer than those before feeding, and this […]
Brain measures which tell us about animal welfare
Studies of the brain inform us about the cognitive abilities of animals and hence affect the extent to which animals of that species are respected. However, they can also tell us how an individual is likely to be perceiving, attending to, evaluating, coping with, enjoying, or disturbed by its environment, and so can give direct […]
Pain-suppressed behaviors in the red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Our ability to provide analgesia in wild and exotic patients is hampered by a lack of species-specific information on effective drugs and protocols. One contributing factor is the difficulty of applying data from traditional laboratory tests of nociception to clinical conditions frequently involving combinations of inflammatory, mechanical, and neuropathic pain. Pain-suppressed behaviors have become a […]
Enkephalin and dynorphin mRNA expression are associated with resilience or vulnerability to chronic social defeat stress
There are important and enduring differences between individuals in the magnitude of all aspects of the stress response. Among the neuropeptide systems, the endogenous opioids enkephalin (ENK) and dynorphin (DYN), are very interesting candidates to participate in the naturally occurring variations in coping styles and to determine the individual capacity for adaptation during chronic stress […]