Keyword : Memory

What are farm animals thinking?

David Grimm

Published in 2023

Article summarizing recent research on the mental faculties of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs, describing the importance of this work   in better addressing the needs of the above species, and explaining why it had not previously been  arried out.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Category of animals: Bovines, Caprines, Ovines, Porcines

Keywords:Consciousness, Memory, Metacognition, Personality, Cognitive process, Human-animal relationship

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How poultry perceive and interpret their environment: scientific research and application examples

Rachel Degrande, Vitor Hugo Bessa Ferreira, Vanessa Guesdon, Ludovic Calandreau

Published in 2023

Scientific review emphasising that poultry have varied and well-developed senses, that they interact with each other, that they are capable of learning, and that they have  a much wider repertoire of cognitive skills than is often assumed.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal adaptation to environment, Animal-based measurement, Learning, Enrichment, Memory, Living environment, Cognitive process

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Environmental enrichment improves cognitive flexibility in rainbow trout in a visual discrimination task: first insights

Valentin Brunet, Thomas Lafond, Aude Kleiber, Léa Lansade, Ludovic Calandreau, Violaine Colson

Published in 2023

Scientific article studying the impact of environmental enrichment on the cognitive abilities of rainbow trout as a model aquaculture species. Using an operant conditioning device, after an acquisition phase in which the fish learned to discriminate between two colors, they all successfully completed four inversion learning tasks, demonstrating the cognitive flexibility of rainbow trout. They all passed the generalization task. Fish raised in an enriched environment performed better in the acquisition phase and in inversion learning.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords: Cognitive process, Enrichment, Memory,Learning

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Do Insects Feel Joy and Pain?

Lars Chittka

Published in 2023

Article summarizing the current state of knowledge on cognition, emotions and pain perception in insects, and the ethical consequences of such knowledge for our relationship with insects, particularly in their breeding and use for scientific purposes.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Insects

Keywords:Animal-based measurement, Pain, Experimentation, Memory, Human-animal relationships

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Birds of a Feather Video-Flock Together: Design and Evaluation of an Agency-Based Parrot-to-Parrot Video-Calling System for Interspecies Ethical Enrichment.

Rebecca Kleinberger, Jennifer Cunha, Megha M Vemuri, Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas

Published in 2023

Scientific article summarizing current knowledge of birds' powers of perception and action cabilities and presenting the results of an experiment that uses video conferencing as an enrichment tool in parrots.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal Categories:Birds (excluding poultry)

Keywords:Learning, Consciousness, Enrichment, Memory, Human-animal relationships

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Cleaner fish recognize self in a mirror via self-face recognition like humans

Masanori Kohda, Redouan Bshary, Naoki Kubo, Shumpei Sogawa

Published in 2023

Scientific article showing that the cleaner fish (Labroides dimidiatus) is able to recognize itself in a mirror and in a photograph, and to distinguish itself from its relatives, which proves that it has the necessary cognitive capacities to build a mental image of itself.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Awareness, Memory, Metacognition, Evolutionary process

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Effects of Music Therapy on Neuroplasticity, Welfare, and Performance of Piglets Exposed to Music Therapy in the Intra- and Extra-Uterine Phases

Isabella Cristina de Castro Lippi, Fabiana Ribeiro Caldara, Ibiara Correia de Lima Almeida-Paz, Henrique Biasotto Morais, Agnês Markiy Odakura, Elisabete Castelon Konkiewitz, Welber Sanches Ferreira, Thiago Leite Fraga, Maria Fernanda de Castro Burbarelli, Gisele Aparecida Felix, Rodrigo Garófallo Garcia, Luan Sousa dos Santos

Published in 2022

Scientific paper showing that intra- and extra-uterine exposure of piglets to music maintains high levels of BDNF, which contributes to neuroplasticity, between birth and weaning and is associated with higher weaning weights.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Enrichment, Brain integration, Memory, Prenatal

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Welfare of pigs on farm

EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW): Søren Saxmose Nielsen, Julio Alvarez, Dominique Joseph Bicout, Paolo Calistri, Elisabetta Canali, Julian Ashley Drewe, Bruno Garin-Bastuji, Jose Luis Gonzales Rojas, Christian Gortázar Schmidt, Mette Herskin, Virginie Michel, Miguel Ángel Miranda Chueca, Barbara Padalino, Paolo Pasquali, Helen Clare Roberts, Hans Spoolder, Karl Stahl, Antonio Velarde, Arvo Viltrop, Christoph Winckler

Published in 2022

EFSA scientific opinion on the welfare of all categories of pigs found in the main European farming systems. It identifies the most important welfare risks,  the appropriate animal based measurements, and their consequences, describing preventive and corrective measures. It provides recommendations for each system to address specific pig welfare issues related to tail biting and the European citizens' initiative "End the Cage Age".

Document Types: Opinions

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Animal-based measurement,Animaladaptation, Animal to environment, Consciousness, Housing, Memory, Enrichment, Risk management, Human-animal relationship, Human-animal relationship, Stress, Societal issues, Livestock system, Mutilations, Welfare indicator

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A Review of Equine Sleep: Implications for Equine Welfare

Linda Greening, Sebastian McBride

Published in 2022

Scientific review of equine sleep characteristics: what is "normal" sleep in horses? what methods are used to measure it? what factors affect sleep quality or quantity? and are changes in sleep quality and/or quantity associated with negative impacts on horse welfare? The review identifies knowledge gaps for future research.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Animal-based measurement, Consciousness, Memory

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Motivational trade-offs and modulation of nociception in bumblebees

Matilda Gibbons, Elisabetta Versace, Andrew Crump, Bartosz Baran, Lars Chittka

Published in 2022

Paper demonstrating the existence of motivational trade-offs in the nociceptive responses of bumblebees, which are able to use contextual information to modulate their nociceptive behaviours. It also suggests that insects have the capacity to feel pain

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Insects

Keywords:Pain, Memory, Cognitive processes

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