Animal welfare methodology and criteria.
(1994)
Journal - Revue scientifique et technique (International Office of Epizootics) (FRANCE )
Abstract :
The concepts of welfare and comfort are relatively new to the veterinary field. For a long time, it was thought that these concepts were equivalent to the absence of pain, stress and suffering, but such a comparison is imprecise. In addition, the application of objective and quantitative criteria to pain and stress has not been as easy as was initially thought. The concept of stress has evolved considerably since the term was coined by H. Selye in the 1950s to denote the non-specific response of an organism to any excessive demand. It is now well established that neurohormonal stress responses do not depend on the physical nature of the stressor, but on the way in which this is perceived and presented to the animal which is exposed to such a situation. The study of stress reactions therefore provides an insight into the subjective world of the animal. Suffering cannot be confined to physical suffering alone, as animals are capable of undergoing mental suffering. Research into the welfare and comfort of animals implies a study of the ability of an animal to express basic species-specific behaviour in the environment in which it is placed. Any discomfort produced by husbandry conditions may be detected through anomalies in the expression of this behaviour, or by examining preferences expressed by animals offered a free choice. All of these elements provide an objective and quantifiable approach to welfare and suffering in animals. But society must determine what is acceptable or not on the basis of these criteria.
| ISSN : | 0253-1933 |
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| Mesh Heading : | Animals Animals, Domestic Pain Stress, Physiological psychology veterinary physiopathology veterinary |
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| Mesh Heading Relevant : | Animal Welfare physiology |
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Septal vasopressin modulates social memory in male rats.
(1988)
Journal - Brain research (NETHERLANDS )
Abstract :
Adult male rats that are confronted with a sexually immature conspecific display a dramatic reduction in investigatory behavior upon re-exposure to the same juvenile when this exposure takes place 30 min after the initial exposure, but not when it is delayed by an interval of 2 h. This behavioral change may be used to measure the duration of the memory that the test animal forms of the stimulus animal. Vasopressin injected directly into the lateral septum of adult male rats at a dose of 0.1 ng facilitated this form of memory, whereas local injection of a specific hydrophilic vasopressor antagonist, desGlyNH2d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)AVP, impaired it. These findings suggest that vasopressinergic innervation of the lateral septum may be physiologically involved in the modulation of social memory in male rats.
| ISSN : | 0006-8993 |
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| Mesh Heading : | Animals Arginine Vasopressin Behavior, Animal Male Memory Rats Rats, Inbred Strains Septum Pellucidum physiology drug effects |
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| Mesh Heading Relevant : | Social Behavior pharmacology drug effects drug effects physiology |
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