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1.
Cell Mol Life Sci ; 81(1): 37, 2024 Jan 12.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38214769

RESUMO

The mechanism underlying the transition from the pre-symptomatic to the symptomatic state is a crucial aspect of epileptogenesis. SYN2 is a member of a multigene family of synaptic vesicle phosphoproteins playing a fundamental role in controlling neurotransmitter release. Human SYN2 gene mutations are associated with epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder. Mice knocked out for synapsin II (SynII KO) are prone to epileptic seizures that appear after 2 months of age. However, the involvement of the endocannabinoid system, known to regulate seizure development and propagation, in the modulation of the excitatory/inhibitory balance in the epileptic hippocampal network of SynII KO mice has not been explored. In this study, we investigated the impact of endocannabinoids on glutamatergic and GABAergic synapses at hippocampal dentate gyrus granule cells in young pre-symptomatic (1-2 months old) and adult symptomatic (5-8 months old) SynII KO mice. We observed an increase in endocannabinoid-mediated depolarization-induced suppression of excitation in young SynII KO mice, compared to age-matched wild-type controls. In contrast, the endocannabinoid-mediated depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition remained unchanged in SynII KO mice at both ages. This selective alteration of excitatory synaptic transmission was accompanied by changes in hippocampal endocannabinoid levels and cannabinoid receptor type 1 distribution among glutamatergic and GABAergic synaptic terminals contacting the granule cells of the dentate gyrus. Finally, inhibition of type-1 cannabinoid receptors in young pre-symptomatic SynII KO mice induced seizures during a tail suspension test. Our results suggest that endocannabinoids contribute to maintaining network stability in a genetic mouse model of human epilepsy.


Assuntos
Transtorno do Espectro Autista , Epilepsia , Sinapsinas , Animais , Camundongos , Endocanabinoides , Camundongos Knockout , Fenótipo , Convulsões , Sinapses , Sinapsinas/genética
2.
Anim Cogn ; 27(1): 38, 2024 May 16.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38750339

RESUMO

This study investigates the musical perception skills of dogs through playback experiments. Dogs were trained to distinguish between two different target locations based on a sequence of four ascending or descending notes. A total of 16 dogs of different breeds, age, and sex, but all of them with at least basic training, were recruited for the study. Dogs received training from their respective owners in a suitable environment within their familiar home settings. The training sequence consisted of notes [Do-Mi-Sol#-Do (C7-E7-G7#-C8; Hz frequency: 2093, 2639, 3322, 4186)] digitally generated as pure sinusoidal tones. The training protocol comprised 3 sequential training levels, with each level consisting of 4 sessions with a minimum of 10 trials per session. In the test phase, the sequence was transposed to evaluate whether dogs used relative pitch when identifying the sequences. A correct response by the dog was recorded as 1, while an incorrect response, occurring when the dog chose the opposite zone of the bowl, was marked as 0. Statistical analyses were performed using a binomial test. Among 16 dogs, only two consistently performed above the chance level, demonstrating the ability to recognize relative pitch, even with transposed sequences. This study suggests that dogs may have the ability to attend to relative pitch, a critical aspect of human musicality.


Assuntos
Música , Cães , Animais , Masculino , Feminino , Percepção Auditiva , Percepção da Altura Sonora , Estimulação Acústica
3.
Anim Cogn ; 27(1): 1, 2024 Feb 14.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38353784

RESUMO

The primary goal of this study was to explore the social buffering effect that humans offer to goats and dogs with limited exposure to human socialization, particularly in situations involving interactions with unfamiliar humans. A total of 13 dogs and 14 goats were selected for the study, all of which had limited prior socialization with humans. Each animal was placed in a testing room with unfamiliar humans for 15 min. Three experimenters aimed to establish a comfortable environment, encouraging social interaction by offering food to the animals and assessing the animals' willingness to accept food and their response to being approached and petted. If both conditions were satisfied, the animals were classified as "social". If one or none of the conditions were met, the animals were classified as "not social". Cortisol levels were measured by collecting blood samples before and after the test. Non-parametric tests together with a GzLM showed that the effect of human social buffering in goats was different in comparison to dogs: goats exhibited higher cortisol levels after the test, while dogs did not show a significant change. Further analysis demonstrated that "social" goats had a lower likelihood of experiencing significant changes in cortisol levels than dogs. Thus, once human interactions are accepted, both species could benefit from social buffering. In summary, this study enhances our understanding of how dogs and goats respond to social interactions with humans in the social buffering effect.


Assuntos
Cabras , Hidrocortisona , Humanos , Cães , Animais , Alimentos , Probabilidade
4.
Front Neuroendocrinol ; 65: 100991, 2022 04.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35227766

RESUMO

This paper intends to apprise the reader regarding the existing knowledge on the neuroanatomical distribution of GnIH-like peptides in in fish and amphibians in both the adult stage and during ontogenesis. The neuroanatomical distribution of GnIH-like neuropeptides appears quite different in the studied species, irrespective of the evolutionary closeness. The topology of the olfactory bulbs can affect the distribution of neurons producing the GnIH-like peptides, with a tendency to show a more extended distribution into the brains with pedunculate olfactory bulbs. Therefore, the variability of the GnIH-like system could also reflect specific adaptations rather than evolutionary patterns. The onset of GnIH expression was detected very early during development suggesting its precocious roles, and the neuroanatomical distribution of GnIH-like elements showed a generally increasing trend. This review highlights some critical technical aspects and the need to increase the number of species to be studied to obtain a complete neuroanatomical picture of the GnIH-like system.


Assuntos
Hormônios Hipotalâmicos , Neuropeptídeos , Anfíbios/metabolismo , Animais , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Gonadotropinas/metabolismo , Hormônios Hipotalâmicos/metabolismo , Neurônios/metabolismo , Neuropeptídeos/metabolismo
5.
Anim Cogn ; 26(3): 791-797, 2023 Jun.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36417021

RESUMO

We report an observational, double-blind study that examined puppies' behaviors while engaged in solving an experimental food retrieval task (food retrieval task instrument: FRTI). The experimental setting included passive social distractors (i.e., the dog's owner and a stranger). The focus was on how the social and physical environment shapes puppies' behaviors according to sex. The dependent variables were the number of tasks solved on an apparatus (Performance Index) and the time required to solve the first task (Speed). Sex and Stress were set as explanatory factors, and Social Interest, FRTI interactions, other behavior, and age as covariates. The main findings were that male puppies solved the first task faster than females. On the other hand, females displayed significantly more social interest and did so more rapidly than males. Males showed delayed task resolution. This study demonstrates sex differences in a problem-solving task in dog puppies for the first time, thus highlighting that sexually dimorphic behavioral differences in problem-solving strategies develop early on during ontogenesis.


Assuntos
Comportamento Animal , Resolução de Problemas , Masculino , Animais , Feminino , Cães , Comportamento Social , Alimentos
6.
Anim Cogn ; 26(4): 1241-1250, 2023 Jul.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37010698

RESUMO

We report an observational, double-blind, experimental study that examines the effects of human emotional odors on puppies between 3 and 6 months and adult dogs (one year and upwards). Both groups were exposed to control, human fear, and happiness odors in a between subjects' design. The duration of all behaviors directed to the apparatus, the door, the owner, a stranger, and stress behaviors was recorded. A discriminant analysis showed that the fear odor activates consistent behavior patterns for both puppies and adult dogs. However, no behavioral differences between the control and happiness odor conditions were found in the case of puppies. In contrast, adult dogs reveal distinctive patterns for all three odor conditions. We argue that responses to human fear chemosignals systematically influence the behaviors displayed by puppies and adult dogs, which could be genetically prefigured. In contrast, the effects of happiness odors constitute cues that require learning during early socialization processes, which yield consistent patterns only in adulthood.


Assuntos
Felicidade , Feromônios Humano , Animais , Cães , Humanos , Método Duplo-Cego , Emoções/fisiologia , Medo/fisiologia , Odorantes , Fatores Etários
7.
Anim Cogn ; 25(1): 137-148, 2022 Feb.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34355289

RESUMO

Sex differences in the behavioral responses of Labrador Retriever dogs in the Strange Situation Test were explored. Behaviors expressed by dogs during seven 3-min episodes were analyzed through a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The scores of factors obtained were analyzed with a Generalized Linear Mixed Model to reveal the effects of the dog's sex and age and the owner's sex. In Episode 1 (dog and owner) and 5 (dog alone), the PCA identified three and two factors, respectively, which overall explained 68.7% and 59.8% of the variance, with no effect of sex. In Episodes 2 (dog, owner, and stranger), 3 and 6 (dog and stranger), and 4 and 7 (dog and owner), the PCA identified four factors, which overall explained 51.0% of the variance. Effects of sex were found on: Factor 1 (distress), with lower scores obtained by females in Episode 2 and higher in Episode 3; Factor 2 (sociability), which was overall higher in females; Factor 3 (separation-distress), with females, but not males, obtaining higher scores when left with the stranger than when with the owner. Therefore, females were overall more social but seemed more affected than males by the owner's absence. Parallels can be traced between our results and sex differences found in adult human romantic attachment, suggesting that the dog-owner bond has characteristics that are not found in the infant-mother relationship.


Assuntos
Vínculo Humano-Animal , Amor , Animais , Cães , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Caracteres Sexuais
8.
Anim Cogn ; 24(3): 541-553, 2021 May.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33219880

RESUMO

In recent decades, cognitive and behavioral knowledge in dogs seems to have developed considerably, as deduced from the published peer-reviewed articles. However, to date, the worldwide trend of scientific research on dog cognition and behavior has never been explored using a bibliometric approach, while the evaluation of scientific research has increasingly become important in recent years. In this review, we compared the publication trend of the articles in the last 34 years on dogs' cognitive and behavioral science with those in the general category "Behavioral Science". We found that, after 2005, there has been a sharp increase in scientific publications on dogs. Therefore, the year 2005 has been used as "starting point" to perform an in-depth bibliometric analysis of the scientific activity in dog cognitive and behavioral studies. The period between 2006 and 2018 is taken as the study period, and a backward analysis was also carried out. The data analysis was performed using "bibliometrix", a new R-tool used for comprehensive science mapping analysis. We analyzed all information related to sources, countries, affiliations, co-occurrence network, thematic maps, collaboration network, and world map. The results scientifically support the common perception that dogs are attracting the interest of scholars much more now than before and more than the general trend in cognitive and behavioral studies. Both, the changes in research themes and new research themes, contributed to the increase in the scientific production on the cognitive and behavioral aspects of dogs. Our investigation may benefit the researchers interested in the field of cognitive and behavioral science in dogs, thus favoring future research work and promoting interdisciplinary collaborations.


Assuntos
Bibliometria , Amigos , Animais , Cognição , Cães , Humanos
9.
Anim Cogn ; 24(2): 299-309, 2021 Mar.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33459909

RESUMO

This research focuses on sex differences in the behavioral patterns of dogs when they are exposed to human chemosignals (sweat) produced in happy and fear contexts. No age, breed or apparatus-directed behavior differences were found. However, when exposed to fear chemosignals, dogs' behavior towards their owners, and their stress signals lasted longer when compared to being exposed to happiness as well as control chemosignals. In the happy odor condition, females, in contrast to males, displayed a significantly higher interest to the stranger compared to their owner. In the fear condition, dogs spent more time with their owner compared to the stranger. Behaviors directed towards the door, indicative of exit interest, had a longer duration in the fear condition than the other two conditions. Female dogs revealed a significantly longer door-directed behavior in the fear condition compared to the control condition. Overall the data shows that the effect of exposure to human emotional chemosignals is not sex dependent for behaviors related to the apparatus, the owner or the stress behaviors; however, in the happiness condition, females showed a stronger tendency to interact with the stranger.


Assuntos
Felicidade , Feromônios Humano , Animais , Comportamento Animal , Cães , Emoções , Medo , Feminino , Masculino , Caracteres Sexuais
10.
Anim Cogn ; 23(5): 833-841, 2020 Sep.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32451634

RESUMO

In this review, we have analyzed the studies on the "mismatch paradigm" or "contrasting paradigm", in which the word indicates an intent that is opposite to the gesture in dogs and children. The studies on children highlighted the importance of the type of gestural messages that, when delivered in a non-ostensive manner, assume less value than the verbal indication; whereas, when more emphasis is given to the gestures, it produces opposite results. Word-trained dogs appear to rely more on words, but in the absence of such specific training, dogs rely more on gestures either in transitive or intransitive actions. Moreover, gestural communication appears easier to generalize, since dogs respond equally well to the gestural messages of familiar persons and strangers, whereas their performance lowers when a stranger provides a vocal message. Visual signals trigger faster responses than auditory signals, whereas verbal indications can at most equal the gestural latencies, but never overcome them. Female dogs appeared to be more proficient in the interpretation of gestural commands, while males performed better in the case of verbal commands. Based on a PRISMA analyses from the Web of Science database, three papers on children and four on dogs were retrieved. Our analyses revealed that gestures are more reliable reference points than words for dogs and children. Future studies should focus on choices related to objects of different values for the subjects. Moreover, the choices of dogs should be compared using known and unknown objects, which might help clarify how familiarity with the objects could differently influence their responses.


Assuntos
Gestos , Intenção , Acústica , Animais , Cães , Feminino , Masculino
11.
Anim Cogn ; 22(1): 127-131, 2019 Jan.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30421377

RESUMO

Inhibitory control is a collection of several processes that are aimed to refrain from any impulsive response in the subject during inappropriate situations. Evidence suggests that in dogs, the inhibitory control is affected by domestication process, but also experiences during ontogeny could be an important driver in acquiring inhibitory control. The aim of the study was to compare the performance of highly trained dogs (i.e., water rescue dogs) and pet dogs in the A-not-B task. In this procedure, the animals have to inhibit their urge of going to a previous reinforced place. The results showed that the trained dogs committed fewer errors in the task than the pet dogs suggesting a better inhibitory control. This result could indicate that inhibitory control is a flexible ability affected by ontogenetic processes such as the training experience.


Assuntos
Comportamento Animal , Cães , Inibição Psicológica , Animais , Feminino , Aprendizagem , Masculino
12.
Anim Cogn ; 21(1): 119-126, 2018 01.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29134447

RESUMO

The present study assessed how dogs weigh gestural versus verbal information communicated to them by humans in transitive actions. The dogs were trained by their owners to fetch an object under three conditions: a bimodal congruent condition characterized by using gestures and voices simultaneously; a unimodal gestural condition characterized by using only gestures; and a unimodal verbal condition characterized by using only voices. An additional condition, defined as a bimodal incongruent condition, was later added, in which the gesture contrasted with the verbal command, that is, the owner indicated an object while pronouncing the name of the other object visible to dogs. In the incongruent condition, seven out of nine dogs choose to follow the gestural indication and performed above chance, two were at chance, whereas none of the dogs followed the verbal cues above chance. The dogs, as a group, performed above chance the gestural command in 73.6% of cases. The analysis of latencies in the above-mentioned four conditions exhibited significant differences. The unimodal verbal and the gestural conditions recorded a slower performance than both the bimodal incongruent and congruent conditions. No statistical differences were observed between the unimodal and bimodal conditions. Our results demonstrate that dogs, trained to respond equally well to gestural and verbal commands, choose to follow the indication provided by the gestural command than the verbal one to a significant extent in transitive actions. Furthermore, the responses to bimodal conditions were found to be quicker than the unimodal ones.


Assuntos
Comportamento de Escolha , Cães/psicologia , Gestos , Comportamento Verbal , Animais , Comunicação , Sinais (Psicologia) , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino
13.
Anim Cogn ; 21(1): 67-78, 2018 01.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28988316

RESUMO

We report a study examining interspecies emotion transfer via body odors (chemosignals). Do human body odors (chemosignals) produced under emotional conditions of happiness and fear provide information that is detectable by pet dogs (Labrador and Golden retrievers)? The odor samples were collected from the axilla of male donors not involved in the main experiment. The experimental setup involved the co-presence of the dog's owner, a stranger and the odor dispenser in a space where the dogs could move freely. There were three odor conditions [fear, happiness, and control (no sweat)] to which the dogs were assigned randomly. The dependent variables were the relevant behaviors of the dogs (e.g., approaching, interacting and gazing) directed to the three targets (owner, stranger, sweat dispenser) aside from the dogs' stress and heart rate indicators. The results indicated with high accuracy that the dogs manifested the predicted behaviors in the three conditions. There were fewer and shorter owner directed behaviors and more stranger directed behaviors when they were in the "happy odor condition" compared to the fear odor and control conditions. In the fear odor condition, they displayed more stressful behaviors. The heart rate data in the control and happy conditions were significantly lower than in the fear condition. Our findings suggest that interspecies emotional communication is facilitated by chemosignals.


Assuntos
Comunicação , Cães/fisiologia , Emoções/fisiologia , Odorantes , Suor , Animais , Comportamento Animal/fisiologia , Medo/fisiologia , Feminino , Felicidade , Humanos , Masculino , Animais de Estimação/fisiologia , Adulto Jovem
14.
Anim Cogn ; 20(5): 881-890, 2017 Sep.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28653115

RESUMO

Researchers have suggested that dogs are able to recognise human faces, but conclusive evidence has yet to be found. Experiment 1 of this study investigated whether dogs can recognise humans using visual information from the face/head region, and whether this also occurs in conditions of suboptimal visibility of the face. Dogs were presented with their owner's and a stranger's heads, protruding through openings of an apparatus in opposite parts of the experimental setting. Presentations occurred in conditions of either optimal or suboptimal visibility; the latter featured non-frontal orientation, uneven illumination and invisibility of outer contours of the heads. Instances where dogs approached their owners with a higher frequency than predicted by chance were considered evidence of recognition. This occurred only in the optimal condition. With a similar paradigm, Experiment 2 investigated which of the alterations in visibility that characterised the suboptimal condition accounted for dogs' inability to recognise owners. Dogs approached their owners more frequently than predicted by chance if outer head contours were visible, but not if heads were either frontally oriented or evenly illuminated. Moreover, male dogs were slightly better at recognition than females. These findings represent the first clear demonstration that dogs can recognise human faces and that outer face elements are crucial for such a task, complementing previous research on human face processing in dogs. Parallels with face recognition abilities observed in other animal species, as well as with human infants, point to the relevance of these results from a comparative standpoint.


Assuntos
Cães/psicologia , Face , Reconhecimento Psicológico , Adulto , Animais , Feminino , Cabeça , Humanos , Masculino , Percepção Visual
15.
Anim Cogn ; 20(4): 777-787, 2017 07.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28508126

RESUMO

In many studies that have investigated whether dogs' capacities to understand human pointing gestures are aspects of evolutionary or developmental social competences, family-owned dogs have been compared to shelter dogs. However, for most of these studies, the origins of shelter dogs were unknown. Some shelter dogs may have lived with families before entering shelters, and from these past experiences, they may have learned to understand human gestures. Furthermore, there is substantial variation in the methodology and analytic approaches used in such studies (e.g. different pointing protocols, different treatment of trials with no-choice response and indoor vs. outdoor experimental arenas). Such differences in methodologies and analysis techniques used make it difficult to compare results obtained from different studies and may account for the divergent results obtained. We thus attempted to control for several parameters by carrying out a test on dynamic proximal and distal pointing. We studied eleven kennel dogs of known origin that were born and raised in a kennels with limited human interaction. This group was compared to a group of eleven dogs comparable in terms of breed, sex and age that had lived with human families since they were puppies. Our results demonstrate that pet dogs outperform kennel dogs in their comprehension of proximal and distal pointing, regardless of whether trials where no-choice was made were considered as errors or were excluded from statistical analysis, meaning that dogs living in kennels do not understand pointing gestures. Even if genetic effects of the domestication process on human-dog relationships cannot be considered as negligible, our data suggest that dogs need to learn human pointing gestures and thus underscore the importance of ontogenetic processes.


Assuntos
Compreensão , Cães , Gestos , Animais , Comportamento de Escolha , Feminino , Humanos , Aprendizagem , Habilidades Sociais
16.
J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol ; 326(1): 19-30, 2016 Jan.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26541902

RESUMO

Proliferation and apoptosis are fundamental processes in the development of the retina, and a proper balance of the two phenomena is crucial to correct development of the organ. Despite intense investigation in different vertebrates, only a few studies have analyzed the cell death and the cell division quantitatively in the same species during development. Here we studied the time course of apoptosis and proliferation in the retina of common toad, Bufo bufo, and discuss the findings in an evolutionary perspective. We found cells that were dividing first scattered throughout the retina, then, in later stages, proliferation was confined to the ciliary marginal zone. This pattern was confirmed by the expression of the proliferative marker PCNA. Both proliferation and apoptosis occurred in successive waves, and two apoptotic peaks were detected: one at premetamorphosis 1 and the second at prometamorphosis. PARP-1, a known molecular marker of apoptosis, was used to confirm the data obtained by counting pyknotic nuclei. In summary, proliferative and apoptotic waves display an inverse time-relationship through development, with apoptotic peaks coinciding with low proliferation phases. In a comparative perspective, amphibians follow a developmental pattern similar to other vertebrates, although with different timing.


Assuntos
Apoptose , Bufo bufo/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Retina/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Animais , Proliferação de Células , Larva/citologia , Larva/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Metamorfose Biológica , Poli(ADP-Ribose) Polimerases/metabolismo , Antígeno Nuclear de Célula em Proliferação/metabolismo , Retina/citologia
17.
Cell Tissue Res ; 364(1): 43-57, 2016 Apr.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26453401

RESUMO

The nervus terminalis (NT) is the most anterior of the vertebrate cranial nerves. In teleost fish, the NT runs across all olfactory components and shows high morphological variability within this taxon. We compare the anatomical distribution, average number and size of the FMRFamide-immunoreactive (ir) NT cells of fourteen teleost species with different positions of olfactory bulbs (OBs) with respect to the ventral telencephalic area. Based on the topology of the OBs, three different neuroanatomical organizations of the telencephalon can be defined, viz., fish having sessile (Type I), pseudosessile (short stalked; Type II) or stalked (Type III) OBs. Type III topology of OBs appears to be a feature associated with more basal species, whereas Types I and II occur in derived and in basal species. The displacement of the OBs is positively correlated with the peripheral distribution of the FMRFamide-ir NT cells. The number of cells is negatively correlated with the size of the cells. A dependence analysis related to the type of OB topology revealed a positive relationship with the number of cells and with the size of the cells, with Type I and II topologies of OBs showing significantly fewer cells and larger cells than Type III. A dendrogram based on similarities obtained by taking into account all variables under study, i.e., the number and size of the FMRFamide-ir NT cells and the topology of OBs, does not agree with the phylogenetic relationships amongst species, suggesting that divergent or convergent evolutionary phenomena produced the olfactory components studied.


Assuntos
Embrião não Mamífero/embriologia , FMRFamida/farmacologia , Bulbo Olfatório/embriologia , Animais , Cipriniformes , Embrião não Mamífero/citologia , Bulbo Olfatório/citologia
18.
Anim Cogn ; 19(3): 565-70, 2016 May.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26803607

RESUMO

Life experiences and living conditions can influence the problem-solving strategies and the communicative abilities of dogs with humans. The goals of this study were to determine any behavioural differences between Labrador Retrievers living in a kennel and those living in a house as pets and to assess whether kennel dogs show preferences in social behaviours for their caretaker relative to a stranger when they are faced with an unsolvable task. Nine Labrador Retrievers living in a kennel from birth and ten Labrador Retrievers living in a family as pets were tested. The experimental procedure consisted of three "solvable" tasks in which the dogs could easily retrieve food from a container followed by an "unsolvable" task in which the container was hermetically locked. Dogs of both groups spent the same amount of time interacting with the experimental apparatus. Kennel dogs gazed towards people for less time and with higher latency than pet dogs; however, there were no significant preferences in gazing towards the stranger versus the caretaker in both groups. These findings demonstrated that kennel dogs are less prone to use human-directed gazing behaviour when they are faced with an unsolvable problem, taking the humans into account to solve a task less than do the pet dogs.


Assuntos
Atenção/fisiologia , Cães , Resolução de Problemas/fisiologia , Animais , Comportamento Animal/fisiologia , Comunicação , Sinais (Psicologia) , Humanos , Animais de Estimação , Comportamento Social
19.
Anim Cogn ; 19(6): 1231-1235, 2016 11.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27338818

RESUMO

We assessed how water rescue dogs, which were equally accustomed to respond to gestural and verbal requests, weighted gestural versus verbal information when asked by their owner to perform an action. Dogs were asked to perform four different actions ("sit", "lie down", "stay", "come") providing them with a single source of information (in Phase 1, gestural, and in Phase 2, verbal) or with incongruent information (in Phase 3, gestural and verbal commands referred to two different actions). In Phases 1 and 2, we recorded the frequency of correct responses as 0 or 1, whereas in Phase 3, we computed a 'preference index' (percentage of gestural commands followed over the total commands responded). Results showed that dogs followed gestures significantly better than words when these two types of information were used separately. Females were more likely to respond to gestural than verbal commands and males responded to verbal commands significantly better than females. In the incongruent condition, when gestures and words simultaneously indicated two different actions, the dogs overall preferred to execute the action required by the gesture rather than that required verbally, except when the verbal command "come" was paired with the gestural command "stay" with the owner moving away from the dog. Our data suggest that in dogs accustomed to respond to both gestural and verbal requests, gestures are more salient than words. However, dogs' responses appeared to be dependent also on the contextual situation: dogs' motivation to maintain proximity with an owner who was moving away could have led them to make the more 'convenient' choices between the two incongruent instructions.


Assuntos
Cognição , Comunicação , Gestos , Animais , Cães , Feminino , Vínculo Humano-Animal , Humanos , Masculino
20.
Anim Cogn ; 18(4): 937-44, 2015 Jul.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25800170

RESUMO

The present study aimed at evaluating possible behavioural differences between guide dogs living in a kennel and interacting with a trainer and those living in a house and interacting with a blind person and their family, when they are faced with an unsolvable task. Fifty-two Labrador retrievers were tested: 13 Trained Guide dogs at the end of their training programme and 11 Working Guide dogs that had been living with their blind owner for at least 1 year. Two control groups of Labrador retrievers were also tested: 14 Young Untrained dogs of the same age as the Trained Guide and 14 Old Untrained dogs of the same age as the Working Guide dogs. Results showed that the Trained Guide dogs gazed towards the owner or the stranger for less time and with a higher latency and spent more time interacting with the experimental apparatus than the other three groups, which all behaved similarly. None of the groups tested showed preferences in gazing towards the stranger or the owner. Together, the results suggest that at the end of their training programme, guide dogs are less prone to engage in human-directed gazing behaviour and more likely to act independently when facing an unsolvable task. Conversely, guide dogs that have been living with a blind person (and their family) for 1 year behave like pet dogs. These findings indicate that guide dogs' gazing towards humans is favoured by living in close proximity with people and by interacting with them.


Assuntos
Comportamento Animal , Cães/psicologia , Movimentos Oculares , Fatores Etários , Animais , Atenção , Sinais (Psicologia) , Feminino , Humanos , Itália , Masculino , Animais de Estimação , Resolução de Problemas
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