1. Vocal expression of emotional valence in pigs across multiple call types and contexts
- Author
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Eva Read, Marek Špinka, Monica Padilla de la Torre, Sandra Düpjan, Richard Policht, Céline Tallet, Pavel Linhart, Marjorie Coulon, Elodie F. Briefer, Birger Puppe, Alain Boissy, Andrew M. Janczak, Edna Hillmann, Lisette M.C. Leliveld, Cécile Bourguet, Véronique Deiss, Carole Guérin, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Zurich, Institute of Animal Science, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Bureau d'Etudes et Travaux de Recherches en Ethologie (ETRE), Unité Mixte de Recherches sur les Herbivores - UMR 1213 (UMRH), VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement (VAS)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Physiologie, Environnement et Génétique pour l'Animal et les Systèmes d'Elevage [Rennes] (PEGASE), AGROCAMPUS OUEST-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Cabinet EASIER, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, ETH, ANR, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Unité Mixte de Recherche sur les Herbivores - UMR 1213 (UMRH), VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement (VAS)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement, AGROCAMPUS OUEST, Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
- Subjects
Emotion ,0303 health sciences ,Communication ,040301 veterinary sciences ,business.industry ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,Sus scrofa ,émotion ,swine ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,Emotional valence ,Acoustic communication ,Vocal expression ,0403 veterinary science ,03 medical and health sciences ,Interactivity ,communication acoustique ,vocalisation ,éthologie appliquée ,business ,Psychology ,030304 developmental biology ,porc - Abstract
Emotions, unlike mood, are short-lived reactions associated with specific events. They can be characterized by two main dimensions, their arousal (bodily activation) and valence (negative versus positive). Knowledge of the valence of emotions experienced by domestic and captive animals is crucial for assessing and improving their welfare, as it enables us to minimize the negative emotions that they might experience and to promote positive ones. Emotions can affect vocalizations directly or indirectly through the brain, lungs, larynx or vocal tract. As a result, vocal expression of emotions has been observed across species, and could serve as a non-invasive and potentially very reliable tool to assess animal emotions. In pigs (Sus scrofa), vocal expression of emotions has been relatively well studied. However, it is not known if the vocal indicators revealed in previous studies are valid across call types and contexts. To find this out, we conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of emotional valence on pig vocalizations, including calls recorded in the most common emotional situations encountered by pigs throughout their lives, from birth to slaughter. Our analyses revealed that pigs produced calls characterized by a higher center of gravity, a shorter duration, less noise (lower Wiener entropy), lower formants (measured using the formant dispersion) and LPC coefficients in positive compared to negative contexts. Overall, these vocal parameters could be very useful for developing automated methods to monitor pig welfare on-farm.
- Published
- 2019