Abstract
Emotions can be defined as an individual's affective reaction to an external and/or internal event that, in turn, generates a simultaneous cascade of behavioral, physiological, and cognitive changes. Those changes that can be perceived by conspecifics have the potential to also affect other's emotional states, a process labeled as “emotional contagion.” Especially in the case of gregarious species, such as livestock, emotional contagion can have an impact on the whole group by, for instance, improving group coordination and strengthening social bonds. We noticed that the current trend of research on emotions in livestock, i.e., investigating affective states as a tool to assess and improve animal welfare, appears to be unbalanced. A majority of studies focuses on the individual rather than the social component of emotions. In this paper, we highlight current limitations in the latter line of research and suggest a stronger emphasis on the mechanisms of how emotions in livestock are transmitted and shared, which could serve as a promising tool to synergistically enhance the welfare of all individuals within a group.
Highlights
Emotions can be defined as an individual’s affective reaction to an external and/or internal event that, in turn, generates a simultaneous cascade of behavioral, physiological, and cognitive changes. Those changes that can be perceived by conspecifics have the potential to affect other’s emotional states, a process labeled as “emotional contagion.”
The lack of verbal communication in non-human animals precludes our access to the subjective component of emotions, there is an array of quantifiable parameters that allow us to assess their physiological, behavioral, and cognitive components
Emotional states in farm animals have been shown to be transmitted via olfactory cues [37], vocalizations [15], and direct observation of conspecific behavior [49]
Summary
Emotions have been defined as short-term affective states elicited by internal and/or external events and are associated with synchronized physiological, behavioral, and cognitive components [1, 2]. The framework proposed by Mendl et al [3] suggests that different aspects of the emotional experience (e.g., neurophysiological, behavioral, and cognitive components) of non-human animals can be assessed along two dimensions, namely valence (negative or positive) and arousal [from low to high [4,5,6]]. An emotion experienced by an individual can lead to changes in its body posture or expressions [e.g., facial or vocal signals/cues; [11,12,13,14]]. Since these expressions can be detected by other individuals, it is plausible that emotions do operate at the individual level, and at the group level
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