Green Care: a Conceptual Framework. A Report of the Working Group on the Health Benefits of Green Care

‘Green Care’ is a range of activities that promotes physical and mental health and well-being through contact with nature. It utilises farms, gardens and other outdoor spaces as a therapeutic intervention for vulnerable adults and children. Green care includes care farming, therapeutic horticulture, animal assisted therapy and other nature-based approaches. These are now the subject of investigation by researchers from many different countries across the world

Coping with unpredictability: Dopaminergic and neurotrophic responses to omission of expected reward in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.).

Comparative studies are imperative for understanding the evolution of adaptive neurobiological processes such as neural plasticity, cognition, and emotion. Previously we have reported that prolonged omission of expected rewards (OER, or 'frustrative nonreward') causes increased aggression in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Here we report changes in brain monoaminergic activity and relative abundance of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and dopamine receptor mRNA transcripts in the same paradigm. Groups of fish were initially conditioned to associate a flashing light with feeding. Subsequently, the expected food reward was delayed for 30 minutes during two out of three meals per day in the OER treatment, while the previously established routine was maintained in control groups. After 8 days there was no effect of OER on baseline brain stem serotonin (5-HT) or dopamine (DA) activity. Subsequent exposure to acute confinement stress led to increased plasma cortisol and elevated turnover of brain stem DA and 5-HT in all animals. The DA response was potentiated and DA receptor 1 (D1) mRNA abundance was reduced in the OER-exposed fish, indicating a sensitization of the DA system. In addition OER suppressed abundance of BDNF in the telencephalon of non-stressed fish. Regardless of OER treatment, a strong positive correlation between BDNF and D1 mRNA abundance was seen in non-stressed fish. This correlation was disrupted by acute stress, and replaced by a negative correlation between BDNF abundance and plasma cortisol concentration. These observations indicate a conserved link between DA, neurotrophin regulation, and corticosteroid-signaling pathways. The results also emphasize how fish models can be important tools in the study of neural plasticity and responsiveness to environmental unpredictability

Transmission of Stress-Induced Learning Impairment and Associated Brain Gene Expression from Parents to Offspring in Chickens

BACKGROUND: Stress influences many aspects of animal behaviour and is a major factor driving populations to adapt to changing living conditions, such as during domestication. Stress can affect offspring through non-genetic mechanisms, but recent research indicates that inherited epigenetic modifications of the genome could possibly also be involved. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Red junglefowl (RJF, ancestors of modern chickens) and domesticated White Leghorn (WL) chickens were raised in a stressful environment (unpredictable light-dark rhythm) and control animals in similar pens, but on a 12/12 h light-dark rhythm. WL in both treatments had poorer spatial learning ability than RJF, and in both populations, stress caused a reduced ability to solve a spatial learning task. Offspring of stressed WL, but not RJF, raised without parental contact, had a reduced spatial learning ability compared to offspring of non-stressed animals in a similar test as that used for their parents. Offspring of stressed WL were also more competitive and grew faster than offspring of non-stressed parents. Using a whole-genome cDNA microarray, we found that in WL, the same changes in hypothalamic gene expression profile caused by stress in the parents were also found in the offspring. In offspring of stressed WL, at least 31 genes were up- or down-regulated in the hypothalamus and pituitary compared to offspring of non-stressed parents. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that, in WL the gene expression response to stress, as well as some behavioural stress responses, were transmitted across generations. The ability to transmit epigenetic information and behaviour modifications between generations may therefore have been favoured by domestication. The mechanisms involved remain to be investigated; epigenetic modifications could either have been inherited or acquired de novo in the specific egg environment. In both cases, this would offer a novel explanation to rapid evolutionary adaptation of a population

Behaviour of Silver Foxes in Traditional Breeding Boxes and in Boxes With an Entrance Tunnel

AbstractThe periparturient behaviour of silver-fox females inside traditional and modified breeding boxes was video-recorded. The behaviour was analysed from 24 hours before parturition to 72 hours after, and in three diurnal periods. Twenty litters had the traditional simple breeding box, whereas 14 litters had a box with a narrow entrance tunnel. Compared to females in traditional boxes, females in tunnel boxes spent more time sleeping inside the box both before and after parturition, cleaning newborn cubs and grooming cubs while lying down, but less time looking out of the box. Excavation performed on the floor prior to parturition was performed equally often in both box types. The differences between box types were particularly pronounced for primiparous vixens. During the three postparturient days most differences in behaviour between box types were only found during working hours (0800-1500h). At this time females in non-tunnel boxes spent considerably less time sleeping and more time in locomotion within the box, looking out of the box, walking into or out of the box, standing partly out of the box, or staying out of the box, than females in tunnel boxes. Cub mortality was lower in tunnel boxes than in non-tunnel boxes. The results indicate that females in tunnel boxes had a more relaxed behaviour and were able to nurture their offspring more effectively. They did not watch their surroundings as frequently as females in traditional breeding boxes. Giving silver foxes a breeding box with an entrance tunnel may improve the welfare of both female and offspring.</jats:p

Fear-Related Behaviour in Two Mouse Strains Differing in Litter Size

AbstractThe present experiment compared the fear-related behaviour of a mouse strain selected over 101 generations for high litter size with that of a randomly selected strain. The H-strain, selected for large litter size, has a mean (± SD) litter size at birth of 21.5 ± 3.5 pups. The randomly bred C-strain has a mean (± SD) litter size of 9.6 ± 2.2 pups. The elevated plus-maze, the light:dark test and a resident:intruder test were used to measure how the mice responded to novelty. In the elevated plus-maze, a well-validated model of animal anxiety, the H-strain was significantly more anxious (having a lower percentage of entries into open arms) than the C-strain at 9 weeks of age. In the light: dark test, in which the light levels were similar to those in the home environment, the H-strain did not differ significantly from the C-strain in its avoidance of the brightest area. In the resident: intruder test, where aggression-trained, older H-strain males were the residents, 11-week-old intruding mice of the C-strain spent a higher percentage of their time in flight and immobility than intruders of the H-strain. There were clear anxiety- and fear-related differences between the strains, which may be related to their selection history. The results illustrate a need for further studies on the consequences of selection for increased production for the ability of animals to adapt to their home environment and cope with environmental changes.</jats:p