0000000000220468
AUTHOR
Matthieu Keller
Can horses discriminate human body odors from joy and fear contexts?
Animals are commonly believed to detect human emotions through smell, in link with the primitive and ubiquitous characteristics of chemoreception. Indeed, the brain areas dedicated to odor processing are among the oldest structures in mammalian evolution, and chemosignals may play a role in interspecific communication. However, few studies have conclusively demonstrated that animals can perceive human emotions through smell. To determine whether horses can discriminate between human odors of fear and joy, a habituation-discrimination protocol was used. Horses were exposed to sweat odors from humans who declared they had experienced fear or joy while viewing a comedy or a horror film, respec…
Seasonal diet-based resistance to anticoagulant rodenticides in the fossorial water vole (Arvicola amphibius)
International audience; Anticoagulant rodenticides (AR) resistance has been defined as "a major loss of efficacy due to the presence of a strain of rodent with a heritable and commensurately reduced sensitivity to the anticoagulant". The mechanism that supports this resistance has been identified as based on mutations in the Vkorc1 gene leading to severe resistance in rats and mice. This study evaluates the validity of this definition in the fossorial water vole and explores the possibility of a non-genetic diet-based resistance in a strict herbivorous rodent species. Genetic support was explored by sequencing the Vkorc1 gene and the diet-based resistance was explored by the dosing of vitam…
Neuroendocrine and behavioral consequences of peripubertal exposition to male odor in female mice
International audience