Effects of caudolateral neostriatal ablations on pain-related behaviour in the chicken.
As a measure of pain-related behaviour, beak guarding was investigated by recording the pecking response of adult chickens to a visually attractive stimulus before and after bilateral suction ablation of the caudolateral neostriatum (CLN). Two control groups of birds were used: a sham-operated group and an ablated group, in which the ablation was confined to the rostral dorsolateral telencephalon. Comparing the birds that had undergone ablation with the sham-operated controls showed that the ablation did not affect pecking behaviour. Five days after ablation, all birds were subjected to partial amputation of one third of the beak. A significant reduction in pecking behaviour (beak-guarding) was observed in both control groups, but was not observed in those birds that had previously received CLN ablations. In a second experiment, where beak amputation preceeded CLN ablation by 6 days, ablation did not affect the reduced pecking. The absence of guarding or other pain-related behaviours would indicate that an intact CLN was necessary for these behaviours to develop but, once they had developed, ablation had no effect.
Gentle
M J
MJ
Roslin Institute (Edinburgh), Midlothian, Scotland.
Hunter
L N
LN
Corr
S A
SA
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D002645:Chickens; D005260:Female; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000502:physiology*; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation