title: Receiving of emotional signal of pain from conspecifics in laboratory rats.
abstract: Though recent studies have shown that rodents express emotions with their face, whether emotional expression in rodents has a communicative function between conspecifics is still unclear. Here, we demonstrate the ability of visual recognition of emotional expressions in laboratory rats. We found that Long-Evans rats avoid images of pain expressions of conspecifics but not those of neutral expressions. The results indicate that rats use visual emotional signals from conspecifics to adjust their behaviour in an environment to avoid a potentially dangerous place. Therefore, emotional expression in rodents, rather than just a mere 'expression' of emotional states, might have a communicative function.
authors.affiliation: Human Information Science Laboratory, NTT Communication Science Laboratories , 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi , Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan ; CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) , 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi , Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.affiliation: Human Information Science Laboratory, NTT Communication Science Laboratories , 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi , Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan ; CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) , 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi , Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan ; Department of Psychology , Meiji Gakuin University, 1-2-37, Shirokanedai , Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8636, Japan.
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ukezono
authors.affiliation: Human Information Science Laboratory, NTT Communication Science Laboratories , 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi , Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan ; CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) , 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi , Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan ; Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences , Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku , Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan ; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science , 5-3-1, Koji-machi, Chiyoda-ku , Tokyo 102-0083, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology , Meiji Gakuin University, 1-2-37, Shirokanedai , Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8636, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryunosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sudo
authors.affiliation: Human Information Science Laboratory, NTT Communication Science Laboratories , 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi , Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan ; CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) , 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi , Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takano
keywords: avoidance behaviour; facial expression; laboratory rat; pain