Behavioural, endocrine and cardiac autonomic responses to a model of startle in horses

Autores
Villas Boas, Julia Dias; Martins Dias, Daniel Penteado; Trigo, Pablo; dos Santos Almeida, Norma Aparecida; de Almeida, Fernando Queiroz; de Madeiros, Magda Alves
Año de publicación
2016
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Startle is a fast response elicited by sudden acoustic, tactile or visual stimuli in a variety of animal species and in humans. The magnitude of startle response can be modulated by external and internal variables and can be a useful tool to study the sensory-motor integration in animals. Different stimuli have been used to induce startle in horses, which makes it difficult to compare the responses to these different approaches. The present study uses ultra-short-term heart rate variability (HRV) analysis to characterize the cardiac autonomic modulation, reactivity assessment and blood cortisol measurements to describe the behavioural and endocrine responses to a simple, easy to replicate, effective and safe method of startle (an umbrella is abruptly opened near the horse). The ultra-short-term (64 s) heart rate (HR) series were interpolated (4 Hz) and divided into 256 points segments then the spectra calculated (Fast Fourier Transform). The spectra were then integrated into low (LF; 0.01–0.07 Hz; Index of Cardiac Sympathetic Modulation) and high (HF; 0.07–0.50 Hz; Index of Cardiac Parasympathetic Modulation) frequency bands. Following the startle test, the HR (p = 0.0101), the power of the LF band of the cardiac interval spectrum (p = 0.0002) and the LF/HF ratio (p = 0.0066) were found to be higher, whereas the power of the HF band of the cardiac interval spectrum was found to be lower (p = 0.0002). Also, the horses showed a noticeable escape response, with latency of reaction varying from 0.28 to 1.28 s, duration of reaction ranging from 1.52 to 7.92 s and escape distance covered varying from 3.43 to 9.97 m. However, the endocrine measurements failed to reveal significant changes in the cortisol levels after the startle test. We conclude that the startle test used in the current study was effective to produce changes in behavioural parameters and cardiac autonomic modulation of the horses and can therefore be an appropriate tool for neurobiological studies. Furthermore, the use of ultra-short segments (64 s) for HRV analysis appears to be effective and promising for the detection of mental stress in horses.
Instituto de Genética Veterinaria
Materia
Ciencias Veterinarias
Horses
Startle response
Umbrella-opening
Autonomic response
Cortisol
Reactivity
Cardiac interval variability
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Repositorio
SEDICI (UNLP)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
OAI Identificador
oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/104093

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spelling Behavioural, endocrine and cardiac autonomic responses to a model of startle in horsesVillas Boas, Julia DiasMartins Dias, Daniel PenteadoTrigo, Pablodos Santos Almeida, Norma Aparecidade Almeida, Fernando Queirozde Madeiros, Magda AlvesCiencias VeterinariasHorsesStartle responseUmbrella-openingAutonomic responseCortisolReactivityCardiac interval variabilityStartle is a fast response elicited by sudden acoustic, tactile or visual stimuli in a variety of animal species and in humans. The magnitude of startle response can be modulated by external and internal variables and can be a useful tool to study the sensory-motor integration in animals. Different stimuli have been used to induce startle in horses, which makes it difficult to compare the responses to these different approaches. The present study uses ultra-short-term heart rate variability (HRV) analysis to characterize the cardiac autonomic modulation, reactivity assessment and blood cortisol measurements to describe the behavioural and endocrine responses to a simple, easy to replicate, effective and safe method of startle (an umbrella is abruptly opened near the horse). The ultra-short-term (64 s) heart rate (HR) series were interpolated (4 Hz) and divided into 256 points segments then the spectra calculated (Fast Fourier Transform). The spectra were then integrated into low (LF; 0.01–0.07 Hz; Index of Cardiac Sympathetic Modulation) and high (HF; 0.07–0.50 Hz; Index of Cardiac Parasympathetic Modulation) frequency bands. Following the startle test, the HR (p = 0.0101), the power of the LF band of the cardiac interval spectrum (p = 0.0002) and the LF/HF ratio (p = 0.0066) were found to be higher, whereas the power of the HF band of the cardiac interval spectrum was found to be lower (p = 0.0002). Also, the horses showed a noticeable escape response, with latency of reaction varying from 0.28 to 1.28 s, duration of reaction ranging from 1.52 to 7.92 s and escape distance covered varying from 3.43 to 9.97 m. However, the endocrine measurements failed to reveal significant changes in the cortisol levels after the startle test. We conclude that the startle test used in the current study was effective to produce changes in behavioural parameters and cardiac autonomic modulation of the horses and can therefore be an appropriate tool for neurobiological studies. Furthermore, the use of ultra-short segments (64 s) for HRV analysis appears to be effective and promising for the detection of mental stress in horses.Instituto de Genética Veterinaria2016-01info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionArticulohttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdf76-82http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/104093enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://hdl.handle.net/11336/11501info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0168-1591info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.applanim.2015.10.005info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/hdl/11336/11501info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)instname:Universidad Nacional de La Platainstacron:UNLP2025-09-29T11:22:42Zoai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/104093Institucionalhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/oai/snrdalira@sedici.unlp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:13292025-09-29 11:22:43.066SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Platafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Behavioural, endocrine and cardiac autonomic responses to a model of startle in horses
title Behavioural, endocrine and cardiac autonomic responses to a model of startle in horses
spellingShingle Behavioural, endocrine and cardiac autonomic responses to a model of startle in horses
Villas Boas, Julia Dias
Ciencias Veterinarias
Horses
Startle response
Umbrella-opening
Autonomic response
Cortisol
Reactivity
Cardiac interval variability
title_short Behavioural, endocrine and cardiac autonomic responses to a model of startle in horses
title_full Behavioural, endocrine and cardiac autonomic responses to a model of startle in horses
title_fullStr Behavioural, endocrine and cardiac autonomic responses to a model of startle in horses
title_full_unstemmed Behavioural, endocrine and cardiac autonomic responses to a model of startle in horses
title_sort Behavioural, endocrine and cardiac autonomic responses to a model of startle in horses
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Villas Boas, Julia Dias
Martins Dias, Daniel Penteado
Trigo, Pablo
dos Santos Almeida, Norma Aparecida
de Almeida, Fernando Queiroz
de Madeiros, Magda Alves
author Villas Boas, Julia Dias
author_facet Villas Boas, Julia Dias
Martins Dias, Daniel Penteado
Trigo, Pablo
dos Santos Almeida, Norma Aparecida
de Almeida, Fernando Queiroz
de Madeiros, Magda Alves
author_role author
author2 Martins Dias, Daniel Penteado
Trigo, Pablo
dos Santos Almeida, Norma Aparecida
de Almeida, Fernando Queiroz
de Madeiros, Magda Alves
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Ciencias Veterinarias
Horses
Startle response
Umbrella-opening
Autonomic response
Cortisol
Reactivity
Cardiac interval variability
topic Ciencias Veterinarias
Horses
Startle response
Umbrella-opening
Autonomic response
Cortisol
Reactivity
Cardiac interval variability
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Startle is a fast response elicited by sudden acoustic, tactile or visual stimuli in a variety of animal species and in humans. The magnitude of startle response can be modulated by external and internal variables and can be a useful tool to study the sensory-motor integration in animals. Different stimuli have been used to induce startle in horses, which makes it difficult to compare the responses to these different approaches. The present study uses ultra-short-term heart rate variability (HRV) analysis to characterize the cardiac autonomic modulation, reactivity assessment and blood cortisol measurements to describe the behavioural and endocrine responses to a simple, easy to replicate, effective and safe method of startle (an umbrella is abruptly opened near the horse). The ultra-short-term (64 s) heart rate (HR) series were interpolated (4 Hz) and divided into 256 points segments then the spectra calculated (Fast Fourier Transform). The spectra were then integrated into low (LF; 0.01–0.07 Hz; Index of Cardiac Sympathetic Modulation) and high (HF; 0.07–0.50 Hz; Index of Cardiac Parasympathetic Modulation) frequency bands. Following the startle test, the HR (p = 0.0101), the power of the LF band of the cardiac interval spectrum (p = 0.0002) and the LF/HF ratio (p = 0.0066) were found to be higher, whereas the power of the HF band of the cardiac interval spectrum was found to be lower (p = 0.0002). Also, the horses showed a noticeable escape response, with latency of reaction varying from 0.28 to 1.28 s, duration of reaction ranging from 1.52 to 7.92 s and escape distance covered varying from 3.43 to 9.97 m. However, the endocrine measurements failed to reveal significant changes in the cortisol levels after the startle test. We conclude that the startle test used in the current study was effective to produce changes in behavioural parameters and cardiac autonomic modulation of the horses and can therefore be an appropriate tool for neurobiological studies. Furthermore, the use of ultra-short segments (64 s) for HRV analysis appears to be effective and promising for the detection of mental stress in horses.
Instituto de Genética Veterinaria
description Startle is a fast response elicited by sudden acoustic, tactile or visual stimuli in a variety of animal species and in humans. The magnitude of startle response can be modulated by external and internal variables and can be a useful tool to study the sensory-motor integration in animals. Different stimuli have been used to induce startle in horses, which makes it difficult to compare the responses to these different approaches. The present study uses ultra-short-term heart rate variability (HRV) analysis to characterize the cardiac autonomic modulation, reactivity assessment and blood cortisol measurements to describe the behavioural and endocrine responses to a simple, easy to replicate, effective and safe method of startle (an umbrella is abruptly opened near the horse). The ultra-short-term (64 s) heart rate (HR) series were interpolated (4 Hz) and divided into 256 points segments then the spectra calculated (Fast Fourier Transform). The spectra were then integrated into low (LF; 0.01–0.07 Hz; Index of Cardiac Sympathetic Modulation) and high (HF; 0.07–0.50 Hz; Index of Cardiac Parasympathetic Modulation) frequency bands. Following the startle test, the HR (p = 0.0101), the power of the LF band of the cardiac interval spectrum (p = 0.0002) and the LF/HF ratio (p = 0.0066) were found to be higher, whereas the power of the HF band of the cardiac interval spectrum was found to be lower (p = 0.0002). Also, the horses showed a noticeable escape response, with latency of reaction varying from 0.28 to 1.28 s, duration of reaction ranging from 1.52 to 7.92 s and escape distance covered varying from 3.43 to 9.97 m. However, the endocrine measurements failed to reveal significant changes in the cortisol levels after the startle test. We conclude that the startle test used in the current study was effective to produce changes in behavioural parameters and cardiac autonomic modulation of the horses and can therefore be an appropriate tool for neurobiological studies. Furthermore, the use of ultra-short segments (64 s) for HRV analysis appears to be effective and promising for the detection of mental stress in horses.
publishDate 2016
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2016-01
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info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0168-1591
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.applanim.2015.10.005
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/hdl/11336/11501
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
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rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
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