Effect of prenatal different auditory environment on learning ability and fearfulness in chicks

Early environmental enrichment in life can improve cognition in animals. The effect of prenatal auditory stimulation on learning ability and fear level in chick embryos remained unexplored. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of prenatal auditory stimulation on the learning ability and fear level of chicks.

A total of 450 fertilized eggs were randomly divided into 5 groups, including control group (C), low-sound intensity music group (LM), low-sound intensity noise group (LN), high-sound intensity noise group (HN) and high-sound intensity music group (HM). From the 10th day of embryonic development until hatching, group LM and group LN received 65 to 75 dB of music and noise stimulation. Group HN and group HM received 85 to 95 dB of noise and music stimulation, and group C received no additional sound. At the end of incubation, the one-trial passive avoidance learning (PAL) task and tonic immobility (TI) tests were carried out, and the serum corticosterone (CORT) and serotonin (5-HT) concentrations were determined.

The results showed that compared with the group C, 65 to 75 dB of music and noise stimulation did not affect the PAL avoidance rate (p>0.05), duration of TI (p>0.05) and the concentration of CORT (p>0.05) and 5-HT (p>0.05) in chicks. However, 85 to 95 dB of music and noise stimulation could reduce duration of TI (p<0.05) and the concentration of CORT (p<0.05), but no significant effect was observed on the concentration of 5-HT (p>0.05) and PAL avoidance rate (p>0.05).

Therefore, the prenatal auditory stimulation of 85 to 95 dB can effectively reduce the fear level of chicks while it does not affect the learning ability.