Chronic State and Relationship to Humans Influence How Horses Decode Emotions in Human Voices: A Brain and Behavior...

Area of Science:

• Animal behavior
• Cross-taxa communication
• Acoustic emotion recognition

Background:

• Domestic animals are believed to be adept at decoding human emotions.
• Research suggests universal acoustic cues for emotional content exist across species.
• The influence of experience on cross-taxa emotional decoding remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if horses can decode emotional content in human voices.
• To determine if this decoding relies on universal acoustic properties or is shaped by experience.
• To assess the impact of living conditions and human interaction on horses' emotional perception.

Main Methods:

• Two distinct horse populations were studied, differing in living conditions and human interaction.
• Emotional human voices were played to horses while measuring behavioral, cardiac, and brain responses.
• Horses' welfare and human relationships were assessed independently.

Main Results:

• Horses with better welfare and human relationships showed less differentiation between emotional voices.
• Horses in restricted conditions exhibited higher behavioral and cardiac responses to negative voices.
• Brain responses varied, with one group showing higher gamma activity for happy voices and the other higher theta activity for fear/anger.

Conclusions:

• Horses' affective state and past experiences significantly influence their perception of human emotional vocalizations.
• Cross-taxa acoustic emotion recognition is not solely based on universal cues but is modulated by individual experience.
• Welfare and relationship quality impact how animals process emotional communication from humans.