Animal lovers insist their fellow creatures , , and , but scientifi cally, it is hard to say By Klaus Wilhelm Do Animals Have FEELI CREDIT CREDIT

24 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN February/March 2006 NGS? CREDIT CREDIT

www.sciammind.com SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND 25 n the dusty horizon, two troops of emerge 100 yards apart and walk toward each other. The beasts trumpet loudly, fl ap their ears and turn in Ocircles. They seem to know one another—the whole event appears to be a reunion. Anyone who travels the African savanna is some form of —and investigating them apt to have witnessed such a meeting. In her de- is now a hot topic. cades of fi eldwork, Joyce H. Poole, research di- rector for the Amboseli for Elephants in Anxious about Emotions Kenya, has watched similar encounters many Some eminent scientists have boldly explored times. “These elephants,” the biologist says with the riddle of animal emotions. , conviction, “are happy to see their old friends the English naturalist and father of evolutionary and acquaintances.” theory, wrote an entire book entitled The Ex- Investigators have also watched as a herd pression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. gathers around a stillborn calf. The pachyderms No one can deny that animals have emotions, he repeatedly touch the dead infant with their concluded, given the striking similarities be- trunks, as if to rouse it. Then for days they stand tween and animal behavior. But in the vigil, with drooping ears. At other times, when a century that followed the book’s publication in herd member is sick or wounded by a hunter, they 1872, a reductionist view took hold: bees, frogs, caress the victim, offering support, and care for cats and all animals are merely organisms that it until it is restored to health or dies. follow hardwired, instinctual behavior patterns. Other animals seem to show emotions. They are devoid of . Roughhousing chimpanzees emit sounds charac- Recently, however, a more nuanced view has teristic of joy and . Dogs yelp to spur begun to gain credence, sparked by the question other dogs to , and researchers who have of what survival advantage , or animals, played recordings of these sounds in kennels and gain from emotions anyway. According to Dar- shelters have shown that the noise can reduce winism, every organism has one overriding : levels in the animals there. Even laboratory to reproduce, as well and as often as possible. For rats make seemingly delighted chirps above the worms, insects or jellyfi sh, following a predeter-

range of human when tickled, some ex- mined pattern of behavior in pursuit of this goal ) perts say. might be suffi cient to achieve it. But for fi sh, rep- Individuals who claim animals have feelings tiles, birds and , behavior is less routin- are usually accused of —as- ized. Ultimately, are extremely fl exible,

cribing human traits to nonhuman beings. But and as such their activity cannot just result from pages preceding ( after years of ignoring or discounting what pet hardwired templates. How, then, do rats, goats, lovers have long maintained, scientists are fi nally apes, elephants and humans know which actions beginning to believe that mammals, at least, have will best guarantee survival and reproduction? Among other cues, they may use emotions. (The Author) This statement, that an animal may “use emo- tions,” only demonstratively means that its

KLAUS WILHELM is a biologist and freelance writer in Berlin. reacts to certain events in certain ways—a net- TIM FLACH Getty Images

26 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND February/March 2006 Joy is a primary , along with and . Young mammals play to learn skills. (But it is the that ensures that they play.)

work of fi res, initiating a predictable be- terprets those emotions. In humans and sea slugs, havior. An animal will avoid situations that, in the rates increase and muscles contract when past, made it feel threatened. Likewise, a creature the organisms are afraid of something, but an or- that associates a positive experience with a certain ganism registers the of fear only after its action will seek the same one in the future. So far, brain becomes aware of the physical changes. so . But does that animal feel in the course of For , Damasio lists sympathy, things? This point is where the experts disagree. , , , , , jeal- A basic part of the discussion turns on the ousy, , , and indig- defi nition of emotion and feelings. nation. These are not limited to humankind ei- and neurologists do not even concur for humans, ther. Dominant gorillas swagger around to de- much less for animals. In his 2003 book Looking mand respect from their peers. Low-ranking

) for Spinoza, infl uential neuroscientist Antonio R. wolves in packs make gestures of abasement. Damasio of the University of Iowa lays out an Dogs reprimanded by their owners for doing bottom ( increasingly popular scheme that distinguishes something wrong show clear signals of embar- between primary, almost instinctive emotions; rassment. Yet even in such cases, as with primary social emotions that help an individual mesh emotions, some neuroscientists say these actions with a group; and feelings, which stem from self- is a refl ection. social emotion, Primary emotions include fear, anger, , as are , sadness and joy, and Damasio ascribes and pride. them to many animals. Even the primitive sea slug ); DANIEL DAY Getty Images DAY DANIEL ); Aplysia shows fear. When its gills are touched, its top ( blood pressure and pulse go up and it shrivels in size. These are not refl exes, Damasio says, but elements of a fear response—, mutually dependent reactions. He emphasizes, however, that such organisms do not produce feelings. To Damasio and many others, emotions are physical signals of the body responding to stimuli, and

DANIEL J. COX Getty Images feelings are sensations that arise as the brain in-

www.sciammind.com SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND 27 Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

he pharmaceutical industry assumes that animals can feel fear in the same way people do. Otherwise T it never would have spent millions of dollars on mouse experiments in the search for drugs to combat . Fear has been better studied than any other an- imal emotion. The degree of fear mice feel can be quantifi ed using the “elevated plus maze test.” A pole about a yard high has four arms extending out horizontally, each one at a right angle to the next (photograph). Two of the arms have walls to prevent falling, but the other two arms are open. If a mouse makes a false step on an open arm, it will fall hard. Most mice placed at the middle of the maze will choose to move out along a protected arm. If mice are given a drug that reduces anxiety in people, however, they will readily move out along the open arms. —K.W.

are largely automatic and inborn and count them that are much older in evolutionary and among the routinized mechanisms animals use that we share with all mammals. He points, for to help them survive. example, to a recent research study led by Naomi I. Eisenberger of the University of California, Los Ancient Refl ection Angeles. Eisenberger used functional magnetic Feelings, in contrast, well up from the ana- resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor the brain lytical mind. Someone who “feels good,” who activity of subjects who felt socially excluded. Vol- joy, is aware of her body being in a unteers were asked to take part in a virtual ball particular state. The of such a feeling game on a computer screen and told that two oth- requires processing by several somatosensory er participants hidden from view were also play- brain regions in the that map ing. In , the two “others” were simply icons parts of the body and their condition and, simul- controlled by a computer program. In the game, taneously, brain activity that assesses what those the three players were to toss a virtual ball back conditions mean. In essence, this processing con- and forth, but the two computer-controlled “peo- stitutes self-refl ection, which can occur either ple” passed only to each other, ignoring the live University slowly or very fast. person watching them on the screen. The volun- It is diffi cult to prove that animals possess the teers later told the researchers that the experience capacity for self-refl ection. Damasio theorizes of being excluded had felt hurtful. that pygmy chimpanzees, for example, may be The fMRI scans taken during the snubbing able to show the social emotion of for other showed signifi cant activity in several brain re- animals but that they do not realize they are ex- gions, especially the anterior cingular cortex. Pre- hibiting pity. Given this inability to confi rm what vious studies by others have indicated that people is happening in an animal’s head, Damasio is re- placed in situations that made them sad showed luctant to imply that it possesses feelings. unusual activity in the and the brain

Other experts are willing to entertain the no- stem. These regions play key roles in the limbic Pharmaceutical , and Hoshi tion. , a renowned behavioral sci- system—the area of the brain that produces and entist at Bowling Green State University, agrees regulates emotion. that only humans can think about their feelings, thanks to their highly developed neocortex. And Joy and Play only humans can manipulate and feign feelings, Interestingly, young guinea pigs that are pre- as politicians and actors do. But he does not be- maturely separated from their mother exhibit lieve feelings arise only from refl ection. heightened activity in the same brain system. In Panksepp postulates that the roots of emo- Panksepp’s view, the feeling of being alone and

tions in brain regions such as the vulnerable, and the stress it creates, refl ects an- JUNZO KAMEI School of

28 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND February/March 2006 cient mechanisms that are the foundation for the feeling of sadness experienced by humans. The limbic system is an ancient brain structure, and its central role shows that emotion is an integral part of animal life. Biologists who have long observed signs of joy among animals agree. In the rain forests of Suma- tra, orangutans swing from branches and splash their hands into pools of with no other ap- purpose than just for the fun of it. In Alas- ka, ravens lie on their backs and slide down snow- covered rooftops, for no utilitarian . Buf- falo in North America roar loudly as they deliberately slide across frozen patches of grass. Young macaques on the Japanese island of Hon- shu make snowballs in winter and play. It is well accepted that young mammals have an inborn drive to play, because the interaction helps them sort out social opportunities and lim- its. They learn skills that will be important to their later survival. But what motivates them to goof Feelings, such as around in the fi rst place? Marc Bekoff, a biologist , arise at the University of Colorado at Boulder who has from the mind’s researched the topic extensively, says it is the fun awareness of itself that ensures that animals will play. bodily emotions. Animals don’t have to have the same feelings (humans do. They can be happy in different ways.)

Studies of brain provide evidence Hauser of Harvard University once surreptitious- that animal feelings may not be very different ly observed a male rhesus monkey that, after cop- from those in humans, because similar physical ulating with a female, paraded around—until he brain processes underlie those experiences. Ex- tripped over an uneven patch of fl ooring and fell periments show, for example, that the neurotrans- down. The monkey immediately and anxiously mitter has an especially important part looked around before he got up—seemingly em- in the processing of emotions such as joy and de- barrassed about his stumble. Only when he was sire in humans—and in other mammals. sure that no one had seen him did he get up and In the end, it is not possible to prove through strut off—with his back straight and head held whether an animal possesses con- high—as if nothing had happened. scious feelings—no more than we can be sure For Bekoff, the new research fi ndings have not about what another person is truly experiencing just a scientifi c message but also a social one: if inside. We know from lab work that some ani- animals are capable of feeling emotion, then we mals, at least, are indeed self-aware, so it is not have yet another reason to seriously consider how much of a stretch to think they could be cognizant well we treat them. M of their emotions, too. Bekoff emphasizes that when we talk about animal feelings, they do not (Further Reading) have to be the same kind that people have. Hu- ◆ The of a Dolphin. Marc Bekoff. Discovery Books, 2000. Getty Images mans can be happy in ways that vary from person ◆ Minding Animals: Awareness, Emotions and Heart. Marc Bekoff. to person. Animals likewise could be happy in Oxford University Press, 2002. different ways from humans. ◆ “Laughing” Rats and the Evolutionary Antecedents of Human Joy. Animals and humans could indeed share pride, Jaak Panksepp and Jeff Burgdorf in and Behaviour, Vol. 79,

ARNE PASTOOR PASTOOR ARNE joy, grief and shame, too. Marc No. 3, pages 533–547; 2003.

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