The N170 is an event-related potential component reported to be very sensitive to human face stimuli. This study investigated the specificity of the N170, as well as its sensitivity to inversion and task status when subjects had to categorize either human or animal faces in the context of upright and inverted natural scenes. A conspicuous N170 was recorded for both face categories. Pictures of ...

The contribution of animal science to the medical revolution: some case histories Coalition for Medical Progress, an alliance of organisations with the common aim of ensuring the uK continues to lead advances in human and animal medicine, explains why animals are used in PicTUre crediTs cover: All images: Wellcome Photo Library except mouse, dog and monkeys Institute of Animal Technology and sh...

Anaesthetic-induced developmental neurotoxicity (AIDN) has been clearly established in laboratory animal models. The possibility of neurotoxicity during uneventful anaesthetic procedures in human neonates or infants has led to serious questions about the safety of paediatric anaesthesia. However, the applicability of animal data to clinical anaesthesia practice remains uncertain. The spectre of...

Quantifiying animal behavior is a challenge at the forefront of research in neuroscience. This type of objective description is essential for proper interpretation of results, ensures reproducibility of experiments across laboratories, and presents the researcher with a more complete picture of the genotype-phenotype relationship in the context of the nervous system. Because high-throughput exp...

Pseudocarcinogenicity is defined as the enhancement of tumor risk by a nongenotoxic mechanism in physiologically abnormal animals. In the case of rats, severe endocrine disturbance secondary to overfeeding is the commonest cause of physiological abnormality. Pseudoanticarcinogenicity is the counterpart of pseudocarcinogenicity. The literature abounds with, and is seriously confused by, examples...

We examine the complex evolution of animal nervous systems and discuss the ramifications of this complexity for inferring the nature of early animals. Although reconstructing the origins of nervous systems remains a central challenge in biology, and the phenotypic complexity of early animals remains controversial, a compelling picture is emerging. We now know that the nervous system and other k...

Emotional events are remembered better than neutral events possibly because the amygdala enhances the function of medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory system (modulation hypothesis). Although this hypothesis has been supported by much animal research, evidence from humans has been scarce and indirect. We investigated this issue using event-related fMRI during encoding of emotional and neutral pict...

Chagas’ disease, the most widespread parasitic ailment in Latin America, produces clinical pictures with regional variations (1). In Chile, due to the country’s geographic and ecologic isolation, specific local conditions influencing Chagas’ disease vectors differ from those prevailing in other countries. One such vector, Triatoma spinohi, has not been found in other geographic areas. Among oth...

Current computer based approaches to teaching autistic people facial expressions typically provide pictures of such expressions, and either multiple choice tests or facial ‘dictionaries’. Such approaches appear to be neither fun nor engaging. This paper reports on the findings of an experiment to compare a conventional computer based approach to support learning facial expressions to a novel ap...

The EU Directive 2010/63/EU changed the requirements regarding the use of laboratory animals and raised important issues related to assessing the severity of all procedures undertaken on laboratory animals. However, quantifiable parameters to assess severity are rare, and improved assessment strategies need to be developed. Hence, a Sheep Grimace Scale (SGS) was herein established by observing ...