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Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2022; 12(20); doi: 10.3390/ani12202818

Habit Formation and the Effect of Repeated Stress Exposures on Cognitive Flexibility Learning in Horses.

Abstract: Horse training exposes horses to an array of cognitive and ethological challenges. Horses are routinely required to perform behaviours that are not aligned to aspects of their ethology, which may delay learning. While horses readily form habits during training, not all of these responses are considered desirable, resulting in the horse being subject to retraining. This is a form of cognitive flexibility and is critical to the extinction of habits and the learning of new responses. It is underpinned by complex neural processes which can be impaired by chronic or repeated stress. Domestic horses may be repeatedly exposed to multiples stressors. The potential contribution of stress impairments of cognitive flexibility to apparent training failures is not well understood, however research from neuroscience can be used to understand horses' responses to training. We trained horses to acquire habit-like responses in one of two industry-style aversive instrumental learning scenarios (moving away from the stimulus-instinctual or moving towards the stimulus-non-instinctual) and evaluated the effect of repeated stress exposures on their cognitive flexibility in a reversal task. We measured heart rate as a proxy for noradrenaline release, salivary cortisol and serum Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) to infer possible neural correlates of the learning outcomes. The instinctual task which aligned with innate equine escape responses to aversive stimuli was acquired significantly faster than the non-instinctual task during both learning phases, however contrary to expectations, the repeated stress exposure did not impair the reversal learning. We report a preliminary finding that serum BDNF and salivary cortisol concentrations in horses are positively correlated. The ethological salience of training tasks and cognitive flexibility learning can significantly affect learning in horses and trainers should adapt their practices where such tasks challenge innate equine behaviour.
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Publication Date: 2022-10-18 PubMed ID: 36290204PubMed Central: PMC9597801DOI: 10.3390/ani12202818Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research paper investigates the concept of habit formation in horses and how continuous exposure to stress can affect the horse’s ability to learn new behaviors and unlearn undesirable ones, a process known as cognitive flexibility. The researchers compared two types of training tasks—instinctual (moving away from stimulus) and non-instinctual (moving towards stimulus), monitoring physiological responses such as heart rate, salivary cortisol, and serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) levels. Contrary to expectations, repeated stress exposure did not hamper the learning process.

Understanding Cognitive Flexibility in Horses

  • The researchers tried to understand how horses adapt to training tasks that are atypical of their instinctual behavior. Notably, horses are subjected to tasks that often conflict with their inherent ethology, which may impact their learning process.
  • Repetitive training leads to habit formation in horses, but not all habits formed are desirable. Training might need to be undone and relearned, demonstrating cognitive flexibility—an attribute that depends on complex neural processes.
  • However, this cognitive flexibility could be affected by chronic or repeated exposure to stress. Given that domestic horses are often exposed to multiple stressors, comprehending the impact of stress on their cognitive flexibility becomes pivotal.

Research Methodology

  • The researchers trained horses to form habit-like responses using two different industry-related learning scenarios. The instinctual task urged the horse to move away from the stimulus, while the non-instinctual task prompted them towards the stimulus.
  • They evaluated the impact of repeated stress exposures on cognitive flexibility, introducing a role-reversal task. They utilized heart rate as a measure of noradrenaline release, and they analyzed salivary cortisol and serum BDNF to understand potential neural correlates of the resultant learning outcomes.

Key Findings

  • Instinctual tasks, closely aligned with horses’ response mechanisms, were picked up faster than non-instinctual tasks during both learning phases. Interestingly, the recurrence of stress did not negatively influence the secondary learning (reversal learning).
  • Initial findings also indicated a positive correlation between the concentrations of serum BDNF and salivary cortisol in horses, suggesting a potential relationship between these factors and their learning patterns.

Implications and Recommendations

  • The results provide valuable insights into equine learning processes, with a specific focus on habit formation and cognitive flexibility, painting a clearer picture about horses’ responses to repeated stress exposures.
  • The study bolsters the influence of ethological relevance of training tasks on horses’ learning, suggesting that trainers should alter their approaches when tasks go against innate equine behaviour.

Cite This Article

APA
Henshall C, Randle H, Francis N, Freire R. (2022). Habit Formation and the Effect of Repeated Stress Exposures on Cognitive Flexibility Learning in Horses. Animals (Basel), 12(20). https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12202818

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 12
Issue: 20

Researcher Affiliations

Henshall, Cathrynne
  • School of Environmental, Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
Randle, Hayley
  • School of Environmental, Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
Francis, Nidhish
  • School of Environmental, Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
Freire, Rafael
  • School of Environmental, Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Citations

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