Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine) - UMR 6552, F-35000 Rennes, France.
INRAE, UMR 85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, CNRS, UMR 7247, IFCE, Université F. Rabelais, Nouzilly, France.
J Exp Biol. 2022 Mar 15;225(6). doi: 10.1242/jeb.243175. Epub 2022 Mar 16.
As the sensory systems of vertebrates develop prenatally, embryos perceive many environmental stimuli that can influence the ontogeny of their behaviour. Whether the nature and intensity of prenatal stimuli affect this ontogeny differently remains to be investigated. In this context, this study aimed to analyse the effects of prenatal auditory stimulation (natural stimulation, NS; predator vocalisations or artificial stimulation, AS; metallic sounds) on the subsequent behaviour of young Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). For this, behavioural variables recorded during ethological tests evaluating emotional and social reactivity were analysed using a principal component analysis. This analysis revealed significant differences between the behavioural profile of stimulated chicks and that of non-exposed chicks. Indeed, chicks exposed to NS expressed more intense emotional responses in fearful situations, but less neophobia when exposed to a novel environment or object, whereas chicks exposed to AS appeared more sensitive to social isolation. Our results show that the acoustic environment of embryos can influence the way young birds subsequently interact with their social and physical environment after hatching, and face challenges in changing living conditions.
随着脊椎动物的感觉系统在产前发育，胚胎感知到许多环境刺激，这些刺激可以影响其行为的发生。然而，产前刺激的性质和强度是否会以不同的方式影响这种发生，这仍有待研究。在这方面，本研究旨在分析产前听觉刺激（自然刺激，NS；捕食者叫声或人工刺激，AS；金属声音）对幼日本鹌鹑（Coturnix coturnix japonica）后续行为的影响。为此，使用主成分分析对评估情绪和社交反应的行为学测试中记录的行为变量进行了分析。该分析显示，受刺激雏鸡和未暴露雏鸡的行为特征存在显著差异。事实上，暴露于 NS 的雏鸡在恐惧情况下表现出更强烈的情绪反应，但在暴露于新环境或物体时表现出较少的新异恐惧症，而暴露于 AS 的雏鸡对社会隔离表现出更高的敏感性。我们的研究结果表明，胚胎的声学环境可以影响幼鸟在孵化后与社会和物理环境相互作用的方式，并面对改变生活条件的挑战。
