PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF PAIN, SUFFERING AND DISTRESS AND GENERAL ETHOLOGY

The course lectures cover:

An introduction to the physiology of excitable tissues and neural communication. Basic notions of muscles physiology. Functional organization of the nervous system: the central and peripheral nervous system. Sensory receptors: types, stimulus conversion, sensitivity and adaptation. Functions of the spinal cord and the spinal reflexes. Somatosensory pathways and somatotopic maps. Pain perception: the process of pain transduction and transmission of information and pain perception in higher centers in vertebrates. Brainstem functions. Somatic nervous system and muscle regulation. Special senses physiology of vertebrates: vision, taste, smell, hearing and vestibular senses. Processing of sensory input in the thalamus. Principal functions of the cerebral cortex. The autonomic nervous system: the physiological effects of enhanced parasympathetic and sympathetic tone. Behavioral mechanisms, biochemical and neural systems involved in coping with stress. Neurobiology of animal emotions.
Basic notions of conceptual issues in studying animal behavior and applied ethology. Definition and methods in animal behavior. The evolution of animal behavior and adaptation. Behavior and genetics. Principle of animal communication. Social systems and socialization processes. Processes related to animal learning and cognition with focus on how training using positive reinforcement, habituation and socialization program can increase confined animal well-being.

The course lab sessions and practical activities cover:
Evaluation of general and special senses sensitivity and acuity. Virtual laboratories on muscle and nerve physiology. Levels of analysis of animal behavior. Procedure for behavioral analysis and behavioral testing. Animal training basics (habituation, classical and operant conditioning).