From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2007-04-25 18:39:06 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] right sided tail for happiness (dog study)
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, ferret-l@LISTSERV.FERRETMAILINGLIST.ORG
We've noticed and mentioned the right sided thing in our ferrets,=20
having thought that it was learned from Ashling who was our dominant=20
one and very, very markedly had a right side tail. Now we have to=20
wonder if there might be more to it so it would be interesting to see=20
this studied in ferrets, too:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/science/24wag.html?_r=3D1&oref=3Dslogin
NY Times article by Sandra Blakeslee worked from a dog study and here=20
are a few bits and pieces to intrigue you into reading more:
> there is another, newly discovered, feature of dog body language=20
> that may surprise attentive pet owners and experts in canine=20
> behavior. When dogs feel fundamentally positive about something or=20
> someone, their tails wag more to the right side of their rumps.=20
> When they have negative feelings, their tail wagging is biased to=20
> the left
...
> A study describing the phenomenon, =93Asymmetric tail-wagging=20
> responses by dogs to different emotive stimuli,=94 appeared in the=20
> March 20 issue of Current Biology. The authors are Giorgio=20
> Vallortigara, a neuroscientist at the University of Trieste in=20
> Italy, and two veterinarians, Angelo Quaranta and Marcello=20
> Siniscalchi, at the University of Bari, also in Italy.
...
> Richard J. Davidson, director of the Laboratory for Affective=20
> Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin in Madison [said=20
> that] ... fits with a large body of research showing emotional=20
> asymmetry in the brain...
...
> in most animals ... the left brain specializes in behaviors=20
> involving what the scientists call approach and energy=20
> enrichment... associated with positive feelings, like love, a sense=20
> of attachment, a feeling of safety and calm. It is also associated=20
> with physiological markers, like a slow heart rate.
[Remember the cross-over that has the R brain controlling the post-
cranial (beyond head) left side, and the L brain controlling the post-
cranial right side.]
...
> ...the right brain specializes in behaviors involving withdrawal=20
> and energy expenditure... behaviors, like fleeing... associated=20
> with feelings like fear and depression. Physiological signals=20
> include a rapid heart rate and the shutdown of the digestive system.
Sukie (not a vet)
Current FHL address:
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Recommended ferret health links:
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http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
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