Andrew Robins
The University of Queensland, Australia, CAWE (Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics), Department Member
Dr Andrew Robins - B.Sc (Hons), Ph.D
Andrew has extensive experience in the field of animal behaviour and the evolution of lateralized brain function. His Ph.D involved the examination of lateralization in the prey and predator responses of amphibians. Andrew's expertise and academic background contributes to current theories regarding ways in which animals adapt to environmental conditions, with publications outlined at ResearcherID and BiomedExperts. Currently he is completing research investigating lateralized responses in domestic cattle and amphibians.
Andrew is an ad-hoc reviewer for the journals Animal Behaviour, Behavioural Processes, Journal of Comparative Psychology, Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition and the Open Journal of Animal Sciences as well as being a member of the editorial boards of new open-access journals ISRN Zoology and Animals MDPI.
Most recent papers:
Robins, A., Pleiter, H., Latter, M. & Phillips, C.J.C., The efficacy of pulsed ultrahigh current for the stunning of cattle prior to slaughter, Meat Science (2013), doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2013.10.030
Robins, A. & Phillips, C.J.C. "International approaches to the welfare of meat chickens". World's Poultry Science Journal, 67: 351-369. DOI: 10.1017/S0043933911000341. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8309954
Andrew has extensive experience in the field of animal behaviour and the evolution of lateralized brain function. His Ph.D involved the examination of lateralization in the prey and predator responses of amphibians. Andrew's expertise and academic background contributes to current theories regarding ways in which animals adapt to environmental conditions, with publications outlined at ResearcherID and BiomedExperts. Currently he is completing research investigating lateralized responses in domestic cattle and amphibians.
Andrew is an ad-hoc reviewer for the journals Animal Behaviour, Behavioural Processes, Journal of Comparative Psychology, Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition and the Open Journal of Animal Sciences as well as being a member of the editorial boards of new open-access journals ISRN Zoology and Animals MDPI.
Most recent papers:
Robins, A., Pleiter, H., Latter, M. & Phillips, C.J.C., The efficacy of pulsed ultrahigh current for the stunning of cattle prior to slaughter, Meat Science (2013), doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2013.10.030
Robins, A. & Phillips, C.J.C. "International approaches to the welfare of meat chickens". World's Poultry Science Journal, 67: 351-369. DOI: 10.1017/S0043933911000341. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8309954
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Papers by Andrew Robins
Their ruminations seem more likely to be fixed on what’s going into their belly next than chewing the fat on philosophy. Now, though, it appears that cows view the world the same way we do – to a certain extent at least. Dr Andrew Robins and Professor Clive Phillips from The University of Queensland’s Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics (CAWE) at Gatton have just published their findings...
In videotaped behavioural experiments, the investigation comprised of herd-splitting trials emulating moderately stressful experiences cattle might be exposed to in day-to-day husbandry situations. A single experimenter bisected herds of up to 33 head in successive trials at a halting walk - either unadorned or intermittently opening an umbrella (a standard test of fearfulness in livestock), holding a large Y-forked apparatus, or holding an idling 2-stoke engine. In all trials using these novel stimuli the cattle preferentially crossed in front of the experimenter while keeping the stimuli monitored within their left monocular field, with the net effect that herds tended to encircle the experimenter in an anti-clockwise direction. When tested a second time with the now-familiar stimuli the cattle reversed their viewing preferences to monitor the experimenter with the right eye/left hemisphere. This latter finding builds on similar results of experience-dependent learning and the inter-hemispheric transfer of long-term memories already known in domestic chicks, pigeons, lizards and toads, but not previously reported in mammals.
The findings from the CAWE team support the current understanding of brain lateralisation in vertebrates, with the left side specialised for functions including logic, language, and long-term memories; whereas the right side is specialised for rapid responses to real events. Perhaps paradoxically the right side of the vertebrate brain is found to be specialised for both predator detection and social cues, but this can be explained in part from other research indicating that the right side of the vertebrate brain dominates control of the sympathetic nervous system and the roles of flight, fight, fright and reproductive functions. Indeed the asymmetry of control of the autonomic nervous system - with the parasympathetic nervous system predominately controlled by the left side of the brain - might have provided the foundation for the evolution of lateralisation of cognitive specialisations that, until recently, were thought only to occur in humans. While the field of animal lateralisation is dominated by behavioural and cognitive research, reports on lateralised control of autonomic and immunological function in sheep and dogs have also been published recently. Improved understanding of these responses, particularly the behaviour responses, could lead to different handling techniques depending on the tasks being undertaken. These studies together indicate a greater role for lateralised responses in animals and highlight a new approach in understanding welfare issues in domestic livestock.
REF.
Robins, A., and Phillips, C. 2010. Lateralised visual processing in domestic cattle herds responding to novel and familiar stimuli. Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition 15: 514 - 534.
Once we are familiar with the object or person, we process it via the left side of the brain, which with those creatures, means via the right eye.
IN HUMANS THE left and right side of our brains have different functions, and it now turns out the same is true of cows, which use one side to detect possible dangers.
Research from Professor Clive Phillips and Dr Andrew Robins at the University of Queensland has revealed that cows are better able to perceive danger if they're approached on their left side. "When they see an unfamiliar person they will rearrange themselves until they are looking at the person with their left eye," says Clive.
This curious behaviour is the result of something called lateralisation – the concept that the two hemispheres of the brain are responsible for different processes, emotions and responses.
Toads posses lateralized cognitive processes for responding to predators, directing agonistic social behaviour, identifying novel prey stimuli, and responding to familiar prey. In each instance, the direction of visual lateralization mirrors that found in other vertebrate classes, particularly Aves and Mammalia [1-6]. This is particularly significant as toads and other amphibians lack pallial and neocortical brain structures normally associated with such forms of cognition.