Cows have feelings too!

Increasingly, I'm fascinated about what is in a cow's mind. I've researched this a lot, because it's very relevant to my work. It turns out, we can only guess at what a cow might be thinking - but we should be able to relate to what she's feeling far more readily, because our brains are wired the same way when it comes to feeling.

The Three Brains Theory

I'm no neuroscientist, but I do remember bits from my veterinary training about the architecture of the brain. In simple terms, it is often described that us humans have three distinct parts to our brain: the reptile, mammalian and primate parts. (Neuroscientists argue about how literally to take this three-part model these days, but it's still a handy way to picture it.)

The “reptile brain” is our brain stem - it's at the base of our skull, and contains important structures like the cerebellum. This is the part that co-ordinates our

movement, and is responsible for very basic bodily functions like our heart rate and

breathing rate. It's called “reptile” because we share the same architecture here as

reptiles. It's where we feel hot/cold; thirst/hunger; and pain.

Our “mammalian brain” - also known as the limbic system - sits right in the middle. If

you wanted to get at it, you'd be drilling through the roof of your mouth, or behind

your nose. The hypothalamus and pituitary glands, for example, are part of the

mammalian brain, and there are loads of hormonal functions going on in there. If

you've come across Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), you'd know this part of

our brain as the “unconscious mind”. It's called mammalian because - yes, you

guessed it - we share the same basic architecture and functions as other mammals. I'll

return to it in a moment.

The “primate brain” is particularly well developed in humans, and other primates.

This sits behind our forehead - the cerebral cortex. It's the part of our brain responsible

for our memory, for processing language, for imagination, and for thinking. It's our

logical brain. This part of the brain exists in cows too - for sure - but isn't at all as well

developed. And that's why it's difficult for us to know what a cow is thinking, or even

how she thinks. Lacking a developed cerebral cortex is one good reason why cows

can't read (but it's not the only one - a topic for another day!)

Seven Core Feelings

Let's return to that mammalian brain. This, remember, is pretty much exactly the same in cows as in us. It's the part where our core feelings are experienced. Over the years, neuroscientists have attempted to nail down just what those core feelings are - one of the most famous is Jaak Panksepp. It's not an easy job, because capturing a “feeling”in a single word is difficult, and not everyone agrees on the precise nature of these core feelings either. Anyhow, Dr Panksepp identified precise regions of the mammalian brain, or limbic system, associated with seven core feelings.

There are four which I'd say are positive, pleasant to experience, and just three not-so- good feelings. The pleasant ones are curiosity/enthusiasm; joy/playfulness; care/ loving (as in for your parent, or child, or even best friend) and lust - what Dr Panksepp termed “horny” (well, he did work in the 1970s!)

The not-so-nice feelings are fear, panic and anger. “Panic” perhaps is an example where a single word struggles to capture it - it's characterised by separation anxiety (think, abandoned child can't find mum, or cow separated from her herd-mates), but is also where grief sits - a powerful feeling most of us have experienced - and anxiety in general, and sadness. So, a lot is wrapped up in that small word “panic”.

The Reason for Feelings

Every one of these core feelings is very biological in nature. Let me elaborate: firstly, they all have clear evolutionary functions. Taking cows as our example, it's easy to see

why they'd have died out if any one of the seven was missing from their emotional

repertoire.

Cows, over the aeons, have relied on curiosity so they can step outside their comfort zone in search of food in times of need. But if they had no fear, they might all have stepped off a cliff! As an aside, curiosity and fear live absolutely adjacent in our brains - cows display "curious-afraid" behaviour frequently, when they approach us (as strangers), daring themselves to come closer for a sniff before darting backwards in fear. Us humans, we do it too - we voluntarily undertake activities like bungee- jumping, or choose the exhilarating rides at the fair, feeling excited yet scared at the same time.

Moving along, without anger, the species would protect neither its young nor themselves. “Care” keeps the herd together (cows have very strong friendships - any dairy person will confirm that); so too does separation anxiety (panic) - a feeling which is possibly particularly acute in cows, whose herd mentality is legendary.

Without lust - well, do I need to explain? But joy and playfulness - what's the evolutionary importance there? I mean, it might just be that cows, like us, need something to get up for in the morning! But the real reason is more prosaic: calves learn through play, just like us, and without that core feeling and reward system, cows would not be able to learn. John Cleese once said, “he who laughs most, learns best”. So true.

These core feelings are biological in another sense too. Most of them are associated with a chain of three things: hormone release, a physiological effect, and a behavioural action. Let's take “fear” as an example - if I get scared or am alarmed, the fear centre in my amygdala (part of the limbic system) stimulates my sympathetic nervous system, causing my adrenal glands (above my kidneys) to release adrenaline. That's the hormonal bit, and it happens faster than I can say “boo!” Now comes the physiological effect of adrenaline: it raises my heart rate and diverts blood from my gut and brain to my muscles. In turn, I can't think straight, and I might have a funny feeling in my tummy, but I can fight harder or run away faster - fight or flight - and that's the behavioural response.

We can track other feelings in a similar way - for example, dopamine surges when we feel desire/ excitement, oxytocin when we bond, endorphins when we feel loving or cared for.

Physical contact triggers some interesting biology. Jaak Panksepp's research showed that touch and holding ("contact comfort" as he described it) release endorphins and calm the panic/separation-distress system. In the same way that a tight cuddle can calm a toddler having a tantrum, we can use positive physical contact with animals - spending a short while petting this calf means she gets a genuine hit of feel-good brain chemistry.

The Relevance When it Comes to Handling Cattle

The key thing in all this is that every one of us knows what these core feelings actually feel like - we've experienced them. We can relate to them. That makes it easier to have empathy for cows - because they experience exactly the same.

I use this a lot in my work when I'm training people in stress-free cattle handling. We all know what adrenaline-fuelled stress feels like: that instantaneous, hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-our-necks, heart-in-mouth experience we get when we narrowly avoid a head-on collision with a milk tanker while rushing along country lanes (only me? surely not!)

It's exactly the same for a cow when she senses a predator - aka a shouting, swearing, arm-waving human being - nearby. It's not a pleasant feeling. It stops her thinking straight. It shortens her life. And, if you're a cow, it prevents you releasing your milk.

Instilling the Right Feelings

So, cows have feelings. Just like us. They don't, however, ruminate on things (excuse the pun!). They probably don't wake up in the night worrying about the content of that email, or the jobs they have to do the next day. But they do feel visceral joy, curiosity, and care - let's help them have more of those positive experiences, and less of fear, anger or panic. All of us working with cows have the agency to do that, if we choose.