Comments on: Why cats like being stroked

By: darrelle

darrelle — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 23:34:18 +0000

Next question. Do mammals also enjoy stroking? Is there an evolved neurological response to reinforce stroking of others? People sure do seem to derive satisfaction from stroking their pets and other humans (if the right human anyway). It seems possible that other animals would as well, for various reasons.

By: John Scanlon, FCD

John Scanlon, FCD — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:51:28 +0000

Some of the intraspecific contact associated with courtship and mating, social aggregations, and (at least in birds) allogrooming look not unlike the kind of behaviour that these stroke-neurons are supposed to mediate in mammals. And not only intra: herp-keepers know that some lizards and snakes (once habituated to handling) respond well to stroking around the head and neck, and parrots love a good long head-scratch. So it would be interesting to compare the sensory neurons of mammals with those of other vertebrates, and see how deep in phylogeny the different types go.

By: infiniteimprobabilit

infiniteimprobabilit — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:53:10 +0000

I found the same with the neighbours’ cat the other night. A very handsome orange-and-white tabby, he’s usually quite nervous, he was wandering across our driveway, I managed to approach him, as soon as I touched the top of his head he was right into it – I hardly had to move my fingers, he was rubbing vigorously up against my hand, all shyness gone. He kept going for about five minutes.

By: Pray Hard

Pray Hard — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:32:36 +0000

This is good …
now.msn.com/catshaming-meme-funny-cat-photos

By: Gregory Kusnick

Gregory Kusnick — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:30:49 +0000

OK, but why shouldn’t “touching hairs” v. “poking or pinching skin” be part of that discrimination process? If in fact it turns out to be the most effective discriminator, then it’s the one that will predominate, whether it’s strictly necessary or not.

Bear in mind that follicular neurons most likely existed before grooming behavior evolved. So the sensory channel was already in place, and was co-opted by natural selection as part of the grooming reward system.

By: Shuggy

Shuggy — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:00:22 +0000

I was assuming that grooming could be distinguished from other touch by strong vs weak, gentle vs rough, and the ongoing nearness, smell, sounds etc. of the other mammal, without the need for specialised neurons.

By: Shuggy

Shuggy — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:55:32 +0000

You say "obvious visual cue" but do we know horizontal vs vertical stripes are salient to mice? (I was assuming that "turn left" vs "turn right" was salient enough. We know rats are very -handed, turning upside-down rather than put the "wrong" hand down a tube to reach out food. [They put the tube in a corner to force the choice.]) I don't mind random assignment, but if the association is weak, you need to increase the number of subjects to ensure significance. [" -handed"? Not sure if I have enhanced or retarded English by coining that. Is the word "chiral" applicable? The SOED says it means "not superposable on its mirror image", which is not what I mean at all. "-handed" is much clearer.]

By: Gregory Kusnick

Gregory Kusnick — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:31:58 +0000

…surely mammals would be programmed to like grooming and being groomed without the need for special neurons to determine the nature of the stimulus?

Sorry, you lost me here. How can an organism be programmed to prefer stimulus X over stimulus Y without some neurological mechanism for distinguishing X from Y?

By: musical beef

musical beef — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:03:28 +0000

They sort of suggest that it simulates grooming and cleaning.

What I didn’t see in the video was evidence that this really is the connection. But it seems plausible that we’d have evolved a positive response to hygienic behavior.

By: musical beef

musical beef — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 20:52:04 +0000

I’ve neither read not done any science on the subject, but regarding tickling:

As you point out you can’t really tickle yourself. Equally important to note is that ticklish areas tend to be vulnerable areas of the body: stomach, neck, etc.

Could the ticklish response be a form of protection?