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Review
. 2022 Oct 20;12(20):2857.
doi: 10.3390/ani12202857.

Application of Electroencephalography in Preslaughter Management: A Review

Pavan Kumar  1   2 , Ahmed A Abubakar  1 , Awis Qurni Sazili  3   4 , Ubedullah Kaka  4   5 , Yong-Meng Goh  6
Affiliations
Review

Application of Electroencephalography in Preslaughter Management: A Review

Pavan Kumar et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Electroencephalography (EEG) can be reliable for assessing the brain's electrical activity of preslaughter stress and pain. The duration between the ventral neck cut and induction of a state of unconsciousness/insensibility is crucial in the slaughtering of animals, reducing pain, fear, and distress. Various EEG variables, such as median frequency (F50), the total power of EEG spectrum (Ptot), waves patterns (amplitude and frequencies), epileptiform EEG, index of consciousness, and isoelectric EEG, are used to identify a valid indicator of the state of unconsciousness. Association among various behavioral, physiological, and hematological parameters with EEG variables could provide an overall assessment and deep insights into the animal stress levels or welfare status during various managemental and preslaughter operations, such as transport, stunning, and slaughtering operations. The application of EEG could help in further refining the stunning technologies and slaughter protocols in livestock, poultry, and fish. The present review analyzed the application of EEG as a neurophysiological tool for assessing animal welfare during the critical state of preslaughter handling and slaughter, thus ensuring proper compliance with animal welfare principles.

Keywords: animal welfare; electroencephalography; preslaughter; stress; stunning; unconsciousness.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Brain wave samples with dominant frequencies belonging to beta, alpha, theta, and delta bands and gamma waves [84]. “Reprinted from Introduction to EEG- and Speech-Based Emotion Recognition Priyanka A. Abhang Bharti W. Gawali, Suresh C. Mehrotra, Chapter 2–Technological Basics of EEG Recording and Operation of Apparatus, Pages No- 19–50, Copyright (2016), with permission from Elsevier”.
Figure 2
Figure 2
EEG spectrum of cattle at baseline.
Figure 3
Figure 3
EEG Changes in Goats Subjected to Low-Frequency Head-Only Electrical Stunning.
Figure 4
Figure 4
EEG spectrum of cattle pre- and post-slaughter (encircled/red arrow showing the point of slaughter).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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