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CNN
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At a veterinary lab in North Carolina, Woofus, a 15-year-old basset hound mix, allows researchers to attach electroencephalogram, or EEG, electrodes to his head before heading off to a dark, cozy room for an evening nap. late.
During his nap, the study team will analyze Woofus’s brain waves to judge the quality of his sleep. Woofus has canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome, or CCDS, the dog disorder that is similar to Alzheimer’s disease in people. The elderly dog’s owners say he is struggling to get enough rest at night.
“Like humans with Alzheimer’s disease, dogs with CCDS experience sleep disruptions, such as insomnia and sleep fragmentation,” said veterinarian Dr. Natasha Olby, professor of neurology, neurosurgery and gerontology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. of the State of North Carolina in Raleigh.
Woofus isn’t the only sleep-deprived dog in this study. On other days at the clinic, Jake, a 13-year-old pointer, and Coco, a 12-year-old dachshund, among others, could be napping while researchers peer inside their brains.
“Dog owners with CCDS report that their dogs experience difficulty sleeping at night, more sleepiness during the day, or both, as well as rhythm and vocalizations at night,” Olby said. “This can be very hard on dog owners, not only are they worried about their pet, but their sleep is significantly disrupted as well.”
To find out if sleep problems in dogs indicate early signs of dementia as they do in people, Olby and his team turned to a group of older dogs enrolled in a ongoing study antiaging supplements test. The dogs visit twice a year “and do all kinds of really fun cognitive tests,” she said. “They really enjoy it and they like the handlers they work with.”
To be considered for the anti-aging study, the dog must have lived more than 75% of the life expectancy for its breed or mix of breeds. Nor could a dog be crippled by arthritis or go blind, as the pet needed to be able to perform tasks designed to test the dog’s cognitive abilities.
A dog, for example, might be asked to find a treat hidden under a cup or a snack inside a cylinder with one end closed off by an investigator. By repeating the tasks in the clinic every six months, any decline in the dog’s mental alertness or performance can be tracked.
For the new study measuring a dog’s brain waves during sleep, the researchers used a form of EEG called polysomnography, which is used in sleep clinics to diagnose sleep problems in people.
“It’s the gold standard method for looking at what the brain is doing during sleep,” Olby said, adding that this is the first canine study to apply the same technology that’s used in humans.
“We glue these electrodes together with a really good conductive glue that is soluble in water. Then we just wash it after,” she said. “We don’t use as many electrodes as you would see on people in a sleep lab, because dogs have much less cortex and surface area to cover.”
Already comfortable with the staff, it wasn’t too difficult to train 28 senior dogs to wear electrodes and walk on dangling leads without complaint, she said.
To make dogs more comfortable during naps, owners bring their dog beds from home, which are placed in a room protected from white noise.
“Staff sit with them while they nap to make sure they aren’t trying to rip off or eat the electrodes or do anything that could hurt them,” Olby said.
When brain waves from sleep were compared to a dog’s cognitive tests, the researchers found that dogs with more dementia spent less time in deep and REM sleep, just like people. the study was recently posted in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
“The dogs that did worse on our memory tests had REM sleep levels that weren’t as deep as they should be,” Olby said. “We found the same thing when it came to deep sleep.”
While no one knows the exact mechanism at work, either in people or in dogs, research like this study it can help scientists better understand the process and find ways to treat it, Olby said.
“There is a possibility that we could identify an early signature of change in the EEG that could tell us, ‘Hey, things are starting to slip.’ Because with a chronic neurodegenerative process, of course we would love to be able to intervene sooner rather than later.”
In the meantime, there are medications for anxiety and melatonin for sleep that vets can prescribe as the dog ages, Olby said. And just like with people, diet and exercise seem to be a factor.
“There have been some very good studies showing that diets enriched in flavonoids and antioxidants and medium-chain fatty acids could possibly delay the development of dementia in dogs,” he said. “It’s like people: if you can eat a Mediterranean diet and exercise, you’ll do better.”
Canine dementia is a worrisome reality for many senior dogs. Investigation has found that by 11 or 12 years of age, 28% of dogs had mild cognitive impairment and 10% had severe cognitive impairment. By the time the dogs reached 15 years of age, the risk had increased to 68% for mild cognitive impairment and 35% for severe cognitive impairment. TO study 2022 found that the odds of canine cognitive dysfunction increased by 52% with each year of age, Olby said.
Pet owners can look for signs that their dog’s mental functions are declining. According to Olby, vets use an acronym called DISHA-AL, which stands for Disorientation, Interaction Changes, Sleep/Wake Cycle Disturbances, House Dirty; activity changes (increased or decreased); and anxiety and learning and memory.
“One of the first signs is that you’ll start to see a little bit of confusion, just like you do with people, all of a sudden they start making some mistakes and things you wouldn’t expect them to do. Very similar to us,” Olby said.
“Do you really think there is enough space for you?” — Delilah, a 10-year-old Siberian husky.
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Lynx (top) and Luna (bottom) are 2-year-old Siberian forest cats.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam – img–loading’)’ height=”1125″ width=”2000″/>
Banshee, a 6-year-old Husky mix, is a rescue who survived heartworms.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery -image__dam- img–loading’)’ height=”1500″ width=”2000″/>
Mason, a 3-year-old Labrador Retriever, loves to sleep next to his dad every night, but hates covers.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove ( ‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1125″ width=”2000″/>
“What? I don’t snore!” — Luna, a 2-year-old Siberian forest cat.
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Molly (left), a 15-year-old cockapoo mix, likes to sleep in her human’s armpit, while Evie (right) prefers the foot of the bed and hates being woken up early.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam -img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”900″ width=”1600″/>
Evie, a 4-year-old Jack Russell terrier mix, has been known to crawl over her human if she needs more affection.” class=”image_gallery-image__dam-img image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this. classList. remove(‘image_gallery-image__dam-img–loading’)’ height=”1358″ width=”2000″/>
Is sleeping with your pets good for them?
Dogs can also lose learned behaviors or forget their house training and start having unintentional accidents around the house, he added.
“A classic problem is wandering and getting lost under the table or something: they just can’t process the information and figure out where they are. Changes in the sleep cycle, increased anxiety, all of these things are classic signs of dementia,” she said.
However, don’t assume that’s what’s wrong with your dog. Just like in people, other health problems, such as metabolic diseases, urinary tract infections, or even brain tumors, can mimic the classic signs of dementia.
“High blood pressure can make dogs anxious, for example,” Olby said, “so the dog should be thoroughly checked by a veterinarian to rule out disease.”
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