Clinical feasibility of cognitive testing in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)

Heckler, Marta Cristina Thomas; Tranquilim, Marcos Vinicius; Svicero, Denis Jeronimo; Barbosa, Luciano; Amorim, Rogério Martins

doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2013.09.002

Cited by 24 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Due to the lack of a double blinded study design, it cannot be totally excluded that the owner/assistant or researcher was inadvertently cueing the dog. Nevertheless, in this study no effect of dog handler on performance was seen, corroborating previous work by Heckler et al, (2014). Therefore, it is considered that the habituation procedure and the precise instructions given to the dog handlers (such as standing still with their arms at their side, where to look, wearing sunglasses) were sufficient to minimise handler influence.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Unlike in human studies (review Colciago et al, 2015) no sex dependent effects on memory were observed, which is in line with already reported data in dogs (Heckler et al, 2014;Lazarowski et al, 2014). However, the high proportion of neutered individuals within this study population might have confounded the data.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…The number of dogs enrolled was based on previously published papers on object discrimination (OD) learning ranging from 15-25 dogs (Hall et al, 2013;Heckler et al, 2014;Lazarowski et al, 2014;Snighda et al, 2014). The study met the ethical guidelines of the University of Lincoln, UK.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Playful activity post-learning improves training performance in Labrador Retriever dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris )

Affenzeller

Palme

Zulch

2017

Physiology & Behavior

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(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Highlights:• Enhancement of memory in dogs through post-learning activity was investigated• Playful activity post-learning improved memory in an object discrimination paradigm• Cortisol significantly decreased after play when compared to a control group• More studies are needed to evaluate implications for the field of dog training Situations that are emotional and arousing have an effect on cognitive performance. It is thought that beta adrenergic activation and the release of stress hormones enhance memory consolidation and lead to an increase in memorability of emotional events. This beneficial effect has been shown in humans, non-human primates and rodents. Techniques which could enhance memory for learning specific tasks would be highly valuable, especially in dogs, which are extensively trained to aid humans.A pseudo-randomised, counterbalanced, between subject study design was utilised and 16Labrador Retrievers ranging from 1-9 years of age were trained in a 2-choice discrimination paradigm. After task acquisition, either a playful activity intervention (N=8) or a resting period (N=8) took place, lasting for 30 minutes.A range of factors including age, sex, training experience and trials to criterion on each day was subjected to a multiple factor/covariate General Linear Model analysis. The results show that playful activity post-learning improved training performance evidenced by fewer trials needed to re-learn the task 24 hours after initial acquisition (playful activity group: mean number of trials 26, SD 6; resting group: mean number of trials 43, SD 19, effect size 1.2).Average heart rate, as a measure of arousal, during the intervention was significantly higher in the playful activity group (143 beats/min, SD 16) versus the resting group (86 beats/min, SD 19, P<0.001). Salivary cortisol did not significantly differ between groups during training, however a significant decrease (T: -4.1 P<0.01) was seen after the playful activity.To our knowledge this is the first evidence that post training activity may influence training performance in dogs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

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Playful activity post-learning improves training performance in Labrador Retriever dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris )

Affenzeller

Palme

Zulch

2017

Physiology & Behavior

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“…Consequently, studies on family dogs’ cognitive ageing have begun to emerge (e.g. Chapagain et al, 2017; González-Martínez et al, 2013; Heckler, Tranquilim, Svicero, Barbosa & Amorim, 2014; Mongillo et al, 2013; Piotti et al, 2017; Wallis et al, 2016; Wallis et al, 2017). One remaining issue is that some of these tests still require prolonged and complex procedures (discussed below); this limits the replicability of such studies, especially outside of the laboratory setting (Heckler et al, 2014 for a discussion).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of age on discrimination learning, reversal learning, and cognitive bias in family dogs

et al. 2018

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Several studies on age-related cognitive decline in dogs involve laboratory dogs and prolonged training. We developed two spatial tasks that required a single one-hour session. We tested 107 medium-large sized dogs: “young” (N=41, aged 2.5–6.5 years) and “old” (N=66, aged 8–14.5 years). Our results indicated that, in a discrimination learning task and in a reversal learning task, young dogs learned significantly faster than the old dogs, indicating that these two tasks could successfully be used to investigate differences in spatial learning between young and old dogs. We also provide two novel findings. First, in the reversal learning, the dogs trained based on the location of stimuli learned faster than the dogs trained based on stimulus characteristics. Most old dogs did not learn the task within our cut-off of 50 trials. Training based on an object’s location is therefore more appropriate for reversal learning tasks. Second, the contrast between the response to the positive and negative stimuli was narrower in old dogs, compared to young dogs, during the reversal learning task, as well as the cognitive bias test. This measure favours comparability between tasks and between studies. Following the cognitive bias test, we could not find any indication of differences in the positive and negative expectations between young and old dogs. Taken together, these findings do not support the hypothesis that old dogs have more negative expectations than young dogs and the use of the cognitive bias test in older dogs requires further investigation.

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“…This research highlights the need for veterinarians to collect baseline information of a pet's cognitive ability and its evolution so that the clinician can be sensitive to changes if they occur. If cognition tests cannot be performed in such a setting [93], a string of history questions can be discussed with the owner, as cognitive changes can occur early from chronic inflammation [94], as opposed to being a primary sequela of the disease. Some may feel overwhelmed by the intense training involved with cognition tests; however, studies have shown the possibility of performing cognition testing in a clinical setting may be helpful in assessing cognitive decline in pets with chronic medical conditions in order to provide appropriate interventions, including additional diagnostics, diet changes, or enrichment [94,95].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Abilities of Dogs with Mucopolysaccharidosis I: Learning and Memory

Provoost

Siracusa

Stefanovski

et al. 2020

Animals

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Mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I) results from a deficiency of a lysosomal enzyme, alpha-L-iduronidase (IDUA). IDUA deficiency leads to glycosaminoglycan (GAG) accumulation resulting in cellular degeneration and multi-organ dysfunction. The primary aims of this pilot study were to determine the feasibility of cognitive testing MPS I affected dogs and to determine their non-social cognitive abilities with and without gene therapy. Fourteen dogs were tested: 5 MPS I untreated, 5 MPS I treated, and 4 clinically normal. The treated group received intrathecal gene therapy as neonates to replace the IDUA gene. Cognitive tests included delayed non-match to position (DNMP), two-object visual discrimination (VD), reversal learning (RL), attention oddity (AO), and two-scent discrimination (SD). Responses were recorded as correct, incorrect, or no response, and analyzed using mixed effect logistic regression analysis. Significant differences were not observed among the three groups for DNMP, VD, RL, or AO. The MPS I untreated dogs were excluded from AO testing due to failing to pass acquisition of the task, potentially representing a learning or executive function deficit. The MPS I affected group (treated and untreated) was significantly more likely to discriminate between scents than the normal group, which may be due to an age effect. The normal group was comprised of the oldest dogs, and a mixed effect logistic model indicated that older dogs were more likely to respond incorrectly on scent discrimination. Overall, this study found that cognition testing of MPS I affected dogs to be feasible. This work provides a framework to refine future cognition studies of dogs affected with diseases, including MPS I, in order to assess therapies in a more comprehensive manner.

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Clinical feasibility of cognitive testing in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)

Cited by 24 publications

References 27 publications

Playful activity post-learning improves training performance in Labrador Retriever dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris )

Playful activity post-learning improves training performance in Labrador Retriever dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris )

Effect of age on discrimination learning, reversal learning, and cognitive bias in family dogs

Cognitive Abilities of Dogs with Mucopolysaccharidosis I: Learning and Memory

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