Functional brain imaging: a brief overview of imaging techniques and their use in human and canine anxiety research

Vermeire, Simon; Audenaert, Kurt; Vandermeulen, Eva; Meester, Rudy De; Bree, Henri van; Dobbeleir, André; Peremans, Kathelijne

doi:10.21825/vdt.87269

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…Furthermore, the occipital brain regions also play a role in the processing of emotionally-relevant visual information, such as stimuli associated with threat or danger, which may contribute to the development or maintenance of anxiety symptoms and disorders 66 , 75 , 77 . For instance, occipital cortical 5-HT2A receptor down-regulation relating to an hyperactive serotonergic system has been found in dogs with anxiety disorders 6 . Of interest compared with healthy controls, Yang et al 14 found decreased nodal degree in the occipital brain areas of structural connectome in (human) patients with generalized anxiety disorder, which demonstrated stronger sensitivity and over-processing of emotional visual information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As in humans, the prevalence of anxiety disorders in dogs is high, and it is the most common behavioral disorder in daily veterinary practice 5 . It can be confidently stated that anxiety in dogs is a serious welfare problem, not only for the welfare of the animal, but it may also jeopardize the relationship with the owner, leading to abandonment, rehoming or even euthanasia 6 . In the case of comorbid aggression, anxious behavior can pose safety risks, not only to other animals but also to humans.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Structural connectome alterations in anxious dogs: a DTI-based study

Chen

Christiaen

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Anxiety and fear are dysfunctional behaviors commonly observed in domesticated dogs. Although dogs and humans share psychopathological similarities, little is known about how dysfunctional fear behaviors are represented in brain networks in dogs diagnosed with anxiety disorders. A combination of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and graph theory was used to investigate the underlying structural connections of dysfunctional anxiety in anxious dogs and compared with healthy dogs with normal behavior. The degree of anxiety was assessed using the Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), a widely used, validated questionnaire for abnormal behaviors in dogs. Anxious dogs showed significantly decreased clustering coefficient ($${C}_{p}$$ C p ), decreased global efficiency ($${E}_{glob}$$ E glob ), and increased small-worldness (σ) when compared with healthy dogs. The nodal parameters that differed between the anxious dogs and healthy dogs were mainly located in the posterior part of the brain, including the occipital lobe, posterior cingulate gyrus, hippocampus, mesencephalon, and cerebellum. Furthermore, the nodal degree ($${K}_{i}$$ K i ) of the left cerebellum was significantly negatively correlated with “excitability” in the C-BARQ of anxious dogs. These findings could contribute to the understanding of a disrupted brain structural connectome underlying the pathological mechanisms of anxiety-related disorders in dogs.

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