Neuroanatomical asymmetry in the canine brain

Barton, Sophie A.; Kent, Marc; Hecht, Erin E.

doi:10.1007/s00429-023-02677-0

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…Assuming, as we do, that the head-tilt behavior in dogs indexes lateralized brain processing, the results of the present study provide evidence that dogs process familiar human speech in the left hemisphere of the brain. These results concur with ndings from Barton et al 24 , which discovered leftward asymmetry of canine brain regions that are activated during human speech, and Boros et al 25 , who concluded dogs' left basal ganglia was activated for word segmentation in a word learning task. Left-brain lateralization in dogs in conjunction with the hemispheric lateralization patterns seen in the human literature suggest that dogs process familiar words not just as affective cues, but similarly to how humans process non-emotive language.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

What does that head-tilt mean? Brain Lateralization and Sex Differences in the Processing of Familiar Human Speech by Domestic Dogs

Buckley,

Sexton,

Hecht

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Does the head-tilt observed in many domesticated dogs index lateralized language processing? To answer this question, the present study had dogs participate in four conditions in which owners provided an increasing amount of communicative cues. These ranged from no communicative/affective cues to rich affective cues coupled with dog-directed speech. In a sample of 103 dogs representing seven breed groups and mixed-breed dogs, we found significant differences in the number of head-tilts occurring between conditions, with the most communicative (last) condition eliciting the most head-tilts. There were also significant differences in the direction of the head-tilts and between sex groups. Dogs were more likely to tilt their heads to the right, and neutered male dogs were more likely to tilt their heads than spayed females. The right-tilt bias is consistent with left-hemisphere language processing, with males processing language in a more lateralized manner, and females processing language more bilaterally— a pattern also observed in humans.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

What does that head-tilt mean? Brain Lateralization and Sex Differences in the Processing of Familiar Human Speech by Domestic Dogs

Buckley,

Sexton,

Hecht

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…Thus, sensory processing is lateralized in most dogs. Thesedata give no reason to assume a population wide side bias of processing, in contrast to a leftward grey matter volume bias in dogs in general (Barton et al, 2023), suggesting a complex relation between functional and structural asymmetries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Functional mapping of the somatosensory cortex using noninvasive fMRI and touch in awake dogs

Guran,

Boch,

Sladky

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Dogs are increasingly used as a model for neuroscience due to their ability to undergo functional MRI fully awake and unrestrained, after extensive behavioral training. Still, we know rather little about dogs’ basic functional neuroanatomy, including how basic perceptual and motor functions are localized in their brains. This is a major shortcoming in interpreting activations obtained in dog fMRI. The aim of this preregistered study was to localize areas associated with somatosensory processing. To this end, we touched N = 22 dogs undergoing fMRI scanning on their left and right flanks using a wooden rod. We identified activation in anatomically defined primary and secondary somatosensory areas (SI and SII), lateralized to the contralateral hemisphere depending on the side of touch, as well as activations, beyond an anatomical mask of SI and SII, in the cingulate cortex, right cerebellum and vermis, and the Sylvian gyri. These activations may partly relate to motor control (cerebellum, cingulate), but also potentially to higher-order cognitive processing of somatosensory stimuli (rostral Sylvian gyri), and the affective aspects of the stimulation (cingulate). We also found evidence for individual side biases in a vast majority of dogs in our sample, pointing at functional lateralization of somatosensory processing. These findings not only provide further evidence that fMRI is suited to localize neuro-cognitive processing in dogs in vivo, but also expand our understanding of touch processing in mammals, beyond classically defined primary and secondary somatosensory cortices.Significance StatementTo understand brain function and evolution, it is necessary to look beyond the human lineage. This study provides insights into the engagement of brain areas related to somatosensation using whole-brain non-invasive neuroimaging of trained, non-sedated, and unrestrained pet dogs. It showcases again the usefulness of non-invasive methods, in particular fMRI, for investigating brain function and advances the mapping of brain functions in dogs; using this non-invasive approach without sedation, we are able to identify previously unknown potential higher-order processing areas and offer a quantification of touch processing lateralization.

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“…Thus, sensory processing is lateralized in most dogs. These data give no reason to assume a population wide side bias of processing, in contrast to a leftward grey matter volume bias in dogs in general (Barton et al 2023 ), suggesting a complex relation between functional and structural asymmetries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Functional mapping of the somatosensory cortex using noninvasive fMRI and touch in awake dogs

Guran,

Boch,

Sladky

et al. 2024

Brain Struct Funct

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dogs are increasingly used as a model for neuroscience due to their ability to undergo functional MRI fully awake and unrestrained, after extensive behavioral training. Still, we know rather little about dogs’ basic functional neuroanatomy, including how basic perceptual and motor functions are localized in their brains. This is a major shortcoming in interpreting activations obtained in dog fMRI. The aim of this preregistered study was to localize areas associated with somatosensory processing. To this end, we touched N = 22 dogs undergoing fMRI scanning on their left and right flanks using a wooden rod. We identified activation in anatomically defined primary and secondary somatosensory areas (SI and SII), lateralized to the contralateral hemisphere depending on the side of touch, and importantly also activation beyond SI and SII, in the cingulate cortex, right cerebellum and vermis, and the sylvian gyri. These activations may partly relate to motor control (cerebellum, cingulate), but also potentially to higher-order cognitive processing of somatosensory stimuli (rostral sylvian gyri), and the affective aspects of the stimulation (cingulate). We also found evidence for individual side biases in a vast majority of dogs in our sample, pointing at functional lateralization of somatosensory processing. These findings not only provide further evidence that fMRI is suited to localize neuro-cognitive processing in dogs, but also expand our understanding of in vivo touch processing in mammals, beyond classically defined primary and secondary somatosensory cortices.

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Neuroanatomical asymmetry in the canine brain

Cited by 4 publications

References 79 publications

What does that head-tilt mean? Brain Lateralization and Sex Differences in the Processing of Familiar Human Speech by Domestic Dogs

What does that head-tilt mean? Brain Lateralization and Sex Differences in the Processing of Familiar Human Speech by Domestic Dogs

Functional mapping of the somatosensory cortex using noninvasive fMRI and touch in awake dogs

Functional mapping of the somatosensory cortex using noninvasive fMRI and touch in awake dogs

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