Two manuscripts: evaluation of inhibitory control and working memory in a control group and in a group of epileptic dogs and dog laterality biases are individually stable and associated with temperament
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2014
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Manuscrito 1
Anomalias na cognição podem ser consequência de diversas doenças intracranianas. Atualmente, os médicos veterinários não têm forma de categorizar ou quantificar a cognição. De forma a explorar se é possível quantificar a cognição em cães com doenças neurológicas, num ambiente clínico, avaliámos a memória de curto prazo e o controlo inibitório numa amostra controlo de 52 cães e numa amostra hospitalar de 10 cães com epilepsia idiopática. Os resultados demonstraram que os cães epiléticos tiveram um pior desempenho em relação aos cães do grupo controlo. Contudo, mais do que demonstrarem falta de controlo inibitório ou memória de curto prazo, os cães epiléticos demonstraram dificuldade em aprender os procedimentos das três tarefas cognitivas.
No teste do Cilindro, a percentagem de respostas corretas dos cães do grupo controlo foi 91,4 e a dos cães epiléticos foi 84. No teste da Perseveração Espacial, a diferença de performance entre os dois grupos foi ainda mais significativa com 72,06% de respostas corretas para os cães do grupo controlo e 55% para os cães epiléticos. Metade dos cães epiléticos e apenas dois cães do grupo controlo falharam o teste da Memória de Curto Prazo. Neste teste, a percentagem de respostas corretas dos cães controlo foi 61,22 e dos cães epiléticos 34,57. Não foi encontrado efeito da idade ou sexo nos resultados dos testes. Os cães de raça Labrador Retriever tiveram um desempenho significativamente melhor em relação aos não Labrador em alguns parâmetros dos testes. Uma subamostra de 22 cães normais que repetiu o teste mais duas vezes, com um mês de intervalo, melhorou o seu desempenho nos testes de controlo inibitório e memória de curto prazo.
Este estudo demonstra que é possível avaliar de uma forma eficiente o controlo inibitório e a memória de curto prazo numa população clinicamente relevante de cães, sem que seja necessário o seu treino prévio.
Manuscrito 2
Foi estudado o uso do membro torácico por 52 cães em duas tarefas motoras: o Primeiro Passo e o teste do Tubo. Explorou-se a influência do sexo, idade, raça e temperamento dos cães nos resultados. No teste do Primeiro Passo, fêmeas e machos mostraram ter preferência por um membro torácico mas numa direção oposta: as fêmeas tiveram uma maior tendência para utilizar o membro torácico direito e os machos o esquerdo. Não foi encontrada nenhuma relação entre o sexo e o índice de lateralidade do teste do Tubo. Igualmente, não foi encontrada relação entre os resultados do questionário online C-BARQ e as medidas de lateralidade do teste do Tubo. No entanto, a análise dos resultados revelou que os cães machos com valores mais elevados na categoria “agressão dirigida a cães familiares” tiveram um menor índice de lateralidade no teste do Primeiro Passo em relação aos cães machos com valores mais baixos na mesma categoria. Adicionalmente, cães machos mais fortemente lateralizados no teste do Primeiro Passo tiveram valores mais elevados na categoria “agressão dirigida a estranhos”, bem como um valor geral de agressão mais elevado.
Manuscript 1 Abnormalities in cognition can result from a variety of intracranial disease processes. Currently, veterinarians do not attempt to categorize or quantify cognition. In order to explore whether it’s possible to quantify cognition in neurologically impaired dogs in a clinical setting, we evaluated working memory and inhibitory control in a control group of 52 pet dogs and in a hospital population of 10 epileptic dogs. Epileptic dogs performed significantly worse in relation to dogs of the control group. Although, more than demonstrating lack of inhibitory control or working memory, epileptic dogs showed difficulty learning the procedures of the three cognitive tasks. The percentage of correct responses in the Cylinder test was 91.4 for the dogs of the control group and 84 for the epileptic dogs. On the Spatial Perseveration test, that difference was even more significant with 72.06% of correct responses for dogs of the control group and 55% for the epileptic dogs. Half of the epileptic dogs and only two of the control dogs failed the Working Memory test. The percentage of correct responses in this test was 61.22 for the dogs of the control group and 34.57 for the epileptic dogs. No effect of age or sex was found on tests results. Labrador Retrievers performed significantly better in some parameters of the tests in relation to non-Labradors. A subsample of 22 dogs of the control group that repeated testing twice, with one month interval, improved their performance on both inhibitory control and working memory tests. This study demonstrates that a trio of tests evaluating impulse control and working memory can be completed in a clinically relevant population of untrained dogs in an efficient manner. Manuscript 2 Paw use in a group of 52 pet dogs was studied across two motor tasks: the First Step and the Tube. The influence of dogs’ sex, age, breed and temperament on paw preference was explored. On the First Step, male and female dogs showed paw preferences but in an opposite direction: female dogs were more likely to be right pawed and male dogs left pawed. No relationship was found between sex and the laterality index on the Tube test. No significant effect of age was found on either laterality tests results. No relationship was found between C-BARQ scores and measures of laterality on the Tube test. However, findings revealed that male dogs with higher values on the “familiar-dog aggression” category had a lower LI on the First Step test than male dogs with lower values on the same category. In addition, male dogs more strongly lateralized on the First Step test had higher values on the “stranger-directed aggression” category, as well as an overall higher aggression score.
Manuscript 1 Abnormalities in cognition can result from a variety of intracranial disease processes. Currently, veterinarians do not attempt to categorize or quantify cognition. In order to explore whether it’s possible to quantify cognition in neurologically impaired dogs in a clinical setting, we evaluated working memory and inhibitory control in a control group of 52 pet dogs and in a hospital population of 10 epileptic dogs. Epileptic dogs performed significantly worse in relation to dogs of the control group. Although, more than demonstrating lack of inhibitory control or working memory, epileptic dogs showed difficulty learning the procedures of the three cognitive tasks. The percentage of correct responses in the Cylinder test was 91.4 for the dogs of the control group and 84 for the epileptic dogs. On the Spatial Perseveration test, that difference was even more significant with 72.06% of correct responses for dogs of the control group and 55% for the epileptic dogs. Half of the epileptic dogs and only two of the control dogs failed the Working Memory test. The percentage of correct responses in this test was 61.22 for the dogs of the control group and 34.57 for the epileptic dogs. No effect of age or sex was found on tests results. Labrador Retrievers performed significantly better in some parameters of the tests in relation to non-Labradors. A subsample of 22 dogs of the control group that repeated testing twice, with one month interval, improved their performance on both inhibitory control and working memory tests. This study demonstrates that a trio of tests evaluating impulse control and working memory can be completed in a clinically relevant population of untrained dogs in an efficient manner. Manuscript 2 Paw use in a group of 52 pet dogs was studied across two motor tasks: the First Step and the Tube. The influence of dogs’ sex, age, breed and temperament on paw preference was explored. On the First Step, male and female dogs showed paw preferences but in an opposite direction: female dogs were more likely to be right pawed and male dogs left pawed. No relationship was found between sex and the laterality index on the Tube test. No significant effect of age was found on either laterality tests results. No relationship was found between C-BARQ scores and measures of laterality on the Tube test. However, findings revealed that male dogs with higher values on the “familiar-dog aggression” category had a lower LI on the First Step test than male dogs with lower values on the same category. In addition, male dogs more strongly lateralized on the First Step test had higher values on the “stranger-directed aggression” category, as well as an overall higher aggression score.
Descrição
Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária
Palavras-chave
Cães , Cognição , Memória de curto prazo , Inibição , Controlo inibitório