People with certain conditions might have trouble sleeping well. New research has found that if dogs show the same symptoms, it might mean they are starting to have problems with their memory and thinking skills.
New research have found that older dogs with dementia sleep less than those with healthy brains, similar to what happens with humans.
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Dogs love to sleep, and sometimes they make adorable noises or twitch their legs while sleeping. But, scientists have found that older dogs with dementia sleep less than those with healthy brains, similar to what happens in humans with dementia.
It is well known that individuals with dementia may encounter sleep difficulties, including struggling to fall asleep. Moreover, researchers have discovered changes in the brainwave patterns of those with dementia during sleep, specifically a reduction in slow brain waves that occur during deep non-rapid eye movement sleep.
These brain waves are crucial for forming memory and have been linked with the brain’s mechanism for removing waste.
It seems like this is the case for dogs as well.
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Studying dementia in dogs
A recent study has found dogs suffering from a condition similar to dementia in humans may also experience sleep impairment.
Professor Natasha Olby, who led a study at North Carolina State University, said that older dogs may have changes in their sleep habits, which could be a sign that their brain function is declining.
Olby and her colleagues wrote about their study on 28 dogs in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
The dogs were between 10 and 16 years old, and their brainwaves were recorded with a special test called an electroencephalogram (EEG) while the dogs took a two-hour nap in the afternoon.
The researchers questioned the dogs’ owners and also tested the dogs’ memory, problem-solving, and attention skills to see if they had or were at risk of having canine dementia.
Out of the 28 dogs, 20 of them were found to have cognitive problems. In eight of those dogs, the problems were deemed severe.
The researchers found that dogs with more severe cognitive impairment took longer to fall asleep and slept for less time.
The researchers also found that dogs who did worse on a memory task had less deep rapid eye movement sleep.
Curing Dementia?
While there is currently no cure for dementia in humans or dogs, the researchers hope to track the dogs over time to find out if there are any early signs of the disease that will help predict future problems.
Doing so can help them find ways to treat the disease. And if successful treatments for dementia are found for dogs, it could lead to treatments for humans as well.
This would be a “win-win” for both dogs and their owners.
