Network analysis reveals abnormal functional brain circuitry in anxious dogs.
Anxiety is a common disease within human psychiatric disorders and has also been described as a frequently neuropsychiatric problem in dogs. Human neuroimaging studies showed abnormal functional brain networks might be involved in anxiety. In this study, we expected similar changes in network topolo...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282087&type=printable |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849345326035501056 |
|---|---|
| author | Yangfeng Xu Emma Christiaen Sara De Witte Qinyuan Chen Kathelijne Peremans Jimmy H Saunders Christian Vanhove Chris Baeken |
| author_facet | Yangfeng Xu Emma Christiaen Sara De Witte Qinyuan Chen Kathelijne Peremans Jimmy H Saunders Christian Vanhove Chris Baeken |
| author_sort | Yangfeng Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Anxiety is a common disease within human psychiatric disorders and has also been described as a frequently neuropsychiatric problem in dogs. Human neuroimaging studies showed abnormal functional brain networks might be involved in anxiety. In this study, we expected similar changes in network topology are also present in dogs. We performed resting-state functional MRI on 25 healthy dogs and 13 patients. The generic Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire was used to evaluate anxiety symptoms. We constructed functional brain networks and used graph theory to compare the differences between two groups. No significant differences in global network topology were found. However, focusing on the anxiety circuit, global efficiency and local efficiency were significantly higher, and characteristic path length was significantly lower in the amygdala in patients. We detected higher connectivity between amygdala-hippocampus, amygdala-mesencephalon, amygdala-thalamus, frontal lobe-hippocampus, frontal lobe-thalamus, and hippocampus-thalamus, all part of the anxiety circuit. Moreover, correlations between network metrics and anxiety symptoms were significant. Altered network measures in the amygdala were correlated with stranger-directed fear and excitability; altered degree in the hippocampus was related to attachment/attention seeking, trainability, and touch sensitivity; abnormal frontal lobe function was related to chasing and familiar dog aggression; attachment/attention seeking was correlated with functional connectivity between amygdala-hippocampus and amygdala-thalamus; familiar dog aggression was related to global network topology change. These findings may shed light on the aberrant topological organization of functional brain networks underlying anxiety in dogs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-73b6de4289b442438d8cd153cbf8e2ab |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-73b6de4289b442438d8cd153cbf8e2ab2025-08-20T03:42:30ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01183e028208710.1371/journal.pone.0282087Network analysis reveals abnormal functional brain circuitry in anxious dogs.Yangfeng XuEmma ChristiaenSara De WitteQinyuan ChenKathelijne PeremansJimmy H SaundersChristian VanhoveChris BaekenAnxiety is a common disease within human psychiatric disorders and has also been described as a frequently neuropsychiatric problem in dogs. Human neuroimaging studies showed abnormal functional brain networks might be involved in anxiety. In this study, we expected similar changes in network topology are also present in dogs. We performed resting-state functional MRI on 25 healthy dogs and 13 patients. The generic Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire was used to evaluate anxiety symptoms. We constructed functional brain networks and used graph theory to compare the differences between two groups. No significant differences in global network topology were found. However, focusing on the anxiety circuit, global efficiency and local efficiency were significantly higher, and characteristic path length was significantly lower in the amygdala in patients. We detected higher connectivity between amygdala-hippocampus, amygdala-mesencephalon, amygdala-thalamus, frontal lobe-hippocampus, frontal lobe-thalamus, and hippocampus-thalamus, all part of the anxiety circuit. Moreover, correlations between network metrics and anxiety symptoms were significant. Altered network measures in the amygdala were correlated with stranger-directed fear and excitability; altered degree in the hippocampus was related to attachment/attention seeking, trainability, and touch sensitivity; abnormal frontal lobe function was related to chasing and familiar dog aggression; attachment/attention seeking was correlated with functional connectivity between amygdala-hippocampus and amygdala-thalamus; familiar dog aggression was related to global network topology change. These findings may shed light on the aberrant topological organization of functional brain networks underlying anxiety in dogs.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282087&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Yangfeng Xu Emma Christiaen Sara De Witte Qinyuan Chen Kathelijne Peremans Jimmy H Saunders Christian Vanhove Chris Baeken Network analysis reveals abnormal functional brain circuitry in anxious dogs. PLoS ONE |
| title | Network analysis reveals abnormal functional brain circuitry in anxious dogs. |
| title_full | Network analysis reveals abnormal functional brain circuitry in anxious dogs. |
| title_fullStr | Network analysis reveals abnormal functional brain circuitry in anxious dogs. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Network analysis reveals abnormal functional brain circuitry in anxious dogs. |
| title_short | Network analysis reveals abnormal functional brain circuitry in anxious dogs. |
| title_sort | network analysis reveals abnormal functional brain circuitry in anxious dogs |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282087&type=printable |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yangfengxu networkanalysisrevealsabnormalfunctionalbraincircuitryinanxiousdogs AT emmachristiaen networkanalysisrevealsabnormalfunctionalbraincircuitryinanxiousdogs AT saradewitte networkanalysisrevealsabnormalfunctionalbraincircuitryinanxiousdogs AT qinyuanchen networkanalysisrevealsabnormalfunctionalbraincircuitryinanxiousdogs AT kathelijneperemans networkanalysisrevealsabnormalfunctionalbraincircuitryinanxiousdogs AT jimmyhsaunders networkanalysisrevealsabnormalfunctionalbraincircuitryinanxiousdogs AT christianvanhove networkanalysisrevealsabnormalfunctionalbraincircuitryinanxiousdogs AT chrisbaeken networkanalysisrevealsabnormalfunctionalbraincircuitryinanxiousdogs |