Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Magaly Belén Catanzariti | email: magalybelenc92@gmail.com
Magaly Catanzariti 1°, Alejandra Mondino 2°, Diego Mateos 1°
1° Instituto de Matemática Aplicada del LitoralCONICETUNL, CCT CONICET, Santa Fe, Argentina.
2° Department of Clinical Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
The study of brain dynamics in sleep and waking states is crucial for understanding basic and complex behavioral functions. In humans, electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings have shown that these dynamics are affected by aging. The strong analogy between human and canine social skills encourages the use of domestic dogs as an interesting model for comparative cognition research. In this regard, the present study evaluated differences in brain dynamics in sleep-wake cycles of 16 senior dogs (over 10 years old) and 11 young adults (between 1 and 7 years old), through the analysis of electroencephalographic signals (EEG). The signals were obtained on the channels F3, F4, Fz and Cz and stratified in four states: awake, drowsiness , Non-REM and REM. On these signals, studies of power spectral density (PSD) and nonlinear analysis of information measures based on ordinal patterns such as permutation entropy and complexities were performed. Among the results obtained was an increase in power in the high bands (20Hz-40Hz) during Non-REM status in senior dogs. In addition, a significant increase in entropy was observed in senior dogs in all behavioral states.. These results suggest that neuronal dynamics in different sleep states are modified with the course of aging.