Replicability and Heterogeneity of Awake Unrestrained Canine fMRI Responses

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Gregory S Berns, Emory University; Andrew Brooks, Emory University; Mark Spivak, Comprehensive Pet Therapy, GA
• Language: English
• Date: 2013-12-04
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2013 Berns et al.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0081698
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: PLoS ONE
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 12
• Grant/Funding Information: Additional support from the Emory College of Arts and Sciences.; This work was funded, in part, by a grant from the Office of Naval Research (N00014-13-1-0253).
• Research Categories: Biology, Neuroscience; Biology, Veterinary Science

Abstract

Previously, we demonstrated the possibility of fMRI in two awake and unrestrained dogs. Here, we determined the replicability and heterogeneity of these results in an additional 11 dogs for a total of 13 subjects. Based on an anatomically placed region-of-interest, we compared the caudate response to a hand signal indicating the imminent availability of a food reward to a hand signal indicating no reward. 8 of 13 dogs had a positive differential caudate response to the signal indicating reward. The mean differential caudate response was 0.09%, which was similar to a comparable human study. These results show that canine fMRI is reliable and can be done with minimal stress to the dogs.