Scientists have found that dogs with canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome , the canine equivalent of dementia, experience changes in sleep time and delta brain waves similar to human Alzheimer’s patients. Results of their study showed that dogs with higher dementia scores and poorer problem-solving performance took longer to fall asleep, spent less time sleeping, and exhibited changes in brain waves indicative of shallower sleep.
Now, scientists have shown that the same reduction in sleep time and delta brain waves occurs in dogs with the canine equivalent of dementia, canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome . These dogs thus sleep less and less deeply. The results were published on April 28, 2023, in the journal“Our study is the first to evaluate the association between cognitive impairment and sleep using polysomnography – the same technique as used in sleep studies in people – in aged dogs,” said senior author Dr.
The results showed that dogs with higher dementia scores, and dogs who did worse on the detour task, took longer to fall asleep and spent less time sleeping, and this was true for both NREM and REM sleep. “The reduction in slow oscillations in people with Alzheimer’s, and the associated reduced removal of these toxins, has been implicated in their poorer memory consolidation during deep sleep.”