Exercising, socializing, learning, and playing are all vital in warding off doggy dementia, a new study has suggested.
Like humans, dog brains deteriorate with age and they can suffer from similar cognitive decline.
New research has found that social and cognitive enrichment may prevent dogs from experiencing neuron death and brain structure loss that can lead to memory and thinking issues.
The scientists measured brain structure changes annually for three years in middle aged beagles as they underwent social enrichment.
This involved exercising, socializing, playing with toys, and free play with same-sex peers.
Beagles were also tested on many different cognitive skills throughout the study.
The team then analyzed brain regions associated with cognition and found that the volume of the hippocampus, a region particularly sensitive to age-related neuron death and structure loss, increased for all beagles.
The authors found that two groups of dogs undergoing social enrichment alongside exposure to either an FDA-approved drug or a promising preclinical drug for Alzheimer’s disease did not differ from the group getting social enrichment alone.
This highlights how strongly social enrichment slows age-related neuron death in regions of the brain important for memory.
The researchers argue that their study, published in JNeurosci, also has strong applications to humans suffering with Alzheimer’s.
Professor Christopher Norris from the University of Kentucky said: “Because age-related brain changes and cognitive decline are similar between dogs and people, dogs are a useful model to study treatments for diseases that quicken neuron death and cognitive decline, like Alzheimer’s.”
Professor Elizabeth Head from the University of California added: “Anyone who has ever had a pet dog knows how hard it is to watch them grow old and experience issues with memory, task performance, and thinking. It is unfortunate that aging is marked by worsened cognitive skills.
“Ultimately these findings suggest that, even for middle-aged dogs, social enrichment may be beneficial for neural health.
“We can therefore conclude that adopting a dog and offering it a loving home even when it is middle aged may improve its longevity and benefit its health in old age.
“It doesn’t hurt to take this as a helpful pet-care tip with growing scientific support: playing with your dogs may be beneficial to their brain health…and maybe yours as well.”
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
