Abstract
Aging is associated with a decline in cognitive functions such as learning, memory, attention, cognitive flexibility, and executive functions. Recent evidence indicates that interventions such as exercise, diet and cognitive training can be used to reduce the rate of age-dependent cognitive decline. In this study, we examined the changes in discrimination learning in older pet dogs, tested whether a dietary intervention counteracts a potential decline in learning and evaluated the influence of lifelong training on learning speed and cognitive flexibility. We included 115 pet dogs (>6 years) of 30 different breeds into one of two treatment groups: either a diet enriched with antioxidants, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), Phosphatidylserine and tryptophan or a control diet for 1 year. Lifelong training was calculated for each dog using a questionnaire where owners filled their dog’s training experiences over years. Dogs were trained to discriminate different pictures at the start of the dietary intervention using a touch screen methodology. After 1 year of dietary intervention, they were tested on a main picture discrimination task where they were confronted with a discrimination of four new pictures. We used the total number of sessions needed to reach learning criterion as a measure of learning speed and the rate of correction trials as a measure of deficit in learning from feedback/cognitive flexibility. In the main discrimination task, we found an influence of neither age nor diet on the speed of learning and deficit in learning from feedback. We did not find any influence of lifelong training either. The null findings were further corroborated by Bayesian statistics. The null findings might be due to the fact that pet dogs live in a stimulating environment which may reduce the rate of cognitive decline and hinder finding an age or diet effect. Also, the similarity between the training and the main discrimination task might have made the main task too easy for the animals to solve. Further studies are warranted to assess the effect of enriched diets on pet dogs using tasks that measure cognitive functions with a higher sensitivity.
Highlights
Aging has been shown to be associated with a decline in cognitive functions such as learning, memory, attention, cognitive flexibility, and executive functions in humans (Boutet et al, 2005; Weiler et al, 2008), monkeys (Voytko, 1999), rats (Barense et al, 2002; Schoenbaum et al, 2002; Brushfield et al, 2008), and dogs (Adams et al, 2000)
In a recent study using 185 pet dogs aged over 6 years (Chapagain et al, 2017), we have found that lifelong training had a positive effect on sustained and selective attention probably due to the stimulation provided by these interactions
There was no effect of age [estimate = 0.0072, SE = 0.006, Z = 1.11, p = 0.267, RR = 1.007 (0.995−1.02), Bayes Factors (BF) = 0.047] and lifelong training score [estimate = 0.012, SE = 0.009, Z = 1.246, p = 0.212, RR = 1.012 (0.993−1.031), BF = 0.066] on the average number of sessions needed to reach the learning criterion
Summary
Aging has been shown to be associated with a decline in cognitive functions such as learning, memory, attention, cognitive flexibility, and executive functions in humans (Boutet et al, 2005; Weiler et al, 2008), monkeys (Voytko, 1999), rats (Barense et al, 2002; Schoenbaum et al, 2002; Brushfield et al, 2008), and dogs (Adams et al, 2000). Reduction of oxidative damage and Aβ plaque pathology in the brain as well as reduced mitochondrial dysfunction have been reported in laboratory dogs fed with diets enriched with antioxidants and mitochondrial enzymatic co-factors (Milgram et al, 2005; Opii et al, 2008; Head et al, 2009; Pop et al, 2010) In line with these results, aged rats and laboratory dogs receiving an antioxidant treatment, as compared to subjects receiving a control diet, showed improved cognitive performance in the Morris water maze and in discrimination learning tasks (Socci et al, 1995; Davis and Head, 2014). Studies in humans, rats and dogs have provided some evidence of protective effects of diet and exercise on various cognitive functions in the elderly
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