Scientific research for anxious dogs - UGent

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Scientific research for anxious dogs - UGent Scientific research for anxious dogs - UGent aims to treat dogs with evidence-based pathological anxiety.

Een bericht van wat in het begin van het jaar 2022 een "wanhopige" baas was ,maar nu 3 maanden later een " heel dankbare...
15/04/2022

Een bericht van wat in het begin van het jaar 2022 een "wanhopige" baas was ,

maar nu 3 maanden later een " heel dankbare en hoopvolle" baas is geworden.

Loesje onze bearded collie van 4 jaar was ongelukkig, lusteloos en angstig ,

ze durfde niet meer alleen in de tuin ,

in sommige omstandigheden reageerde ze overdreven gestrest ,

was panisch angstig bij lawaai of dingen die lawaai maakten

en we zagen dat het maar steeds erger werd .

Dit was geen hondenleven meer , we zagen ons Loesje psychisch lijden.

We wilden het advies van een specialist om te weten wat er aan hand was

en hoe Loesje het best kon geholpen worden.

Dank zij de goede zorgen van het fantastische team

in de universitaire dierengeneeskundige kliniek in Merelbeke,

Professor Haverbeke, dokter Peremans en dierenarts Yangfeng Xu,

is ons Loesje nu een levenslustige, gelukkige hond !



Professor Haverbeke, dienst gedragstherapie, nam de tijd en luisterde geduldig naar ons verhaal .

Het is niet gemakkelijk om uit te leggen dat je hond ongelukkig, panisch angstig en

misschien wel levensmoe is;

maar het is nog veel moeilijker om uit te maken of het gedrag

van de hond komt door de thuissituatie,

de opvoeding of misschien wel een aandoening.

Dokter Peremans en dierenarts Yang, nucleaire geneeskunde ,

ontfermden zich over Loesje voor de hersenscan

en na interdisciplinair overleg kwam de TMS behandeling als beste therapie naar voor

Alles werd uitvoerig uitgelegd en nu,

na 2 TMS behandelingen, werd beslist dat medicamenteuse bijbehandeling misschien niet nodig zal zijn .

Loesje is levenslustig, ligt niet langer lusteloos op de mat ,

ze wil opnieuw met het balletje spelen, durft opnieuw alleen in de tuin en

het panisch angstige is grotendeels verdwenen .



Wij prijzen ons gelukkig dat we bij dit fantastische team terecht gekomen zijn en

op hun advies 100% voor de behandeling zijn gegaan .

Yang is nu trouwens Loesje haar beste vriend .



Hartelijke dank professor Haverbeke, dokter Peremans en dierenarts Yang

Guido en Roosmarijn

Sara De Witte, a clinical psychologist, is always with us!
16/03/2022

Sara De Witte, a clinical psychologist, is always with us!

Prof. Anouck Haverbeke joined us recently as a behavioural specialist!
11/03/2022

Prof. Anouck Haverbeke joined us recently as a behavioural specialist!

11/03/2022

We are proud to announce that we have published a top article in a renowned medical journal! It deals with the influence of TMS on a certain important system involved in behavior and mood, namely the serotonergic system. It is the system on which medication such as Prozac also works. An article was also recently published detailing the results of TMS in dogs on brain metabolism. In the meantime, our research continues on anxiety-disturbed dogs with which we have already achieved good results (see also the publication of a case report). More information can be obtained by sending us an email.

11/03/2022

Accelerated high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (aHF-rTMS) has proven to produce fast clinical effects in humans suffering fro…

Another paper!Xu Y, Peremans K, Courtyn J, Audenaert K, Dobbeleir A, D'Asseler Y, Achten E, Saunders J, Baeken C. (2022)...
11/03/2022

Another paper!
Xu Y, Peremans K, Courtyn J, Audenaert K, Dobbeleir A, D'Asseler Y, Achten E, Saunders J, Baeken C. (2022). The impact of accelerated HF-rTMS on canine brain metabolism: an [18 F]-FDG PET study in healthy Beagles. Frontiers in Veterinary Science.142. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.800158. Impact factor: 3.412, category: Veterinary Sciences, rank: 4/146!

BackgroundRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been proven to be a useful tool for the treatment of several severe neuropsychiatric disorders. Accelerated (a)rTMS protocols may have the potential to result in faster clinical improvements, but the effects of such accelerated paradi...

Our promising results published in the Special Issue Advances in Neurostimulation: Understanding of the Mechanisms and C...
11/03/2022

Our promising results published in the Special Issue Advances in Neurostimulation: Understanding of the Mechanisms and Clinical Applications, Psychiatry Section, Journal of Clinical Medicine, impact factor: 4.242, category: PSYCHIATRY, rank: 10/841!

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is thought to partly exert its antidepressant action through the serotonergic system. Accelerated rTMS may have the potential to result in similar but faster onset of clinical improvement compared to the classical daily rTMS protocols, but given th...

Hi everyone, Hope that you are still doing fine and have been able to cope with this entire COVID-19 situation.​Luckily ...
14/08/2020

Hi everyone,

Hope that you are still doing fine and have been able to cope with this entire COVID-19 situation.​

Luckily enough, we gradually restart our research. We will arrange everything under the government and UGent corona measures​. If you have a dog with anxiety problems, please don't hesitate to contact us for more information!

Stay safe!

22/11/2019
Are you the owner of a dog with behavioral problems and would you like to help your and other four-legged friends in thi...
19/08/2019

Are you the owner of a dog with behavioral problems and would you like to help your and other four-legged friends in this? The department of medical imaging and orthopedics of small animals is engaged in a large project concerning treatment of depression and anxiety in cooperation with the department of psychiatry, University Hospital Ghent. This project concerns treatment with neuromodulating techniques that are used to normalise brain function and the chemical household (neurotransmitters) of the brain. In this regard are we looking for dogs with behavioral problems, more particularly anxiety disordered animals to treat with different therapies as part of a clinical study. For more information you can visit https://orsami.be/nl/content/gedrag-en-hersenbeeldvorming or on our page (wetenschappelijk onderzoek voor angstige honden).

Angststoornissen zijn een erg belangrijk probleem bij de hond. Naast hun nefaste invloed op het welzijn van het dier, verstoren ze de band met de eigenaar. Bovendien, kunnen ze leiden tot het onderbrengen van honden in asielen of zelfs tot euthanasie van het dier. Tot op heden is gedragstherapie, di...

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Anxiety in dogs

Dogs can react in different ways when they come across frightening stimuli. They can defend themselves, walk away or freeze. These three behaviors are considered normal behavior. A very intense frightening stimulus can cause dogs to be more alert than before towards unknown situations. This increased degree of alertness is considered as fear. Anxiety often goes hand in hand with aggressive behaviour directed at objects, peers or people. Anxiety is also characterized by changes in the brain that are visible on functional brain imaging. The regional functioning of the brain can be studied with a special camera.

Analogue to humans, dogs experience anxiety as very unpleasant. Anxiety can be abnormal or pathological. Certain stimuli cause an anxiety response that is out of proportion to the incentive or causes an over-prolonged state of anxiety. The current approach to treat canine anxiety problems is similar to human depression. Very often, behavioural therapy is combined with medication. Human patients who do not respond or respond insufficiently to such treatment are eligible for neuromodulatory techniques (techniques that will influence brain function), including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The latter is an FDA approved for the treatment of depression. Since depression in humans and anxiety in dogs have a very similar neurological basis, TMS is now also used as a treatment for anxiety disorders in dogs.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a painless neuromodulating technique that can be used after the failure of traditional therapy. We are currently conducting functional brain imaging research into the effects of medication and neuromodulating techniques on anxious dogs. Initial results about TMS in anxious dogs have shown that this technique is not only capable of stimulating brain regions associated with behaviour in the dog, but also causes change in the brain which is accompanied by positive behavioral changes.