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Neuroanatomical asymmetry in the canine brain

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Abstract

The brains of humans and non-human primates exhibit left/right asymmetries in grey matter morphology, white matter connections, and functional responses. These asymmetries have been implicated in specialized behavioral adaptations such as language, tool use, and handedness. Left/right asymmetries are also observed in behavioral tendencies across the animal kingdom, suggesting a deep evolutionary origin for the neural mechanisms underlying lateralized behavior. However, it is still unclear to what extent brain asymmetries supporting lateralized behaviors are present in other large-brained animals outside the primate order. Canids and other carnivorans evolved large, complex brains independently and convergently with primates, and exhibit lateralized behaviors. Therefore, domestic dogs offer an opportunity to address this question. We examined T2-weighted MRI images of 62 dogs from 33 breeds, opportunistically collected from a veterinary MRI scanner from dogs who were referred for neurological examination but were not found to show any neuropathology. Volumetrically asymmetric regions of gray matter included portions of the temporal and frontal cortex, in addition to portions of the cerebellum, brainstem, and other subcortical regions. These results are consistent with the perspective that asymmetry may be a common feature underlying the evolution of complex brains and behavior across clades, and provide neuro-organizational information that is likely relevant to the growing field of canine behavioral neuroscience.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation–Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (Grant NSF-IOS 1457291 and NSF-IOS 2238071). We would like to thank the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine’s veterinary staff for collecting the MRI data.

Funding

This work was funded by National Science Foundation, United States (Grant nos. 2238071, 2238071).

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  1. Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, USA

    Sophie A. Barton & Erin E. Hecht

  2. College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, 30602, USA

    Marc Kent

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SB and EH designed the study. MK collected the data. EH and SB analyzed the data. SB wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors reviewed the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sophie A. Barton.

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Significance Statement: The degree to which brain asymmetries are present in non-primate mammals is unknown. By examining T2-weighted MRI images of 62 dogs, we found that dogs show widespread asymmetries in gray matter morphology in cortical and non-cortical regions, much like primates. These asymmetries did not scale with brain size. They were present in previously discovered brain networks related to historical dog breed behavioral specializations such as herding, scent hunting, sight hunting, and vermin control. Our results show that brain asymmetries are not unique to primates, and suggest that this may be related to the emergence of lateralized behavioral, perceptual, and cognitive function in dogs, and potentially in large-brained mammals more generally.

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Barton, S.A., Kent, M. & Hecht, E.E. Neuroanatomical asymmetry in the canine brain. Brain Struct Funct 228, 1657–1669 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-023-02677-0

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