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Koyasu, Hikari; Miyai, Nanako; Kubo, Takatomi; Takagi, Saho; Wada, Yurina; Maruno, Yuki; Nagasawa, Miho; Ohno, Kazunori
doi: 10.1080/01691864.2024.2358439pmid: N/A
Dogs and cats have exceptionally developed sensory systems and abilities to recognize human signals and emotional states. It makes them invaluable in roles such as working dogs and therapy animals in human society. Understanding each other's emotional state is essential to working with them effectively. However, the low accuracy of human emotional estimation in dogs and cats is a significant issue. Due to individual differences and cognitive biases affecting human subjective assessments, automatic emotional estimation is crucial. To address this issue, there is a demand for automated emotional estimation technology. This paper provides an overview of emotional research in dogs and cats, their senses, and their roles in interaction with humans. In addition, we described automated emotional estimation technology using image/video and electrocardiography as a complement to human ability for emotional recognition of dogs and cats, and its applications for implementation. Practical implementation of automated emotional estimation technology should be adaptable to different breeds, individuals, and environmental conditions. Improving this technology has the potential to contribute to various fields, including pet welfare enhancement, veterinary care, ethology, and support for humans with dogs or cats.
Nomoto, Kensaku; Hashimoto, Tomoki; Nagasawa, Miho; Kikusui, Takefumi
doi: 10.1080/01691864.2024.2369795pmid: N/A
For social animals, including humans, it is important to build strong social bonds, reduce tension, and prevent conflicts to maintain the society. One way to strengthen these social bonds is through behavioral synchrony, where individuals perform the same actions together. Behavioral synchrony has been observed across various animal species and is thought to lead to emotional synchrony. Dogs, which have lived with humans for tens of thousands of years, are known to form a special bond with their human owners. Given this strong bond between dogs and humans, it is possible that they exhibit behavioral synchrony. Previous research has shown yawning synchronization between dogs and humans, but it is unknown whether breathing synchrony, which is a type of behavioral synchrony, exists. This study aimed to investigate whether dogs and humans exhibit breathing synchrony. We used a high-sensitivity magnetic sensor to measure respiration in dogs and a thermocouple to measure human respiration. Our results found that dogs’ breathing patterns were influenced by humans’ breathing, suggesting the presence of breathing synchrony between them. This study extends the understanding of human-canine communications by using non-invasive technology.
Kujala, Miiamaaria V.; Valldeoriola Cardó, Anna; Somppi, Sanni; Törnqvist, Heini; Inkilä, Leena; Koskela, Aija; Myller, Anne; Väätäjä, Heli; Isokoski, Poika; Majaranta, Päivi; Surakka, Veikko; Vainio, Outi; Vehkaoja, Antti
doi: 10.1080/01691864.2024.2343080pmid: N/A
Classifying behavior by tracking acceleration has received increased interest lately. Here, we evaluated the performance of three commercial activity trackers in differentiating seven dog behaviors. Adult companion dogs (N = 70) performed still (lying, sitting, standing) and dynamic (walking, sniffing, trotting, playing) tasks, while wearing ActiGraph GT9X Link, Kaunila and FitBark devices placed on the neck collar and ActiGraph GT9X Link placed on the back. Each task was performed for 3 min within a session and repeated in two sessions; the behaviors were confirmed from video recordings. Activity scores of devices were calculated as median values for behavioral differentiation, and as minute-based values for inter-device correlations and cutoff analysis. Measurements of all devices correlated with each other, and median activity scores of all devices − unaffected by dog age, weight or sex − differentiated the still from dynamic behaviors. Dynamic behaviors were also differentiated from each other, with exception of walking vs. sniffing by back-placed ActiGraph GT9X and Kaunila. The definition of cutoffs between behaviors varied from moderate to high accuracy; defined cutoffs for standing and walking were the least accurate. The classification performance of the cutoffs had an accuracy of 80% in all the devices; thus, they performed reasonably well in classifying these behaviors.
Nezu, Shoichi; Ohno, Kazunori; Kojima, Shotaro; Bezerra, Ranulfo; Nagasawa, Miho; Kikusui, Takufumi; Tadokoro, Satoshi
doi: 10.1080/01691864.2024.2365301pmid: N/A
Enhancing Canine–Human communication during training is an important research. We aim to strengthen the communication between canines and humans during the training of canine remote control using robotic technology. Training using rewards is a widely known technique to boost canine ability. So far, this method has consisted of giving rewards from humans, thus creating a strong connection between humans and canines; however, this method can also cause canines to become overly fixated on the people who feed them. Fixation prevents canines from performing behaviors away from people. For that reason, this study explores the possibility of using robotic technology to reduce canine fixation on their trainer. This paper evaluates dog behavior during training with reduced human intervention using a backpack-like device, which provides food as a reward. This method of training is assessed in two dogs by comparing the training time, number of feedings, and number of times the dog looks at nearby humans, as compared to the traditional method. The suit-mounted feeder was used to train the two dogs to follow a spot-light, achieving a success rate of 96.4% in feeding during training. There was no significant difference in training time or number of feedings required for training with this method compared to traditional human-rewarded training methods. On the other hand, it was suggested that the device could reduce the number of times the dogs looked at their trainer by up to 84.7%. Changes in gait caused by the suit and feeder were also evaluated based on the percentage of the swing phase of gait. The results indicate that the presence or absence of the feeder device does not affect the dog's gait. Continued canine training without fixation on the feeder or the trainer could allow the working dogs to demonstrate its abilities in remote areas.
Nakajima, Nina; Koyasu, Hikari; Maruno, Yuki; Nagasawa, Miho; Kikusui, Takefumi; Kubo, Takatomi
doi: 10.1080/01691864.2024.2384423pmid: N/A
Computer vision models such as You Only Look Once (YOLO) excel at tracking general objects, yet they often struggle to accurately track multiple animals. In this study, we aimed to verify the improvement of animal tracking performance using YOLO by fine-tuning. We obtained videos of multiple domestic cats by ourselves and annotated the videos, and performed fine-tuning with this video dataset. Results of this study show that even training with less than one hundred images improves accuracy and enables tracking of individual animals. This result suggests that our method is promising for the realization of animal social behavior analysis.
doi: 10.1080/01691864.2024.2369794pmid: N/A
Brain–Computer Interfaces (BCIs) have shown remarkable potential in human neuroscience and medicine. Yet, their application with animals, in particular canines, remains largely unexplored. This paper delves into the background, systems overview, implementation details, potential features, prospective use-cases and challenges of canine BCIs. While the focus is on EEG-based BCIs, other modalities such as fNIRS are also discussed. Despite significant challenges, such as hardware design and data inference, I argue that canine BCIs hold potential to significantly push forward our understanding of canine cognition, and facilitate a higher bandwidth of human-canine communication, collaboration, and flourishing.
Takara, Sayuki; Kida, Hiroyuki; Inoue, Takao
doi: 10.1080/01691864.2024.2345655pmid: N/A
In epilepsy treatment, besides medication and surgery, devices that modulate abnormal brain activity are being developed. Intracranial devices like vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), deep brain stimulation (DBS), brain cooling, and drug delivery have seen significant advances in recent years. The process of developing these devices necessitates the use of animals, from the basic to applied research phases. Notably, research with large-sized animals is vital and provides insights that closely mirror human responses. Cats, dogs, and macaques are frequently used models in medicine, neuroscience, and biomedical engineering. However, ethical concerns, escalating costs, and other factors challenge the feasibility of their continued use. Nevertheless, the accumulated knowledge from research on these three species is indispensable for advancing epilepsy treatment techniques. Macaques have brain structures closely resembling humans, offering vital insights into human epilepsy. Meanwhile, cats and dogs present unique study cases. Dogs exhibit high spontaneous epilepsy rates, while established methods exist for inducing experimental convulsive seizures in cats. These devices are increasingly used as therapeutic options for treating domesticated cats and dogs. In this review, we explore research on therapeutic devices for epilepsy in cats, dogs, and macaques, underscoring the importance of these animal models and experimental methods.
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