Disrupted Human-Dog Interbrain Neural Coupling in Autism-Associated Shank3 Mutant Dogs.
Wei Ren, Shan Yu, Kun Guo, Chunming Lu, Yong Zhang
Advanced Science November 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202402493 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Human-dog dyads |
| Intervention | Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) |
| Duration | Five days |
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Animal-human bonding Autism research Psychedelic medicine Veterinary science Shank3 Autism spectrum disorders Human–dog dyads Interbrain neural couplings |
| Citations | 14 |
| Key findings | Mutual gaze and petting induce interbrain synchronization in frontal and parietal regions of human-dog dyads, which is disrupted in Shank3-mutant dogs and restored by LSD. |
Abstract
Dogs interact with humans effectively and intimately. However, the neural underpinnings for such interspecies social communication are not understood. It is known that interbrain activity coupling, i.e., the synchronization of neural activity between individuals, represents the neural basis of social interactions. Here, previously unknown cross-species interbrain activity coupling in interacting human-dog dyads is reported. By analyzing electroencephalography signals from both dogs and humans, it is found that mutual gaze and petting induce interbrain synchronization in the frontal and parietal regions of the human-dog dyads, respectively. The strength of the synchronization increases with growing familiarity of the human-dog dyad over five days, and the information flow analysis suggests that the human is the leader while the dog is the follower during human-dog interactions. Furthermore, dogs with Shank3 mutations, which represent a promising complementary animal model of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), show a loss of interbrain coupling and reduced attention during human-dog interactions. Such abnormalities are rescued by the psychedelic lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). The results reveal previously unknown interbrain synchronizations within an interacting human-dog dyad which may underlie the interspecies communication, and suggest a potential of LSD for the amelioration of social impairment in patients with ASD.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on LSD, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging. Human participants | 2016 | Experimental study | |
| Crystal structure of an LSD-bound human serotonin receptor | 2017 | Experimental study with structural biology and molecular dynamics simulations | |
| Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: Sensitive Neuronal Units in the Midbrain Raphe Midbrain neurons containing serotonin | 1968 | Experimental study | |
| Connectome-harmonic decomposition of human brain activity reveals dynamical repertoire re-organization under LSD. Human brain | 2017 | Experimental study | |
| LSD-Assisted Psychotherapy in Patients with Terminal Cancer Cancer patients | 1973 | Experimental study | n = 60 |
Citations in the library
Cites 7
- Psychedelics reopen the social reward learning critical period Nature June 14, 2023
- Structure-based discovery of nonhallucinogenic psychedelic analogs Science January 27, 2022
- The neural basis of psychedelic action. Nature Neuroscience October 24, 2022
- Deep posteromedial cortical rhythm in dissociation Nature September 16, 2020
- LSD Acutely Impairs Fear Recognition and Enhances Emotional Empathy and Sociality Neuropsychopharmacology June 1, 2016
and 2 more in the library