Wag the dog: Skepticism on seizure alert canines

Wag the dog: skepticism on seizure alert canines.

Some dogs can signal human seizure activity. Seizure response dogs (SRDs) recognize and respond to ongoing seizure and postseizure compromise, whereas seizure alert dogs (SADs) may warn of impending seizure.1-5 Canine companions may have an additional stress reduction benefit that can lead to decreased seizure frequency.5 In this report we describe a dog that warns of psychogenic nonepileptifor...

On Simulacra in Wag the Dog

Myosin structure: Does the tail wag the dog?

Previous crystal structures of the myosin head have shown two different conformations, postulated to be the beginning and the end of the actomyosin power stroke. A new crystal structure reveals a dramatically different conformation; but how does this conformation fit into the force-generating cycle of actomyosin interactions?

The use of seizure-alert dogs

We report our experience of training dogs to assist people with epilepsy by providing a useful warning of seizures. An unexpected finding has been that human subjects report an improvement in seizure rate. This may be related to increased confidence and activity levels. We have observed some hazards associated with untrained dogs, which raises questions about future experimental design. We plan...

Can Seizure-Alert Dogs predict seizures?

An index observation where a dog was trained to alert to, as well as respond to, human tonic-clonic seizures led to further research and refinement of training techniques. This was followed by anecdotal reports of pet dogs spontaneously anticipating human epileptic seizures. An industry has since developed training Seizure-Alert Dogs (SADs) to give humans warnings of their seizures. In some cas...