Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Brain MRI shows thalamus and caudate changes in dogs with epilepsy
By Chan, Tsz Yan et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2026·Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Structural MRI Differences in the Thalamus, Caudate Nucleus, and Interthalamic Adhesion in Dogs With Idiopathic Epilepsy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE), which causes seizures without a known cause, underwent MRI scans to look for changes in brain structure. The results showed that these dogs had a thicker and larger interthalamic adhesion, but their thalamus and caudate nucleus were smaller compared to healthy dogs. This suggests that certain brain structures may be affected in dogs with epilepsy. However, more research is needed to fully understand how these changes relate to the condition and its effects on the brain.
People also search for: dog seizures MRI results · idiopathic epilepsy in dogs · dog brain structure changes · canine epilepsy treatment options
Abstract
Structural changes in the thalamus and basal nuclei (BN) have been documented in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of human epilepsy. Studies that specifically investigate whether equivalent structural changes exist in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE) are limited. This retrospective study evaluated the morphology of the caudate nucleus and thalamus in dogs with IE (n = 40) compared to a control group (n = 38) using standard MRI studies. Measurements of the interthalamic adhesion (ITA) thickness and area, thalamic area and volume, and caudate nucleus area and volume were made to compare the size and symmetry of these structures between groups. Dogs with IE had a significantly larger ITA thickness (p < 0.0001) and area (p < 0.0001), smaller thalamic area (p < 0.0001) and volume (p < 0.0001), and smaller caudate nucleus volume (p = 0.0126) than controls. There were no significant differences in caudate nucleus area (p = 0.171) and asymmetry index for both thalamus (p = 0.104) and caudate nucleus (p = 0.853) between groups. Our findings indicate that a smaller thalamic and caudate nucleus size is associated with canine IE. However, further research is necessary to determine whether these findings can be generalized to other BN and to investigate the involvement of thalamocortical or BN-thalamocortical circuits in the pathophysiology of IE.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41588558/