Erratum: Catala, A., et al. Is There a Profile of Spontaneous Seizure-Alert Pet Dogs? A Survey of French People with Epilepsy. Animals 2020, 10, 254.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper: [...].

Prediction and detection of human epileptic seizures based on SIFT-MS chemometric data.

Although epilepsy is considered a public health issue, the burden imposed by the unpredictability of seizures is mainly borne by the patients. Predicting seizures based on electroencephalography has had mixed success, and the idiosyncratic character of epilepsy makes a single method of detection or prediction for all patients almost impossible. To address this problem, we demonstrate herein that epileptic seizures can not only be detected by global chemometric analysis of data from selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry but also that a simple mathematical model makes it possible to predict these seizures (by up to 4 h 37 min in advance with 92% and 75% of samples correctly classified in training and leave-one-out-cross-validation, respectively). These findings should stimulate the development of non-invasive applications (e.g., electronic nose) for different types of epilepsy and thereby decrease of the unpredictability of epileptic seizures.

Is there a Profile of Spontaneous Seizure-Alert Pet Dogs? A Survey of French People with Epilepsy.

Despite controversies and the lack of research, dogs are empirically selected and trained to perform as service dogs, in relation to the dogs' and future owners' characteristics. We assessed the characteristics of both humans and dogs in an unbiased population (not selected or trained) of spontaneous seizure-alert by pet dogs and investigated whether we could replicate previous findings. We addressed a self-reporting questionnaire to French people with epilepsy. We analyzed the general characteristics of the humans and pet dogs and their behaviors that could alert their owner before a seizure. In addition, we used the Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire refined to evaluate pet dogs' personality through five different traits, and the Monash Dog-Owner Relationship scale to assess human-dog relationships. In line with previous reports, we found no particular factor, either pet-, people- or epilepsy-related that could be associated with the presence or absence of alert behaviors. Alert behaviors and circumstances were explored and three different alert patterns emerged. In terms of personality, seizure-alert pet dogs scored significantly higher than non-alerting dogs for the traits "Motivation" and "Training Focus" and lower for "Neuroticism". The owner-dog bond score was significantly higher for seizure-alert dogs than for non-alerting dogs.

Dogs demonstrate the existence of an epileptic seizure odour in humans.

Although different studies have shown that diseases such as breast or lung cancer are associated with specific bodily odours, no study has yet tested the possibility that epileptic seizures may be reflected in an olfactory profile, probably because there is a large variety of seizure types. The question is whether a "seizure-odour", that would be transversal to individuals and types of seizures, exists. This would be a pre requisite for potential anticipation, either by electronic systems (e.g., e-noses) or trained dogs. The aim of the present study therefore was to test whether trained dogs, as demonstrated for cancer or diabetes, may discriminate a general epileptic seizure odor (different from body odours of the same person in other contexts and common to different persons). The results were very clear: all dogs discriminated the seizure odour. The sensitivity and specificity obtained were amongst the highest shown up to now for discrimination of diseases. This constitutes a first proof that, despite the variety of seizures and individual odours, seizures are associated with olfactory characteristics. These results open a large field of research on the odour signature of seizures. Further studies will aim to look at potential applications in terms of anticipation of seizures.

Dog alerting and/or responding to epileptic seizures: A scoping review.

Recently, there has been a rising interest in service dogs for people with epilepsy. Dogs have been reported as being sensitive to epileptic episodes in their owners, alerting before and/or responding during or after a seizure, with or without specific training. The purpose of this review is to present a comprehensive overview of the scientific research on seizure-alert/response dogs for people with epilepsy. We aimed to identify the existing scientific literature on the topic, describe the characteristics of seizure-alert/response dogs, and evaluate the state of the evidence base and outcomes. Out of 28 studies published in peer-reviewed journals dealing with this topic, only 5 (one prospective study and four self-reported questionnaires) qualified for inclusion according to PRISMA guidelines. Reported times of alert before seizure varied widely among dogs (with a range from 10 seconds to 5 hours) but seemed to be reliable (accuracy from ≥70% to 85% according to owner reports). Alerting behaviors were generally described as attention-getting. The alert applied to many seizure types. Dogs mentioned as being seizure-alert dogs varied in size and breed. Training methods differed between service animal programs, partially relying on hypothesized cues used by dogs (e.g., variations in behavior, scent, heart rate). Most studies indicated an increase in quality of life and a reduction in the seizure frequency when living with a dog demonstrating seizure-related behavior. However, the level of methodological rigor was generally poor. In conclusion, scientific data are still too scarce and preliminary to reach any definitive conclusion regarding the success of dogs in alerting for an impending seizure, the cues on which this ability may be based, the best type of dog, and associated training. While these preliminary data suggest that this is a promising topic, further research is needed.

Dogs demonstrate perspective taking based on geometrical gaze following in a Guesser-Knower task.

Currently, there is still no consensus about whether animals can ascribe mental states (Theory of Mind) to themselves and others. Showing animals can respond to cues that indicate whether another has visual access to a target or not, and that they are able to use this information as a basis for whom to rely on as an informant, is an important step forward in this direction. Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) with human informants are an ideal model, because they show high sensitivity towards human eye contact, they have proven able to assess the attentional state of humans in food-stealing or food-begging contexts, and they follow human gaze behind a barrier when searching for food. With 16 dogs, we not only replicated the main results of Maginnity and Grace (Anim Cogn 17(6):1375-1392, 2014) who recently found that dogs preferred to follow the pointing of a human who witnessed a food hiding event over a human who did not (the Guesser-Knower task), but also extended this finding with a further, critical control for behaviour-reading: two informants showed identical looking behaviour, but due to their different position in the room, only one had the opportunity to see where the food was hidden by a third person. Preference for the Knower in this critical test provides solid evidence for geometrical gaze following and perspective taking in dogs.