The new study analyzed the brains of 22 toothed whales that washed up on the coast of Scotland. Toothed whales, whose Latin name is Odontoceti, are one of two major groups of whales that include a number of dolphin and orca (killer whale) species.
The study, published in the European Journal of Neuroscience, included five species of animals in the 22 individuals studied: Risso’s dolphins, long-finned pilot whales, white-beaked dolphins, dolphins and bottlenose dolphins.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Veterinary Medicine have found symptoms similar to those of people with Alzheimer’s disease in the brains they examined using tissue analysis.
These symptoms included beta-amyloid plaques, phospho-tau deposition, and gliosis (accumulation of glial cells in the central nervous system) seen early in the disease.
It is currently not possible to establish whether the animals in question suffer from cognitive decline associated with these symptoms. But the research team says, “Neuropathological signs are definitely present.”
Furthermore, the authors argue that these animals are likely to suffer from cognitive impairments similar to those seen in human patients, and it is possible that they may be abandoned because of this.
According to this, even the whole herd can wash ashore if one of the animals leading the herd makes the wrong decision.
The first study to indicate the possibility of dementia in non-humans, the research provides clues as to why more and more whales are stranded.
The lead author of the study, Dr. “These results show for the first time that brain pathology in stranded odontocetes is similar to the brains of humans with clinical Alzheimer’s disease,” said Mark Dagleish..
“At this stage, it is tempting to think that these brain lesions in toothed whales indicate that they may be suffering from cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer’s disease,” said the scientist.
However, more research is needed to better understand what happens to these animals.”
