Discover: Dogs | Can Dogs Predict Epileptic Seizures?
Event Description
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that causes recurrent seizures. Seizures can be unpredictable and can have a significant impact on a person's life. However, there is growing evidence that dogs can be trained to detect the onset of epileptic seizures and provide early warning to their owners.
In this talk, Dr Neil Powell of Queen's University Belfast investigates whether untrained pet dogs could predict, using their unique sense of smell, the onset of epileptic seizures and how they could be used as early warning systems for people with epilepsy. These findings, plus others, could potentially help to reduce the risk of injuries and improve the quality of life for people with epilepsy.
NOTE: Please leave your own pups at home as the only dogs permitted to the event are working or assistance dogs. Thank you!
About
Dr Neil Powell is a retired secondary school science teacher, working with search and rescue dogs as a volunteer for over 40 years. He returned to Queen's University Belfast in 2016 to begin studying for a PhD, examining the role of dogs in predicting epileptic seizures. He is now working as a post-doc with the Neurology Department of Belfast HSC exploring the possibility that epileptic seizures and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures produce a common pre-seizure odour which dogs can recognize and respond to.
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