Scientific research

In addition to their clinical roles, our clinicians undertake ethically-approved research to advance knowledge in animal health and welfare. Below is a selection of recent publications that members of the Neurology and Neurosurgery Service team, along with others from the Hospital for Small Animals have led, or contributed to.

Ayoub, A., Oliveira, A. M., Goody, N., & Nagendran, A. (2026). Dorsal ischaemic myelopathy in a dog: A case of unilateral, focal predominantly sensory loss. Veterinary Record Case Reports 14 (4). https://doi.org/10.1002/vrc2.70567

Aguilera‐Padros, A., De Frias, J. M., Madden, M., Oliveira, A., Atkins, C., Orgonikova, I., & Nagendran, A. (2026). Inter‐rater agreement of the canine modified ashworth scale for assessment of limb tone in dogs presenting with acute myelopathic signs. Veterinary Record. https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.70970

De Frias, J. M., Khan, S., Rohdin, C., Bhatti, S. F. M., & De Decker, S. (2026). Spinal arachnoid diverticula and constrictive myelopathy in dogs: Different conditions or a spectrum of spinal meningeal disease in veterinary and human medicine? Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2026.1783066

Suñol, A., Sivolapenko, D., Fernandez-Novo, A., & Madden, M. (2026). Physical models and simulators in veterinary education: Current status, learning impact, and future perspectives. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2026.1774849

Chan, T. Y., Israeliantz, N., & Madden, M. (2026). Structural MRI differences in the thalamus, caudate nucleus, and interthalamic adhesion in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound, 67(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/vru.70139

De Frias, J. M., Lyon, E., Aguilera-Padros, A., & Nagendran, A. (2026). Monocular ictal nystagmus in a dog: Potentially a newly recognized focal seizure phenotype. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 40(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jvimsj/aalaf078

Procter, T. V., Poldy, J., Philbey, A. W., Dancer, S., Atkins, C. N., & Madden, M. (2025). Novel magnetic resonance imaging findings of bilaterally symmetrical lesions in a dog with concomitant granulomatous meningoencephalitis and necrotizing encephalitis. Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound, 67(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/vru.70117

McGeachan, R. I., Ewbank, L., Watt, M., Sordo, L., Malbon, A., Salamat, M. K. F., Tzioras, M., De Frias, J. M., Tulloch, J., Houston, F., Gunn‐Moore, D., & Spires‐Jones, T. L. (2025). Amyloid‐beta pathology increases synaptic engulfment by glia in feline cognitive dysfunction syndrome: A naturally occurring model of alzheimer’s disease. European Journal of Neuroscience, 62(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.70180

McGeachan, R. I., Keavey, L., Simzer, E. M., Chang, Y. Y., Rose, J. L., Spires-Jones, M. P., Gilmore, M., Holt, K., Meftah, S., Ravingerova, N., Scutariu, C., Taylor, L. W., King, D., Tzioras, M., Tulloch, J., Booker, S. A., Liaquat, I., Hindley-Pollock, N., Geary, B., Smith, C., … Spires-Jones, T. L. (2025). Evidence for trans-synaptic propagation of oligomeric tau in human progressive supranuclear palsy. Nature Neuroscience, 28(8), 1622–1634. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01992-5

De Frias, J. M., Bhatti, S., & Decker, S. De. (2025). An update on spinal arachnoid diverticula in dogs and cats. Vlaams Diergeneeskundig Tijdschrift, 94(3). https://doi.org/10.21825/vdt.95429

Swan, W., Taylor, M., Orgonikova, I., & De Frias, J. M. (2025). Computed tomographic features of pituitary apoplexy in a cat. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 66(11), 848–848. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsap.13898

Oliveira, A. M., Faller, K., & Madden, M. (2025). Association between steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis and gastrointestinal signs in dogs: A case-control study. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 263(9), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.25.02.0119

Atkins, C., Procter, T. V., Schwarz, T., & Madden, M. (2025). Acquired narcolepsy secondary to a presumptive hypothalamic hamartoma in a young German wirehaired pointer dog. Veterinary Record Case Reports, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/vrc2.70086

Madden, M., Liatis, T., Llanos, C., Dancer, S., Alvarez, P., Tayler, S., Hardas, A., & De Decker, S. (2025). Jugular foramen syndrome: Concurrent neurological deficits, advanced imaging findings, underlying diagnoses, and outcomes in 14 dogs (2016–2024). Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 39(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.70088

McGeachan, R. I., Meftah, S., Taylor, L. W., Catterson, J. H., Negro, D., Bonthron, C., Holt, K., Tulloch, J., Rose, J. L., Gobbo, F., Chang, Y. Y., Elliott, J., McLay, L., King, D., Liaquat, I., Spires-Jones, T. L., Booker, S. A., Brennan, P. M., & Durrant, C. S. (2025). Divergent actions of physiological and pathological amyloid-β on synapses in live human brain slice cultures. Nature Communications, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58879-z

De Frias, J. M., Bhatti, S. F. M., Nye, G., Gonçalves, R., Harcourt-Brown, T., Fadda, A., Marioni-Henry, K., Padley, H., & De Decker, S. (2025). Spinal arachnoid diverticula in cats: Clinical presentation, diagnostic imaging findings, treatment, and outcome. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 39(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.17294

Nagendran, A., Nettifee, J. A., Carter, D., & Muñana, K. R. (2025). Characterization of post-ictal clinical signs in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy: A questionnaire-based study. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 39(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.17302

Madden, M., Israeliantz, N., Malbon, A., Piccinelli, C., Marioni‐Henry, K., Schwarz, T., & Suñol, A. (2024). Meningeal null cell lymphoma causing diffuse pachymeningeal contrast enhancement in a dog. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 66(3), 209–213. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsap.13810

Oliveira, A. M., Marioni‐Henry, K., Israeliantz, N., Schwarz, T., & Madden, M. (2024). Clinical and magnetic resonance imaging features of unilateral thalamic porencephaly in a dog. Veterinary Record Case Reports, 12(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/vrc2.983

Nagendran, A., Pumarola, M., & Aige‐Gil, V. (2024). Anatomical description of a new ligamentous supporting structure of the canine cranial cervical spinal cord. Anatomia, Histologia, Embryologia, 53(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/ahe.13083

De Frias, J. M., De Decker, S., De Stefani, A., & Llabres‐Diaz, F. (2024). Description and clinical relevance of the variable conformation of canine spinal arachnoid diverticula. Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound, 65(4), 344–351. https://doi.org/10.1111/vru.13365

Nagendran, A., José López, R., Suñol, A., Brocal, J., & Gonçalves, R. (2024). The value of a head turn in neurolocalization. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 38(1), 268–276. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16957