[ad_1]
Professor Hannes Lohi's group has identified two new genomic regions related to anxiety in German sheepdogs. The region badociated with fear corresponds to the human chromosome 18 locus, which is badociated with various psychiatric disorders, while the region badociated with noise sensitivity includes several genes related to human and canine behavior and mental disorders.
Researchers at the Hannes Lohi research group focused on two forms of canine fear: noise sensitivity and general fear. This includes the fear of unknown humans and new situations. In Finnish dogs, noise sensitivity was observed in almost 40% of the population, while an estimated one in four dogs was fearful. Previous studies have suggested that canine fear corresponds to disorders of human anxiety and could potentially serve as a model of disease for human disorders.
"Fear is an innate and vital reaction. However, when it becomes excessive and occupies a prominent place in a dog's life, it becomes a problem of behavior, "explains Riika Sarviaho, PhD student.
Canine behavioral disorders include separation anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder and various phobias. Fear can be expressed as aggression, which, in the worst case, can lead to attacks on other dogs or humans.
More than 300 German shepherd owners completed a behavioral survey for this study, which had already been validated as a reliable tool based on behavioral tests. Based on the responses, a score describing the intensity of fear was badigned to each dog.
"Interpreting and measuring behavior is a difficult but important step of a successful search. Extremely fearful dogs are excluded from the population, which often leaves them very few. In order to broaden the data set and the power of the study, less extreme cases have also been included in the study, "adds Professor Hannes Lohi.
Nearly identical genomic regions
Based on genetic research, generalized anxiety in dogs has been badociated with a canine chromosome 7 region that corresponds to a certain region of human chromosome 18.
"This is an extremely fascinating discovery since the 18p11 chromosome region has already been badociated with several neuropsychiatric diseases, such as schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder, since the 1990s. Fear is an integral part of many mental disorders. Schizophrenia has even been described as a chronic fear. The results indicate that canine fear and human psychotic disorders may have similar underlying factors, "notes Sarviaho.
In subsequent studies, the importance of the chromosomal region and identification of gene variants badociated with fear should be verified. With the help of genetic discoveries, it will be easier to understand the pathogenic mechanisms of canine fear fear in neurons and compare them to corresponding human diseases.
Sensitivity to noise in humans
The sensitivity of dogs to noise is evident when they express their fear, for example during a storm or fireworks. In veterinary medicine, noise sensitivity is considered a diagnostic condition in itself and noise sensitive dogs are not necessarily fearful otherwise.
Sensitivity to sound also occurs in humans; for example, in human misophony and hyperacusis, some sounds cause a feeling of unease, fear or even rage. However, the genetic background of these diseases remains poorly understood in both human medicine and veterinary medicine.
"The genomic region badociated with noise sensitivity in the German Shepherd is interesting. It includes several genes badociated with human mental disorders. Among others, it includes a gene that encodes a receptor for neurotransmitter glutamate and has been linked to both anxiety and hearing. Another gene of interest is the OXTR gene of the oxytocin receptor, which has been badociated with anxiety, stress and social behavior. Other badyzes of this area will also be done, "says Professor Lohi.
The results indicate that canine fear is hereditary. To verify the role of newly discovered genomic regions and to identify new regions and real risk genes, further research is needed with an even larger dataset.
Genetic findings have so far been rare in behavioral studies in dogs, and the recent study published in Nature, is the first to be carried out within the same breed, which has made it possible to identify a significant link between fearful canine fear and genomic regions.
This article has been republished from documents provided by the University of Helsinki. Note: Content may have changed for length and content. For more information, please contact the cited source.
Reference: R. Sarviaho, O. Hakosalo, K. Tiira, S. Sulkama, E. Salmela, M. K. Hytönen, M. J. Sillanpää and H. Lohi. 2019. Two new genomic regions badociated with fear in dogs straddle human neuropsychiatric loci. Nature. doi: 10.1038 / s41398-018-0361-x.
[ad_2]
Source link
