Overview
- Published in PNAS, the Cambridge-led analysis matched genomes from about 1,300 dogs to owner-reported behaviors drawn from the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study.
- The team identified roughly 18 candidate genes for traits such as trainability, fearfulness, energy levels, and dog-directed aggression, with 12 paralleling human behavioral genetics.
- Examples include PTPN1 tied to canine aggression and to intelligence and depression in people, ROMO1 linked to trainability and human emotional sensitivity, and ASCC3 associated with non-social fear and human neuroticism-related measures.
- Researchers stress these variants influence broad emotional regulation rather than dictating specific actions, describing predispositions that life experience can amplify or temper.
- Findings suggest practical applications for tailoring training and potentially guiding veterinary approaches for anxiety in dogs, with authors noting dogs may model certain human psychiatric conditions.