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Legendary
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 18,914
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Legendary
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 18,914
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notes about the dog genome and human bipolar
So-called "bad" dogs might have thyroid problems. Or Bipolar. And these dogs could teach us about ourselves.
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/b...d9naikhduu5dr6
Quote:
IV. MODELLING & TESTING
...Dogs are social animals that have been bred for very specific behaviors, and purebreds have low genetic variation, which makes it easier to locate candidate genes. Purebred dogs also have the advantage of having detailed pedigrees and relatives that can be located, tested, and bred, all great assets for genetic researchers. Finally, as animal models, they can also have their genes tested by lab techniques for their influence in a way human subjects cannot be.
Bipolar disorder is likely rarer in dogs than in humans, since unstable temperament is undesirable in dogs and often leads to early euthanasia. When bipolar disorder exists in dogs, it could manifest as unstable neurosis or "rage syndrome", a controversial diagnosis of behavior found in some pure breeds. The otherwise friendly dog can literally be sleeping one moment, and then the next moment attack without provocation.
These attacks seem to resemble epileptic seizures, which is suggestive, since 10% of epileptic patients also have bipolar disorder, and almost all the new drugs used to treat bipolar disorder are epileptic drugs. Some of those dogs have thyroid problems and improve with treatment, showing that this syndrome is not due to "bad training."
A project to diagnose and study the various causes and genetics of "rage syndrome" may prove promising.
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