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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.

WOW - that sounded just like my late Savannah. Very Interesting. She was a mixed breed.

Thanks for sharing, Hugs, Nikko

Fascinating! I have thought a lot about dog temperaments. I love dogs, have owned several and wouldn't mind betting they can inherit the canine form of bp too. Pit bulls bred for fighting would show that trait.
I used to think all dogs were wonderful and the only bad ones were due to owners mistreatment. We adopted a pitbull mutt. He was very loved and cared for, like a member of the family, which I've since learned is NOT the way to treat a strong willed dog. BUT, the problem was his hair trigger bite. He finally bit our youngest son, who was a toddler at the time. He required stitches in his face, missing his eye by half an inch! We put that dog down, which was very traumatic for our family, but we couldn't let him bite anyone else. Our next dog was a Cocker Spaniel, but she was a neurotic mess who peed if you even looked at her. Our best dog was a West Highland Terrier. He had a beautiful temperament and that's what they're known for. He was not too agressive, or timid and never bit!