Did you know that certain breeds of dogs like Doberman pinschers, bull terriers, German shepherds, and Shetland sheepdogs are more inclined to have obsessive compulsive disorder? A study from researchers at the Broad Institute in Massachusetts and Uppsala University in Sweden are looking at canine genetics as a way to figure out the genetic reason behind obsessive compulsive disorder in humans.
Did you know that certain breeds of dogs like Doberman pinschers, bull terriers, German shepherds, and Shetland sheepdogs are more inclined to have obsessive compulsive disorder? (
A study from researchers at the Broad Institute in Massachusetts and Uppsala University in Sweden are looking at canine genetics as a way to figure out the genetic reason behind obsessive compulsive disorder in humans.
Doctor Hyun Ji, co-author of the study, and postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute is quoted as saying: “Dogs have a simpler genetic architecture, and that simpler architecture gives us a lot of really important clues about human OCD.”
For the study, researchers compared the genomes of four breeds, eight individual dogs who had OCD and eight who didn’t, and then examined 88 dogs with and without OCD for comparison.
Using the results of the study, researchers identified four gene variants that are connected to OCD, and experts believe that similar genes might be involved in humans with OCD as well.
Around one out of a hundred adults, and one in 200 kids and teenagers are affected by OCD.
But there are reportedly effective treatments for both dogs and humans who have been diagnosed with the disorder.
