Dogs might actually be more similar to humans than you might think. And, according to a new study conducted by the University of Helsinki in Finland, behavioral disorders that affect dogs are eerily similar to the ones that affect people.
For example, ADHD and OCD go hand-in-hand for humans, or they are at least causes of one another. And this seems to be the same for dogs. And most behavioral disorders are similar between humans and dogs. The more research is conducted on behavioral disorders in dogs, the better we can understand behavioral disorders in people.
Research shows that the same brain regions and neurobiological pathways are responsible for activity, impulsivity, and concentration in both species. This discovery only shows that dogs can be used as a model species in the research of diseases like ADHD. The researchers from Helsinki used 11,000 dogs in their study. They examined the times the dogs spent alone or exercising.
And they looked into how their attention manifests and what factors influence it. The results showed that all of them factor into the likelihood of a dog developing a behavioral disease. And this is predominant in pups and adult males. Socialization is the main factor, but breed also affects the outcomes.
Some breeds are more energetic, others are calmer, more focused, or kinder. And all of these personality traits factor in how likely they are to develop behavioral disorders. The more information scientists get about dogs and behavioral disorders, the better they will be able to understand them in humans.