Two novel genomic regions associated with fearfulness in dogs overlap human neuropsychiatric loci.

ABSTRACT: Anxiety disorders are among the leading health issues in human medicine. The complex phenotypic and allelic nature of these traits as well as the challenge of establishing reliable measures of the heritable component of behaviour from the associated environmental factors hampers progress in their molecular aetiology. Dogs exhibit large natural variation in fearful and anxious behaviour and could facilitate progress in the molecular aetiology due to their unique genetic architecture. We have performed a genome-wide association study with a canine high-density SNP array in a cohort of 330 German Shepherds for two phenotypes, fear of loud noises (noise sensitivity) and fear of strangers or in novel situations. Genome-widely significant loci were discovered for the traits on chromosomes 20 and

SUBMITTER: Sarviaho R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6336819 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature