No – it doesn’t matter how cute you are – you need to stop that OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) behavior right now mister! Yes, it’s true. you may have more in common with your furry pal than you once thought. Apparently they can suffer from OCD too — and they could hold the key to our diagnosed and undiagnosed recovery from it.
First, how can a dog have OCD? Well … technically they have CCD (Canine Compulsive Disorder). Have you ever seen a dog chase their tail and run tirelessly around in circles? How about chewing and chewing and chewing? All that repetitive action does a CCD-stricken doggie make.
People are not much different. Most OCD sufferers are never diagnosed, but there are many roaming around … right under your very noses. And YOU may even be one if you exhibit repetitive behaviors or persistent thoughts that are time consuming and interfere with daily routines.
It’s no big deal. We’ve all seen Monk. He’s adorably OCD! And, I am not saying I have any sort of OCD issues, no matter how many times I clean the counters and check the locks on the doors … ahem.
Anyway, both OCD and CCD often respond to similar treatments. Wondering why?
“While the study sample was small and further research is needed, the results further validate that dogs with CCD can provide insight and understanding into anxiety disorders that affect people. Dogs exhibit the same behavioral characteristics, respond to the same medication, have a genetic basis to the disorder, and we now know have the same structural brain abnormalities as people with OCD,” said Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, DACVB, professor of clinical sciences at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.
Sixteen Dobermans were examined. Comparing MRI brain images of eight Dobermans with CCD to the control group, Ogata found that the CCD group had higher total brain and gray matter volumes, lower gray matter densities in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and right anterior insula, and higher fractional anisotropy in the splenium of the corpus callosum (the degree of which correlated with the severity of the behavioral traits). These findings are consistent with those reported in humans with OCD.
“It has been very gratifying to me to use our imaging techniques developed to diagnose human brain disorders to better understand the biological basis for anxiety/compulsive disorders in dogs, which may lead to better treatments for dogs and humans with these disorders,” said Marc J. Kaufman, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the McLean Hospital Translational Imaging Laboratory.
“Canines that misbehave are often labeled as ‘bad dogs’ but it is important to detect and show the biological basis for certain behaviors,” said Niwako Ogata, BVSc, Ph.D., who was a behavior researcher at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and is now an assistant professor of animal behavior at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. “Evidence-based science is a much better approach to understanding a dog’s behavior.”
The study builds on existing research to better understand the etiology of compulsive disorders in animals such as CCD, which affects Doberman pinschers and other canine breeds. In 2010, researchers from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology identified a genetic locus on canine chromosome 7 that coincides with an increased risk of OCD.
So, before you say “Bad dog!” Make sure your pooch doesn’t have the genetic locus on canine chromosome 7 — because if he does, it’s not his fault! Get him to a therapist immediately. And while you’re at it, get yourself to one as well! Or … perhaps you could share a doctor and do group therapy since treatments are so similar … Just don’t lend him your chew toy, it may be too tempting …
Source: Ogata N, et al, Brain structural abnormalities in Doberman pinschers with canine compulsive disorder, Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry (2013),http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2013.04.002
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