I signed up my dog for a brain study at Harvard. Here’s what I learned.
Benito, my yellow Lab, was admitted to Harvard University last week — only it was for a research project into dog brains. Who knew that the storied institution studies pooches and their minds? Harvard’s Canine Brains Project undertakes studies designed to not only unlock the mysteries of dog brains, but to ultimately find ways to help people too. When I learned through Instagram that the project’s scientists are always looking for volunteer subjects, I couldn’t sign up Benito fast enough.
Our 2-year-old pup’s behavior and brain have been a steady source of mystery. Benito is both a bullyish rogue and an incredibly affectionate, sweet pet, one who has shown to be a tad untrainable. When he was a puppy, one trainer recommended we put him on Prozac, which we didn’t do. Benito did get expelled from doggie daycare, though, but I digress. By now we’ve pretty much accepted his “thug life” vibes.
Maybe I’m anthropomorphizing, but Benito seemed excited to participate in the Canine Brains Project. It’s an initiative led by Erin Hecht, an evolutionary biologist and neuroscientist, and her team of veterinarians, graduate students, research fellows, and other canine professionals.
What makes Hecht’s project unique is that while most canine brain research is studying dogs as one species — How do dog brains work? What makes dog brains good at interacting with people? How do they process the world? — she and her team “are trying to zero in on the differences between different breeds or types of dogs,” Hecht said. “We are the only lab looking at variation within dogs.”
Through various studies and the use of several research tools, such as behavioral tests and brain scans, Hecht and her team are trying to decode one of the ultimate puzzles of behavior, whether in humans or our four-legged companions: the nature vs. nurture question. For instance, Benito’s brain images will be used for the lab’s Life Experiences study, led by Julia Espinosa, aimed at unraveling why dogs develop reactivity and aggression issues; and the Working Breeds study, led by Sophie Barton.
Barton told me she’s interested in learning “what parts of the brain are involved in working dog behaviors that people have historically selected dogs to perform, like hunting or herding.” To that end, she said, the lab has scanned the brains of about 120 dogs of specific breeds: Labrador retrievers, German shepherds, border collies, and sprint racing sled dogs, also known as Eurohounds. “We’re looking at the selective breeding as well as the training, and how those two forces
Hecht and her team are trying to decode one of the ultimate puzzles of behavior, whether in humans or our four-legged companions: the nature vs. nurture question.
are both changing the brain,” Barton said. Recruited volunteer canines include those who are actively engaged in work and those who have little to no training for specific jobs. Enter Benito.
The potential impact of Barton’s findings — and Espinosa’s — is self-evident. For example, Barton has scanned the brains of scent detection dogs and service dogs, and her research might help match certain dogs to specific tasks. Olivia Reilly, another researcher at the project, is leading the Dog-Child Bonding study, for which she is recruiting children ages 8 to 10 who have a pet dog. “There’s some evidence that the stronger the social attachment between kids and dogs, the greater the therapeutic effects of that relationship,” Reilly told me. “And so in theory, our study can sort of help build a foundation for using or potentially matching dogs in the future with groups.”
Before Benito went in the lab for his MRI, Barton performed a series of behavioral tests on him, including one called “the impossible task” that looks at how well the dog communicates with humans, a separation test, and a V-detour task that measures cognitive skills like route planning. According to Barton, Benito showed that he’s “really skilled at using people like tools,” looking at the humans for help. He also figured out the V-shaped test very quickly, which may or may not be a sign of high intelligence (that’s my unscientific conclusion, not Barton’s). Benito showed some anxiety and distress when he was left alone for the separation test, but Barton said “that’s actually a good sign that he has an attachment bond with you.”
And so Benito “graduated” from Harvard. Instead of a diploma I received a scan of his brain, about the size of a large lemon or a medium-sized orange weighing between 110 to 120 grams and still a mystery that science promises to unlock.