Why use dogs?

We are interested in dogs for two reasons. The first, our main goal, is to understand how age-related changes develop and lead to cognitive decline in the human, so that we can develop interventions that can either effect the rate of cognitive decline, or can reverse changes that have already occurred. Dogs offer some unique advantages over other species. Old dogs can be easily obtrained. Dog often eat similar foods and share the same environmental stresses that we do. Dogs are also exceptionally useful, from a motivational perspective. They will typically work well in neuropsychological tests, without having to be deprived of food. Our work also suggests that dogs show a similar pattern of cognitive decline to that seen in primates.

Other animal models of cognitive aging, which include rodents and non-human primates, can also be used to help us understand human aging. Rodents offer the advantages of being relatively inexpensive and of having a very short life span. Rodents are also the species of choice in genetic manipulations. We have available, for example, species of genetically altered mice that accumulate large quantities of beta-amyloid protein in the brain. On the other hand, the rodent brain is substantially different from the human brain in both structure and function. In addition, rodents normally do not develop the type of brain pathology seen in aged humans.

The second reason for our interest in dogs is for their own sake. Dogs fit into human society in a number diverse ways.