生物谷Bioon.com 訊 科學家首次證實選擇性飼養(yǎng)的寵物狗不僅在行為習慣方面發(fā)生了顯著的改變，而且它們的大腦也發(fā)生了較大的變化,。
新南威爾士大學和悉尼大學的研究人員已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn),，短鼻狗的大腦已經(jīng)向前旋轉(zhuǎn)了將近15度，而其控制嗅覺的大腦區(qū)域已經(jīng)發(fā)生了根本性遷移,。
伴隨著12,，000多年的人工飼養(yǎng)和選擇，狗顱腦的大小和形狀都發(fā)生了巨大的變化,。狗大腦這種戲劇性重組織的發(fā)現(xiàn)引發(fā)了一個重要的關于對犬類行為影響的爭論,。這項研究結果發(fā)布在本月的PLoS ONE雜志上
研究人員使用核磁共振成像技術觀察飼養(yǎng)犬的大腦變化。結果發(fā)現(xiàn)了狗顱腦形狀和大小,、大腦旋轉(zhuǎn)和嗅葉位置的變化,，
我們發(fā)現(xiàn)強烈和不相關的關聯(lián)在狗顱腦形狀和大小之間，以及大腦旋轉(zhuǎn)和,。研究人員表示,。Valenzuela博士表示，隨著狗頭部和顱腦變得越來越美觀,，它們的大腦向前旋轉(zhuǎn)，而嗅覺中心移動至顱腦的最低位置,。
此外,，尖牙在人類飼養(yǎng)過程中也是發(fā)生了巨大的變化。Valenzuela博士說："很難想像,，狗的大腦能夠容納這么巨大的顱腦形狀改變,。而有些變化在其他物種中也還沒有記錄。"
飼養(yǎng)也影響了犬的健康,，比如哈巴狗的腦炎,，德國牧羊犬的脊椎問題,，這些都有很好的記錄。然而到現(xiàn)在為止,，幾乎沒人了解人類飼養(yǎng)行為對犬類大腦的影響,。
這項研究的合作者悉尼大學的Paul McGreevy教授這樣說，我們知道狗生活在嗅覺的世界里,，而這項發(fā)現(xiàn)表明一只狗的嗅覺世界可能有別于另一只狗的,，甚至可能會有很大差異。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦原文出處：
PLoS ONE doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011946
Human Induced Rotation and Reorganization of the Brain of Domestic Dogs
Taryn Roberts1*, Paul McGreevy1, Michael Valenzuela2,3*
1 Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2 School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 3 Brain and Ageing Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Domestic dogs exhibit an extraordinary degree of morphological diversity. Such breed-to-breed variability applies equally to the canine skull, however little is known about whether this translates to systematic differences in cerebral organization. By looking at the paramedian sagittal magnetic resonance image slice of canine brains across a range of animals with different skull shapes (N = 13), we found that the relative reduction in skull length compared to width (measured by Cephalic Index) was significantly correlated to a progressive ventral pitching of the primary longitudinal brain axis (r = 0.83), as well as with a ventral shift in the position of the olfactory lobe (r = 0.81). Furthermore, these findings were independent of estimated brain size or body weight. Since brachycephaly has arisen from generations of highly selective breeding, this study suggests that the remarkable diversity in domesticated dogs' body shape and size appears to also have led to human-induced adaptations in the organization of the canine brain.
