Copyright The New York Times
Lost Science is an ongoing series of accounts from scientists who have lost their jobs or funding after cuts by the Trump administration. The conversations have been edited for clarity and length. Here’s why we’re doing this. Erin Hecht: The lab studies brain-behavior evolution. We’re interested in dogs because there are these different lineages that are bred for different behavioral profiles, like hunting or herding or guarding. That’s kind of like evolution in a jar. It’s a way to look at how evolution produces behavioral traits by changing the brain. We use M.R.I. scans, which are noninvasive, to look at brain organization. What makes different breeds of dogs behave differently and have predispositions for different types of work? What makes a scent-detection dog really good at learning its job but a service dog really good at learning a totally different set of skills? This is science that is valuable for understanding how brains learn, but it’s also valuable on a very practical level — for creating better service dogs and helping family dogs be healthier and happier. This is a type of science that has an impact that most people could see in their homes. There are about 500,000 service dogs currently in the United States, which are used by people with mobility and sensory limitations, psychiatric disabilities like PTSD or panic disorder, autism and neurodevelopmental conditions, diabetes, epilepsy, and severe allergies. Each of those dogs can cost $50,000 or more to train, and the failure rate can be around 50 percent. The waiting list to receive a service dog can be years long. We’re trying to identify biomarkers that will make that process more effective. If we can identify successful learners earlier, we can shorten that time for people getting the dogs that they need.
