2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Behavioral genetic study for early prediction of guide dog qualification

Research Project

Project/Area Number	20880010
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (Start-up)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Applied veterinary science
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo
Principal Investigator	ARATA Sayaka The University of Tokyo, 大学院・農学生命科学研究科, 特任助教 (00507882)
Project Period (FY)	2008 – 2009
Keywords	犬 / 気質 / アンケート評価 / 生理学的反応 / 神経伝達物質 / 遺伝子多型 / 一塩基置換 / 盲導犬適性
Research Abstract	With the aim of early predication of guide dog qualification, I examined temperament traits which had influence on guide dog qualification, and also searched for temperament-associated genes. A questionnaire survey on trainee dogs revealed that "Distraction" and "Docility" were consistently important for qualification. When these temperament scores and data from behavior tests (heart rates and behavioral responses) were employed for multivariate data analysis, guide dog qualification could be stably predicted with high accuracy (over 80%). Additionally, some genetic polymorphisms on neurotransmitter-related genes showed consistent association with "Distraction"and "Docility".