In 2020, a team of researchers from Vienna University of Veterinary Medicine showed that the social and cognitive skills of dogs are declining despite lifelong training. In a subsequent study, various influencing factors were investigated for the change in telomeren (protective caps at the ends of chromosomes). The results show that the better the dogs can be trained more slowly.
A team led by Julia Weixlbraun from the Center for Biological Sciences of the Vetmeduni now showed a strong connection between the “trainability” of dogs and the change in telomeren. With the trainability, the scientists in test situations measure how thought the dogs were and how quickly they performed the tasks.
When cells share, the telomeres were called DNA sections at the ends of the chromosomes shorter. This shortening is associated with cell aging and less immune function, according to the researchers in the specialized magazine “Plos One”. If the protective caps are too short, the cell does not stop.
Age, gender or nutrition less important
The results indicate that “a higher level of training has a positive effect on the dynamics of Telomiege in aging dogs,” said Weixlbraun. “We can even observe an extension of the telomeres.” Other factors such as age, gender or nutrition are less important in this context.
Training does not change
The study also showed that trainability does not change with increasing age. For Weixlbraun, this suggests that “telomery dynamics in dogs is more dependent on social quality such as trainability than age.”
In humans, cognitive and social factors are already associated with the change in telomeres in earlier studies, and such relationships have not been sufficiently investigated in animals.
Source: Krone
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