The following are a few excerpts from NYTimes.  Read the entire article on:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/science/19dogs.h...

Scientists Find a Shared Gene in Dogs With Compulsive Behavior

OBSESSIVE A Doberman pinscher sucking on its flank, one behavior among dogs that have compulsive disorders in which a genetic variation was found.

Dr. Nicholas Dodman, director of the animal behavior clinic at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, in North Grafton, Mass., and the lead author of the report, said the findings had broad implications for compulsive disorders in people and animals.

Estimates have obsessive-compulsive disorder afflicting anywhere from 2.5 percent to 8 percent of the human population. It shows up in behavior like excessive hand washing, repetitive checking of stoves, locks and lights, and damaging actions like pulling one’s hair out by the roots and self-mutilation.

The disorder has been used in popular movies and television shows to define characters like the reclusive writer Melvin Udall, played by Jack Nicholson, in “As Good as It Gets” and Adrian Monk, played by Tony Shaloub, in the television series “Monk.”

The statistical association led to further investigation to determine for which protein the gene contained instructions. It did for one of the proteins called cadherins, which are found throughout the animal kingdom and are apparently involved in cell alignment, adhesion and signaling.

Cadherins have also been recently associated with autism spectrum disorder, which includes repetitive and compulsive behaviors, said Dr. Edward I. Ginns, senior author of the report in Molecular Psychiatry and director of the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.