Welcome to the Science Cafe! On December 10, 2018, three FDSA instructors with science PhDs hung out for an hour or two and talked science online.

The docs:

• Deb Jones
• Amy Cook
• Jessica Hekman

The subject: Hartley, Catherine A., and Francis S. Lee. "Sensitive periods in affective development: Nonlinear maturation of fear learning." Neuropsychopharmacology 40.1 (2015): 50.

(You don't have to have read the paper to appreciate the chat, but a lot of people did!) 

Note: There was a bit of an echo at the beginning, but then the ladies figured it out and resolved the problem. Feel free to skip ahead to 4:25, after they've resolved the issue.

​Resources mentioned in the chat:

• Morrow, Mary, et al. "Breed-dependent differences in the onset of fear-related avoidance behavior in puppies." Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research 10.4 (2015): 286-294.
  • I can't find a freely available copy of this paper - it's behind a paywall. However, there is a nice lay summary of it by Companion Animal Psychology.
• Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Robert Sapolsky
• Robert Sapolsky lecturing on depression (and interesting stuff about how behavioral meds work)
• A (human) genetic test panel for behavioral medication effectiveness (note from Jessica the geneticist: it's not clear how accurate this is, so user beware)
• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn
• Genetics and the Social Behavior of Dogs, John Paul Scott & John Fuller

Want more? The docs are hoping to do this again! And all three have classes this term at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy which are chock full of sciencey goodness (registration is open through December 15, but we'll have classes other sessions too):

• Dealing with the Bogeyman - Helping Fearful Reactive and Stressed Dogs and Sound Advice: Conquering Noise Sensitivity, Amy Cook
• The Melting Pot: Genes, Environment, Personality, Jessica Hekman
• All About Nails and Achieving a Balance Between Motivation and Control, Deb Jones