Basal plasma oxytocin & fecal cortisol concentrations are highly heritable and associated with individual differences in behavior & cognition in dog puppies

Abstract

Oxytocin and cortisol are hormones that can influence cognition and behavior, but the relationships between endogenous concentrations and individual differences in cognitive and behavioral phenotypes remain poorly understood. Across mammals, oxytocin has important roles in diverse social behaviors, and in dogs, it has been implicated in human-oriented behaviors such as social gaze and point-following. Cortisol, an end-product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, is often studied in relation to temperament and emotional reactivity, but it is also known to modulate executive functions. In this study, we measured basal fecal cortisol (n = 247) and plasma oxytocin (n = 249) in dog puppies from a pedigreed population (Canine Companions ®). We collected cognitive and behavioral data from these subjects (n = 247), including measures of human-oriented social cognition, memory, inhibitory control, perceptual discriminations, and temperament. Oxytocin concentrations were estimated to be very highly heritable (h² = 0.90−0.99) and cortisol concentrations were estimated to be moderately-highly heritable (h² = 0.43−0.47). Bayesian mixed models controlling for relatedness revealed that oxytocin concentrations were positively associated with spatial working memory and displayed a negative quadratic relationship with behavioral laterality, but no credible associations were seen for social measures. Cortisol concentrations exhibited a negative linear relationship with performance on an inhibitory control task and a negative quadratic relationship with bold behavioral reactions to a novel object. Collectively, our results suggest that individual differences in oxytocin and cortisol concentrations are under strong genetic control in dogs and are associated with phenotypic variation in aspects of temperament, behavioral laterality, and executive function.