In a new paper, animal welfare researchers reviewed the scientific literature to ask if animals can develop diagnosable clinical depression. They found worrying evidence in chronically stressed laboratory rats and animals living in sub-optimal conditions, such as intensively kept pigs, but a diagnosis of depression in another species is still elusive.

Read the whole story at my Animal Minds blog: Can Animals Experience Depression?

Human geneticists from around the world convened virtually on October 18-22 for the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) to share the latest discoveries in human genetics and genomics, as well as explore implications for human health and society.

I worked with ASHG to produce press releases for this meeting that highlight findings related to evolutionary and population genetics, complex traits and polygenic disorders, epigenetics and gene regulation, and more. To view the press releases, click here.

Data visualizations can be powerful tools for communicating science. But careless or incorrect figures can misrepresent data and mislead the public. If you look out for a few common errors, you can be a savvier consumer of data visualizations.

Check out the factsheet I wrote for the American Society of Human Genetics: Interpreting Scientific Figures and Statistics.

Every dog is a good boy or girl. But it turns out that a few of them may also be geniuses. According to a new study, some uniquely gifted dogs are capable of learning up to 12 new toy names in just one week — and remembering the new names for at least two months. The tests were part of the Genius Dog Challenge, a social media campaign aimed at locating more dogs with knowledge of object names.

Read the whole story at my Animal Minds blog: Are Some Dogs Geniuses at Learning Words?

The results of a long-term open-label extension trial of plant-derived, highly purified cannabidiol show the treatment is effective and safe for patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, an often treatment-resistant seizure disorder. The treatment had a similar safety profile as in the original randomized controlled trials and resulted in a drop in seizure frequency for up to 156 weeks.

Read more at Pediatrics Nationwide: Long-Term Follow-Up Study Shows Cannabidiol is Safe and Effective for Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome.