Mariana Apostolatos
Mr. Ippolito
Current Event 1
September 10, 2019
Sanders, Laura. “Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains.” Science News, 30 Aug. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/dogs-breed-brain-shape-humans.
In a recent article by Laura Sanders, the shapes of different dog breeds’ brains has evolved and manipulated due to human interference. Dog breeders have been shaping the way animals look and behave for centuries, however, this human meddling in dogs has also affected each dog’s brain. A study scanned each brain of sixty-two purebred dogs representing thirty-three breeds. This study revealed that not all dog brains are alike. According to researchers in the Journal of Neuroscience, different breeds have different shapes of various brain regions, which was not in correlation with the head shape or the size of the dogs’ brains or bodies. According to Erin Hecht, an evolutionary neuroscientist at Harvard University, “[they] have been systematically shaping the brains of another species” through selective breeding. After MRI scans of several dogs with normal brain anatomy, researchers identified groups of brain areas, such as smell and taste regions that showed the most variability between breeds. The authors assumed the dogs in the study were all pets.
Dogs that are pets and dogs that are trained for a specific activity may differ in terms that specialized dogs may have even more distinct brains. In our society, the systematic change in dog’s brains can help us in different ways. For example, dogs that have more distinct brains allow us to use them for sheep herding, bomb detecting, guiding the blind, and more jobs that benefit our society. Without having the ability to alter the dog’s brains, we would not be able to utilize them to better our society.
This article was very well written and informative. It was very easy to read and follow, even providing images of MRI scans of different dog breeds as a visual aid to help better your understanding. All of the information was introduced in chronological order and the author was very straight-foward and to the point. However, I felt that the article was lacking some information that could have helped deepen a reader’s understanding. The article was very short and I wished the author went more in depth about the differences between the brains of wild dogs and the pet dogs with human owners. I would have also liked to read more direct quotes of those who directed the lab or perhaps of more specialists in the subject. Overall, the article was easy to understand, engaging, and not too long, keeping the information relevant and to the point.
Sanders, Laura. “Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains.” Science News, 30 Aug. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/dogs-breed-brain-shape-humans.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Mariana's review was very accurate and descriptive of the article, “Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains”, by Laura Sanders, I think it was a poor choice of article. Mariana discussed the main points of the article, but there just wasn't enough content within the article. She first discussed how dog breeders have been shaping animals to fit human needs for a long time. This was interesting to me because we have been able to alter how animals behave to fit our necessities. Next, she discussed how all dogs' brains are different, but this is not related to the dogs head or body shape. She does a good job of supporting this point through a quote and evidence from the text. Finally, she talks about how the author assumed all of the dogs were pets. I think this was the best supported piece of evidence due to all of the reasons she provided to back it.
The review was well done based off the article she was working from. I think one point she could have elaborated on more was how the brain sizes of dogs has no correlation to the shape of the dogs head and body. I didn't understand the significance of this and feel like it could have been better explained. Another thing she could improve in her review was the use of quotes. She only used one quote and I think more of quotes would have been very useful in proving her points. Finally, I feel that the article just didn't have enough content to work with even though it was very interesting to read it. The choice of article really hurt the review because of how short it was, and how difficult it was to find content to talk about.
Overall, I think Mariana did a good job explaining the main points of the article, and I enjoyed reading her review. The topic was very interesting because the differentiation in dog breeds is something I didn't really appreciate before. I can see why she picked this article because of all the interesting points it covered such as the dogs trained for specific activities. This changed my perception of dogs because I didn't realize how much of an effect dog breeders can have on the brains, and how the dogs function. I find this really interesting and would like to read more in the future.
Jimmy Hennessy Current Event Comment #1:
ReplyDeleteSanders, Laura. “Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains.” Science News, 30 Aug. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/dogs-breed-brain-shape-humans.
Mariana’s review of “ Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds’ Brians.” is a fantastic explanation that provides great insight on how breeding dogs is affecting their brains. The paragraph starts by mentioning how this is not a recent event and dog breeders have been doing this for awhile. Next Mariana, reveals key evidence of researchers from “The Journal of Neuroscience.” The evidence they concluded was, “different breeds have different shapes of various brain regions, which was not in correlation with the head shape or the size of the dogs’ brains or bodies.” She ends the first paragraph by mentioning findings of Harvard evolutionary neuroscientist who says, “[they] have been systematically shaping the brains of another species” through selective breeding. Lastly, the blog identified groups of brain areas, such as smell and taste regions that showed the most variability between breeds. These details are quite important and fascinating. But as a huge dog lover myself, I am concerned for the health and happiness of dogs. This is the main reason why I chose this article. Secondly, I am concerned about how this is going to affect long term dog health in years to come.
This article has some really great insight and have developed a perfect academic tone. However, I still have so many questions about the situation. For instance, why are breeders and people doing this to dogs. Is it easier, more profitable? Mariana does a great job explaining the situation and the effects on dogs. But, she never really explains why this is a problem and how it is going to affect dogs short-term and long term health. In paragraph two, when Mariana is talking about how the change in dog brains is a good thing because they can detect bombs and guide the blind. This is great for society but I am still not understanding why and how breeders are changing the anatomy of dog’s brains. More importantly, It is not explained how this change in brain is bad for dogs. Had a better explanation of why and how dogs brains are changing this article could have been more successful.
Nevertheless, Mariana provided the readers with so much great information on how dog brains are changing. I felt an obligation to read this article because of my love for dogs. I have a dog and they are such big parts of our lives it would be a shame to not make sure they are being breeded safely. After reading this article, I have understood some great insight on how dog brains are changing. Hopefully in the future we can learn more about why and how this is happening and if it is bad.
Sarah Whitney
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Current Event 2
19 September, 2019
Sanders, Laura. “Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains.” Science News, 30 Aug. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/dogs-breed-brain-shape-humans.
In Mariana’s review of the article “Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains” by Laura Sanders, she excelled in many aspects. First, Mariana provided a very good summary with a good description of the study being discussed. This helps give the reader specific details needed to understand the content of this article. Second, she did a great job integrating a quote to give the reader a sense of the specific ideas of the original author. Third, Mariana thoroughly explained her criticism of the author’s writing as well as explaining why she thought that way.
Although Mariana did many things well, there were two things in which she could improve upon. First, I wish she would have included more quotes even though she integrated her summary quote very well. This would allow the reader to better understand the author’s views so they better understand Mariana’s descriptions. Second, I wish she would have added a bit more to her relevance paragraph. Although it is clear and well thought out, it seems a bit short since this study seems very relevant.
I thought this study was very interesting as it revolves around a topic that I am interested in and seems like something I would like to look into more and study further.
Ellyn Paris
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
9/18/19
Current Event #2
“Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains.”
Apostolatos’ review was well written and very interesting. She explained the effects of dog breeding in simple language, which helps the reader better understand the article. Usually scientific articles have complicated language. It is therefore important to write reviews that are more simple, and that allow the audience to comprehend the purpose of the study better. Secondly, Apostolatos integrated the quote very well into her review. The place and method in which she included the quote was well chosen, and contributed to the development of the review. Furthermore, the criticism she provided of her article were constructive. She mentioned that she wishes the article included a section that distinguished between a wild dog’s brain and a domesticated dog’s brain. This addition would have been very interesting to read about. The writing of the review could have been more sophisticated. There were a few sentences that did not make sense, but this is an easy fix. Additionally, Apostolatos could have gone more in depth on the negative consequences of the changing shapes of the dogs’ brains. She talked about why the shapes of dogs’ brains are changing, but she did not mention why this is bad for the dogs. The review could have benefitted from this information. Before reading this review I was not aware of this happening. I did not know that selective breeding of dogs was altering the shapes of their brains.
Ellyn Paris
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
9/18/19
Current Event #2
“Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains.”
Apostolatos’ review was well written and very interesting. She explained the effects of dog breeding in simple language, which helps the reader better understand the article. Usually scientific articles have complicated language. It is therefore important to write reviews that are more simple, and that allow the audience to comprehend the purpose of the study better. Secondly, Apostolatos integrated the quote very well into her review. The place and method in which she included the quote was well chosen, and contributed to the development of the review. Furthermore, the criticism she provided of her article were constructive. She mentioned that she wishes the article included a section that distinguished between a wild dog’s brain and a domesticated dog’s brain. This addition would have been very interesting to read about. The writing of the review could have been more sophisticated. There were a few sentences that did not make sense, but this is an easy fix. Additionally, Apostolatos could have gone more in depth on the negative consequences of the changing shapes of the dogs’ brains. She talked about why the shapes of dogs’ brains are changing, but she did not mention why this is bad for the dogs. The review could have benefitted from this information. Before reading this review I was not aware of this happening. I did not know that selective breeding of dogs was altering the shapes of their brains.
Maggie O’Hare
ReplyDelete9/17/19
Forensics D Odd
Current Event #2
Sanders, Laura. “Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds'
Brains.” Science News, 30 Aug. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/dogs-breed-br
ain-shape-humans.
I thought that this review was on such an interesting topic and it was chosen to engage many people. I liked how this topic could relate to a lot of people because many have dogs and probably ask the same question “What is the dog thinking right now?”. I liked how Mariana clearly explained the experiment and the result of it. I also liked how she included that the dogs’ brains were different not because of size or head shape. I thought the inclusion of the second paragraph was very interesting and she made a great point explaining the different ways that dogs are domesticated and I never thought about how that would affect the dogs’ brain.
I think that Mariana could have compared the dog's brain to a human brain. I think that would have added a good detail. I also would have liked it if she had analyzed and explained the quote she used in the first paragraph because it took me a while to figure out what the author was trying to say.
Overall I thought Mariana did a really good job and chose a really interesting topic that many people would enjoy learning about. I didn’t ever think that we can manipulate our own dogs and how they might be more similar to our brains then we think.
Riley Morgan
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Current Event 2
Forensics
9/17/19
Sanders, Laura. “Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains.” Science News, 30 Aug. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/dogs-breed-brain-shape-humans.
The review written by Marianna Apostolotos on the article Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains By Laura Sanders was very well written and informative. I initially chose this article because the title was very intriguing and made me want to read more. I like how Marianna Kept her article brief. She was able to nicely sum it up. I like how she made sure to include the interesting and unknown parts about her article such as how “Dog breeders have been shaping the way animals look for centuries”. I also appreciate how she took a different turn by really separating the different paragraphs. Personally I found it a lot easier and more manageable to read.
Although her article was nicely written and intriguing, Marianna could have improved on some things. She did not include any quotes from her article which takes away some of her credibility. I also feel that Marianna did not go very in depth about her topic, which having quotes also would of helped with. She can fix this by adding quotes to her review from the original article and making sure she uses detail without being too wordy.
By reading this review I learned a lot of things about how Humans are reshaping the minds of dogs. I never would have guessed that it had been going on for centuries. It will change my perspective because I will now think about this every time I see a dog. I chose this article because the title was very intriguing and made me want to read more. I chose to comment on this one because I thought Mariannas way of writing was very interesting.
Misha Pustovit
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Mr. Ippolito
Current Event #2 - Comment
Mariana’s review of this article was an excellent piece of analysis work. Throughout the review, she read between the lines of what the author wrote and drew her own inferences and conclusions. Besides simply restating the little information that was present in the article, she added her own insights on the topic. For example, she writes that the ability to alter the brain of a dog makes them a great animal to be utilized by society in many ways. Mariana’s criticism of the article was also very accurate. Although the article was straight to the point, as she wrote, information was sparse, and not many ideas were presented in the article. Finally, she did a great job of summarizing the article in a way that was understandable and clear. Even before reading the article, I already had an understanding of the topic based only on her review.
One thing that Mariana could have done better is included more citations from the article. Instead of paraphrasing, this would give her reasoning more support. Also, she could have picked an article that contains more thorough information and more insightful conclusions. This would allow for a review which goes more in depth.
Mariana’s review was a straightforward summary of an article which lacked a great deal of information. The review did a great job of summarizing the content and convincing me to read the article. However, the lack of content in the article itself did not allow the review to reach its full potential. This article and review changed my perspective on the relationship between humans and dogs, especially on how the two species are interconnected.
Olivia Conniff
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Current Event 3
9/25/19
Sanders, Laura. “Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds' Brains.” Science News, 30 Aug. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/dogs-breed-brain-shape-humans.
Mariana wrote an excellent, informative, as well as enjoyable to read review of the article, “Human Meddling Has Manipulated the Shapes of Different Dog Breeds’ Brains” by Laura Sanders. Mariana summarized the article very clearly, and I understood it perfectly. Her descriptions were concise as well as easy to follow, and not long-winded at all. She referenced the source where the information was found in the original article, the Journal of Neuroscience, as well as included quotes, which really made her facts seem much more credible. She also included a great explanation of how this article is relevant to our society, which always makes an article much more impactful.
While Mariana’s review was overall great, there are a few things which could improve it even further. I think Mariana could have explained a bit more about the dog’s brain. For example, perhaps she could have compared it and its functions to a human brain, or explained more about how dogs’ brain size has no relation to the head and body size, which I was a bit confused about. I feel that she also could have elaborated more on how the changing of dog’s brains actually negatively impacts them, as I feel some details were left out.
Despite these few issues, Mariana wrote an extremely informative and eye-opening review. From reading it, I learned so much about dogs’ brains, how they are changing, and how this is relevant to our society. I feel like particularly would impact someone who loves dogs, or even has a dog, as many people do. People want to make sure that dogs are bred safely, and I do as well. I have a dog and I love them very much. This review really opened my eyes to some practices of dog breeding and how dogs’ brains are changing as we breed them.