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Sophie Barton

@sophiebarton.bsky.social

640 followers 860 following 36 posts

PhD student in the Hecht Lab of Harvard University. Studying how selection shapes the brains & behaviors of working dogs, village dogs, New Guinea singing dogs, and domesticated foxes 🐶 🦊 🧠 caninebrains.org sophiealexandrabarton.com ngsdconservation.org

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Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Jul 3

My paper on brain-behavior differences in premodern and modern breed dogs is officially published — and my dog Tamsin made the cover! 🐶 🧠 www.jneurosci.org/content/45/2...

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Susana Monsó @susanamonso.com · 1d

If this doesn’t end bonobos’ reputation as the hippies of the great apes I don’t know what will. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Coalitionary intra-group aggression by wild female bonobos

Sonya Pashchevskaya and colleagues document a potentially fatal attack of a male bonobo by a group of females.

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 6d

Dogs who experience neglect as puppies are more likely to be fearful and aggressive in adulthood, suggests research in Scientific Reports. go.nature.com/4pT9hKp 🧪

This is figure 1, which shows key information about the included sample of dogs.

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Grace Lindsay @neurograce.bsky.social · 9d

Fyi if you're an educator looking for videos about the brain and/or how neuroscience is done, check out
@brainfacts.org's YouTube page: youtube.com/@brainfactsorg
It includes submissions to their Brain Awareness Week video contest, which can be quite fun! #neuroskyence

BrainFacts.org

BrainFacts.org is an authoritative source of information about the brain and nervous system for the public. The site is a public information initiative of The Kavli Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable F...

youtube.com

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Liz Butler @lizlagomorph.bsky.social · 16d

#SciArtSeptember Day 23: Scouting
Working dogs use their noses to find target species during conservation projects.
-
#beagle #dogs #sketchbook #drawing

An illustration of a beagle, walking with its nose to the ground. The illustration is simple, with blues taking the place of dark colours on the dog. The background is flat beige.

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Andrea Sommese @asommese.bsky.social · 20d

Excited to share the latest (but still not the last!) study I had the chance to work on with the Family Dog Project 🐶🇭🇺

We found that Gifted Word Learner dogs' talent goes beyond what we expected; they can generalise words based on function, not just looks.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Dogs extend verbal labels for functional classification of objects

The relationship between language and human thought is an ongoing debate,1 and it has been proposed that language shapes object categorization.2 Words…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · 17d

Thank you @helenahartmann.com and @scienceandfiction.net for sharing my short story! I hope it helps bring needed awareness to the plight of the vaquita porpoise 🐬

Science & Fiction @scienceandfiction.net · 18d

🐬 New #ScienceandFiction short story 🐬

This time, @sophiebarton.bsky.social tackles a very important topic: The extinction of porpoises, the world's most endangered marine mammal!

Content warning: Death of a juvenile

🇬🇧 scienceandfiction.net/stories/33_t...
🇩🇪 scienceandfiction.net/de/stories/3...

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Dr. Helena Hartmann (she/her) @helenahartmann.com · Mar 15

Is there anybody in my bubble that likes to write stories, and would be up for trying to write something for my project @scienceandfiction.net?

It's a great way to practice your science communication and try something new! 💙

DM me for more info!

Science & Fiction @scienceandfiction.net · Feb 6

This is 💙 Science & Fiction 💙, where scientific results and fictional stories intersect.

A space for people who like to a) learn about #science and b) read #sciencefiction at the same time. ✨

Go here to see what it's all about: 🇬🇧 www.scienceandfiction.com
🇩🇪 www.scienceandfiction.com/de

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Dr. Helena Hartmann (she/her) @helenahartmann.com · 21d

Today and tomorrow I am giving my first #scicomm workshop all on my own 😱

It's all about communicating science through fictional short stories (like in @scienceandfiction.net) and on social media! 🤩

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 26d

#SciArtSeptember 12 - Wandering

Adolescent golden jackals can wander thousands of kilometers while searching for a mate and a place to settle to.

They used to only occur in southeastern Europe, but recently, they have been turning up all over the place: Netherlands, Finland, even northern Norway.

Simple illustration of a golden jackal - a fluffy, coyote-like canid with rufous and blue-grey fur - standing on a field of yellow grass with a pale blue background. The jackal looks like it has stopped mid-stride to look at the viewer.

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Dog Aging Project @dogagingproject.bsky.social · 27d

"A study, led by Courtney Sexton, has created a vital baseline for dog behavior research. The study, which compiles data from over 47,000 dogs, provides a powerful starting point for understanding the link between health and behavior as dogs age."

➡️ Learn more: news.vt.edu/articles/202...

Benchmark study tracks trends in dog behavior

The Virginia Tech study, which seeks to understand the link between dog behavior and health, compiles four years of owner-reported data from over 47,000 dogs.

news.vt.edu

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Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Aug 21

I’m Sophie, a Harvard PhD student studying brain-behavior evolution in dogs and Russian domesticated foxes 🐶 🦊 🧠

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Lili Chin she/her @lilichin.bsky.social · Aug 18

#Dogust 8/18 STREETIES from South Asia/Indian Subcontinent
From my book DOGS OF THE WORLD doggiedrawings.net/pages/dogs-of-the-world-book

Via @Spicydogsbehavior (instagram): The future isn't dog-free streets. It's SAFE, HEALTHY, CARED-FOR street dogs living alongside us.

Illustrations of Streeties/Desi Dogs. Correction: It should read "from Mumbai and Bangalore" not Delhi.

Illustrations of 12 Streeties from Delhi and Mumbai.
Title: COMMUNITY DOGS

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Lili Chin she/her @lilichin.bsky.social · Aug 14

🐕DOGUST 8/14: Potcake Dog! aka American Village Dog from the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos islands. From my book DOGS OF THE WORLD doggiedrawings.net/products/dogs-of-the-world-book

🐕 turksandcaicostourism.com/turks-caicos...

🐕Do you live with a Potcake? Please share photos!

Illustration of a floppy ears black and tan smiling dog. Words: Potcake/Pothound, Caribbean Islands

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Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Aug 9

Her little face is just so sweet!!!

Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Jul 29

Thank you, I’m so glad you found it helpful!

Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Jul 29

Thank you for attending!

Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Jul 27

Am I doing #SundayFishSketch right? This is my pet Betta splendens named Ragetti. Please excuse the child-like quality of my drawing 😅

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Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Jul 17

Would love to be added!

Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Jul 16

Of course the service Labs go through force free training, which makes this really interesting. But they also undergo specific training to reduce emotional reactivity

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Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Jul 16

Excellent question about breed differences! I’m actively investigating this right now. Can’t talk about findings for that yet, but in another analysis I found that service Labradors have attenuated connectivity of the amygdala compared to hunting, scent detection, and companion Labradors.

Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Jul 16

I still think derived breeds may process reward differently due to selective pressures. Might have to do more with changes to connectivity and/or the distribution of receptors than size

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Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Jul 16

Thank you for reading the paper and providing your thoughts! I was also kind of the nucleus accumbens finding, but it’s previously been found to negatively correlate with total brain size in dogs. The modern breeds have bigger brains.

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Reposted by Sophie Barton

Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · Jul 12

Something lovely for the weekend! A very good boy! 🐾🐕😍

An amazing 3,400 year-old ancient Egyptian mechanical dog carved from ivory. This leaping hunting dog opens and closes its mouth as if barking, by using a lever below its chest.

Met Museum 📷 by me

#Archaeology

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Sophie Barton @sophiebarton.bsky.social · Jul 9

Super proud of Robert! I had the pleasure of mentoring him on this project

Dr. Gita Gnanadesikan ❌👑 @ggnanadesikan.bsky.social · Jul 9

Undergraduate researcher Robert Wray tells us about his NSF REU project on attachment in Golden Retrievers. Preliminary results suggest household size may affect dog attachment (vocalization & touches). Survey data (C-BARQ) & experimental attachment measures differed.

#ABS2025 #CanineScience

Reposted by Sophie Barton

Lili Chin she/her @lilichin.bsky.social · Jul 9

🐕Predatory Motor Patterns doggiedrawings.net/blogs/whats-...

🐕LINK to download: doggiedrawings.net/products/pre...

New free download: Predatory Motor Patterns

Several readers of my new book, Dogs of the World, have told me how much they love the Predatory Motor Patterns chart on pages 42-43 and I've received a few requests to make this available as a downlo...

doggiedrawings.net

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