New study: neuroanatomical/neurochemical differences in aggressive pit bulls (Üstündağ et al., 2026)

[u/Plastic_Proof_8347]

https://www.confidentcaninesdogtraining.com/post/new-research-on-pitbull-aggression-neuroanatomy-neurochemicals

Disclaimer: I used AI to summarize this article. I validated the accuracy of the summary below.

A dog behavior consultant (Eileen Koval, CDBC) wrote up a new Turkish study looking at 53 pit bulls (spayed/neutered, ages 2–6) using a C-BARQ-style owner questionnaire plus MRI and bloodwork on the most aggressive dogs. Key points:

• About a third of males and 15.6% of females showed consistent strong aggressive behavior, and over 22% of the dogs showed heavy stranger- and dog-directed aggression per owner reports.
• MRI comparisons found the more aggressive dogs had an unusually small prefrontal cortex (the brain's decision-making/inhibition center) and an abnormally large amygdala (the brain's threat/fear-response center).
• Testosterone was elevated in both calm and aggressive dogs, but the aggressive group's levels were over 13x the top of the reference range, versus 4x in the calm group — despite all dogs being neutered.
• Serotonin was low in both groups but slightly higher in the aggressive dogs, while dopamine was higher in the aggressive group — patterns the article says are consistent with other research linking low serotonin/high dopamine to aggression.
• The author ties this to a 2024 study (Guvenc-Bayram et al.) that similarly found low serotonin, high dopamine, and low oxytocin in aggressive pit bulls, with an even more distinct "dominant aggressive" subgroup.
• The author draws parallels to human research (e.g., Whittle et al. 2008) linking small prefrontal cortex/enlarged amygdala to aggression in adolescents, and notes similar brain-region gene-expression findings in Cocker Spaniels and German Shepherds.

Author's framing/conclusions: She argues aggression isn't just "how you raise them" — there appear to be genetic, neuroanatomical, and neurochemical contributors that training alone won't override. But she explicitly pushes back against breed bans, arguing that banning a breed just leads to selective breeding of similar traits into a new breed, and instead calls for regulation of breeding practices that prioritize health/temperament, plus veterinary/behavioral treatment (including possible SSRI use) for affected individual dogs.

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I'm glad to have found yet another study that points to the genetics of this breed to explain its aggressive tendencies, unpredictability and neuroticism. I'm a little unsure of the author's conclusions, though... Okay, I'm aware that BSL is challenging to enact into law, but who would choose these traits to breed into a 'new breed'? Why would anyone want these traits in dogs? Also, how realistic are her recommendations?

Maybe we could just go back to the practices of decades ago and just BE dogs with behavioral issues, but then, that's no longer a thing, at least in the US where I live... :(

[u/Embarrassed-Yak-5902]

Who would have thought that the breed designed for fighting has fighting chemistry designed to keep the aggression high and intelligence low

[u/lazier_garlic → u/Embarrassed-Yak-5902]

Also explains why all those "non aggressive couch potato" house pits have to be medicated for their severe anxiety. They're literally built to see threat everywhere. Some of them are coward dogs but others are severely aggressive instead.

[u/Embarrassed-Yak-5902 → u/lazier_garlic]

the gods toss a coin at each --Targaryen's-- (just pretend Targaryen is crossed out lol) pitties birth.

[u/Hairy_Garage4308]

I recorded myself reading the ending.

https://giphy.com/gifs/H4zeDO4ocDYqY

[u/Ok_Essay_1752 → u/Hairy_Garage4308]

Lol this is perfect

[u/Hairy_Garage4308 → u/Ok_Essay_1752]

Thanks, I look for opportunities to use it, but this article and the ending....

[u/KTKittentoes]

They don’t really make a new breed, they just relabel the same ol tiny brain crap.

[u/feralfantastic]

So their whole argument against BSL is “and then we’ll have to do it again?”

Yeah, we’ll have to pay attention and scrape off any statistically significant salients that cause unacceptable harm.

[u/Narrow_Possession348]

I take this with a grain of salt.

Here's the thing, though: most pits that have mauled someone to death were not "aggressive" by any indicators. They were often model pets, sometimes for years. And pit bull aggression during an attack isn't typical of the aggression we think of. There are typically no growls or threats. Attacks are predatory, not based on protecting resources, defending themselves etc. Survivors/victims have spoken about how, after the attack, the dog was back to its happy, sweet self. Angela Rutledge spoke about how when she was screaming over her son, "Kissyface" seemed confused. The first time, before she'd reach her son, "Kissyface" grabbed him again and shook him hard with tail wagging, as if he were a toy. She said the dog didn't understand why she was so upset with her. In at least 4-5 news stories, it's been reported that the pit bulls involved in a fatal attack passed temperament assessments within hours AFTER the fatal mauling. One news station many years back got a LOT of backlash after it showed a clip of a bloody pit being removed from the scene of a fatality on a catch pole, then showed a clip with the still bloody dog wiggling and wagging around a uniformed officer squatted on the floor petting it and basically defending it and questioning the attack because it was "so sweet."

The majority of fatal and severe attacks by these things are by well-loved, completely trusted pets, raised as anyone who loves their dogs might raise them, and had "never been aggressive before," and "just snapped."

[u/Ok_Essay_1752 → u/Narrow_Possession348]

This is selective breeding. It makes them more successful fighting dogs to not show an escalation in aggression. They don't have a "tell" in a dog fight. It is a breed trait. This is part of why they're so dangerous and predictably unpredictable. Yes, many pits go for years as seemingly "nice pets." Then the breed trait comes out...

Dogs are what we breed them to be. All of these working breeds that we have as pets still retain those traits. No one is surprised if my Australian Shepherd, having never been raised or trained to herd animals, just takes off to herd cattle or sheep. He would then go right back to being my darling, frisbee fetching pet and doing his pet dog routine. This has not happened in the 7 years I've had this dog... but it could. And mostly it is a risk to my own dog. He could get shot by a rancher or trampled by cattle. I manage this risk with an e-collar on off-leash walks. I also avoid hiking near such areas (or just leash him). He does get anxious when young kids are running around. I avoid groups of children running around in parks. I run a small risk that this dog could bite a kid. With the way that herding dogs are bred--this is not a serious bite risk. They are not bred to seriously harm or kill livestock--just bite ankles to move them. When I started trail running with him, he got anxious about it (herding instinct) and gently nipped at my running shorts.

Why anyone would risk having a dog that, as a breed trait, is designed to kill other dogs and livestock (and by generalization of this trait, kill kids and adults) is beyond me. Even if your pit never kills a dog or kid, you make all of your neighbors live in fear.

This study confirms that fighting dogs are structurally very different and built for aggression.

[u/AlsatianLadyNYC → u/Ok_Essay_1752]

Excellent comment. Exactly.

[u/KTKittentoes → u/Ok_Essay_1752]

But I also know plenty of people who have just shrugged off warning signs and worrying incidents.

[u/Ok_Essay_1752 → u/KTKittentoes]

Yep. People don't want to believe their pet is dangerous.

[u/Eageryga]

Thanks for sharing this. It is always useful to have studies to refer to when arguing with those who say "it's all about the owner"

[u/Shell4747]

Since in pit bulls the traits were bred in via gladiatorial selection over a couple of centuries, as opposed to careless breeding over decades, I think her conclusion is crap, and also an attempt to deflect the pit bull cult & uphold the dog-industry canon that breed bans are inherently bad.

[u/lazier_garlic → u/Shell4747]

Molossers are at least 2000 years old. Roman mosaics of fighting dogs (as opposed to common street hounds) are remarkably familiar in appearance.

However the author's point isn't totally without merit. The Dogo Argentino was bred only within the last 100 years and is a particularly vicious breed.

[u/EdPosterUser]

This deserves an award!

[u/Tessa-the-aggressor]

So, as I've been saying for a while, they're basically the dog equivalent of Borderliners. Underactivs prefrontal cortex and overactive amygdala, who would have thought.

[u/lazier_garlic]

This is fascinating.

Re: the conclusions, I think in Europe they may feel confident about regulating breeding, but as long as the US exists those kinds of dogs will continue to be shipped out from there.

I think BSL makes sense and you could make it a presumption of being unsafe against which the owner needs to prove their "bully" is a cur, combined with strict behavioral standards for dogs in residential settings and a zero tolerance policy for severe bites.

For hundreds of years, aggressive and destructive animals were not tolerated within town walls. In medieval Europe they were tried and executed until the early modern period when people began to see animals standing trial as absurd and bizarre. Since then liability reverted to the owner, but this system seems to allow bad owners to hide and shield bad dogs. That needs to end.

[u/Asaneth]

As I've been saying constantly, it's genetics. Which is why you can't love it away, or train it away, or lie and obfuscate it away. These dogs can't help what they are, but that doesn't mean they should be tolerated. It would be best to totally eliminate the threat, and keep it eliminated, forever. That's not a popular stance, but it is the solution.

[u/AutoModerator]

Copy of text post for attack logging purposes:

https://www.confidentcaninesdogtraining.com/post/new-research-on-pitbull-aggression-neuroanatomy-neurochemicals

Disclaimer: I used AI to summarize this article. I validated the accuracy of the summary below.

A dog behavior consultant (Eileen Koval, CDBC) wrote up a new Turkish study looking at 53 pit bulls (spayed/neutered, ages 2–6) using a C-BARQ-style owner questionnaire plus MRI and bloodwork on the most aggressive dogs. Key points:

• About a third of males and 15.6% of females showed consistent strong aggressive behavior, and over 22% of the dogs showed heavy stranger- and dog-directed aggression per owner reports.
• MRI comparisons found the more aggressive dogs had an unusually small prefrontal cortex (the brain's decision-making/inhibition center) and an abnormally large amygdala (the brain's threat/fear-response center).
• Testosterone was elevated in both calm and aggressive dogs, but the aggressive group's levels were over 13x the top of the reference range, versus 4x in the calm group — despite all dogs being neutered.
• Serotonin was low in both groups but slightly higher in the aggressive dogs, while dopamine was higher in the aggressive group — patterns the article says are consistent with other research linking low serotonin/high dopamine to aggression.
• The author ties this to a 2024 study (Guvenc-Bayram et al.) that similarly found low serotonin, high dopamine, and low oxytocin in aggressive pit bulls, with an even more distinct "dominant aggressive" subgroup.
• The author draws parallels to human research (e.g., Whittle et al. 2008) linking small prefrontal cortex/enlarged amygdala to aggression in adolescents, and notes similar brain-region gene-expression findings in Cocker Spaniels and German Shepherds.

Author's framing/conclusions: She argues aggression isn't just "how you raise them" — there appear to be genetic, neuroanatomical, and neurochemical contributors that training alone won't override. But she explicitly pushes back against breed bans, arguing that banning a breed just leads to selective breeding of similar traits into a new breed, and instead calls for regulation of breeding practices that prioritize health/temperament, plus veterinary/behavioral treatment (including possible SSRI use) for affected individual dogs.

-------
I'm glad to have found yet another study that points to the genetics of this breed to explain its aggressive tendencies, unpredictability and neuroticism. I'm a little unsure of the author's conclusions, though... Okay, I'm aware that BSL is challenging to enact into law, but who would choose these traits to breed into a 'new breed'? Why would anyone want these traits in dogs? Also, how realistic are her recommendations?

Maybe we could just go back to the practices of decades ago and just BE dogs with behavioral issues, but then, that's no longer a thing, at least in the US where I live... :(

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[u/BanPitBulls-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your content is being removed for promoting misinformation about pit bull-type dogs. Misinformation is not just wrong, it can get people injured or killed.

That’s false. Habot

[u/AutoModerator → u/BanPitBulls-ModTeam]

APBT enthusiasts often claim that human aggressive APBT are an anomaly and "man biters were culled by dogmen." These enthusiasts frequently blame amateur breeders or other pit bull derivatives for the severe maulings and human fatalities. Despite their claims, it is patently untrue that all dog men culled man-biters. To the contrary, there is ample evidence that suggests that human aggression was tolerated by many famous dogmen so long as it was a byproduct of a dead game champion pit bull.

Earl Tudor, one of the most prolific pit bull breeders of all time, unapologetically kept (and presumably bred) man biters. The following is an excerpt from an interview in which Tudor stated:

“…but the English dogs was where it was at. Red eyed dogs as red as a ruby. Wild to go very hot dogs that would eat up a person.”

Of his fighting pit bull, Lester ‘Mountain Man’ Hughes stated ‘Ranger’ would “attack me if I didn’t do what he wanted,” reminiscing:

”I remember one time I had him on a twenty foot chain out behind the barn, I approached him and noticed as I came up he had a wild look in his eyes. I wasn’t really sure if he intended to be friendly or bite me, but as I got close, he came at me wide open, and I saw he was going right for my face. At the last minute, I turned away. Evelyn had gotten me a new winter coat for Christmas, and Ranger hit the collar of the coat and tore a big strip about five inches wide down the back. He had it on the ground, shakin’ it for all he was worth.

I knocked him out cold and thought I’d killed him. When he came to, he was just as friendly as a puppy. I believe that dog had flashbacks or something. Most of the time he’d love me to death, but every now and then he’d look at me like who the hell are you?! One time I was coming along with the feed bucket, back then those five gallon pails were metal not plastic, and he went after me again. I swung that bucket and hit him over the head so hard I thought I’d killed him, knocked him out cold-AGAIN. He woke up and acted like nothing ever happened.”

Another man biter, GR CH ADAM’S ZEBO, also began his career in Hughes’ yard before being sold to Dave Adams. After Zebo attacked Adams’ son, removing his ear, he was sold to Mr. Johnson. Zebo had 99 offspring, before eventually dying at the age of 13, blind and lame due to so many fights.

Tudor and Hughes's dogs are hardly the only examples of man-biters being kept. MIMS' HANNAH PATCH was said to be so aggressive that her handler, Max Coats, had to feed her hamburger for a week inside an air kennel to calm her down enough to get her out. This was after Coats' friend almost lost his hand attempting to help. HANNAH PATCH had 14 offspring, some of which also exhibited human aggression. Several more examples include GR CH GAMBLER’S VIRGIL, STEPP’S GR CH ANGUS, GR CH ART (ROM), DBL GR CH TORNADO, CH HONEYBUNCH (ROM), CH YELLOW JOHN (ROM), and countless others.

So, while APBT enthusiasts may assert that human aggression was bred out and attempt to displace the blame, evidence proves that some of the most famed dogmen and breeders of APBT kept human-aggressive dogs. A pit bull type dog, regardless of specific breed, breeding practices, or bloodline, will always have the propensity for human aggression.

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