About

Dr. Erin Hecht is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Her research focuses on understanding how brains change in response to selection pressure on behavior and how brains acquire heritable adaptations for complex, learned behaviors. She investigates these questions through comparisons between modern humans and our living primate relatives, providing insights into our own evolutionary history. Additionally, her work explores general mechanisms of brain-behavior evolution by studying 'unnatural selection' in intentionally-bred animals, such as domestic dog breeds and domesticated foxes. Her research areas include neural and behavioral variation, neural plasticity during skill acquisition, and the relationship between initial brain anatomy and the predisposition to learn new skills. Her lab employs methods such as structural and functional neuroimaging in living humans and dogs, histology, and behavior measurements. Dr. Hecht's work aims to elucidate the biological basis of behavior and brain evolution, contributing to our understanding of how brains adapt to environmental and genetic pressures.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Biology
• Neuroscience
• Developmental psychology
• Ecology
• Evolutionary biology
• Demography
• Social psychology
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive science
• Medicine

Selected publications

• Assessing canine attachment: Divergence between C-BARQ scores and observed behavior in a laboratory test

  Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2026-02-17 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• An ancient dog breed regulates pitch when howling with music

  Current Biology · 2026-02-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Insights From Language‐Trained Apes: Brain Network Plasticity and Communication

  Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews · 2025-09-01 · 2 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Language is central to the cognitive and sociocultural traits that distinguish humans, yet the evolutionary emergence of this capacity is far from fully understood. This review explores how the study of the brains of language-trained apes (LTAs) offers a unique and valuable opportunity to tease apart the relative contribution of evolved species differences, behavior, and environment in the emergence of complex communication abilities. For example, when raised in sociolinguistically rich and interactive environments, LTAs show communicative competencies that parallel aspects of early human language acquisition and exhibit altered neuroanatomy, including increased connectivity and laterization in regions associated with language. Sustained and enriched early exposure to symbolic experience may also alter molecular pathways, including modifications in the expression of genes involved in synaptic plasticity, neural connectivity, and cognitive function, thus critically underpinning speech and language processing. This theoretical synthesis highlights how research on language-trained apes can inform our understanding of experience-dependent plasticity in distributed neural networks, providing insights into the evolutionary origins of human communication.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Individual variation in the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus predicts vocal and gestural communication

  Nature Communications · 2025-04-17 · 15 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Whether language has its evolutionary origins in vocal or gestural communication has long been a matter of debate. In humans, the arcuate fasciculus, a major fronto-temporal white matter tract, is left-lateralized, is larger than in nonhuman apes, and is linked to language. However, the extent to which the arcuate fasciculus of nonhuman apes is linked to vocal and/or manual communication is currently unknown. Here, using probabilistic tractography in 67 chimpanzees (45 female, 22 male), we report that the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus is not left-lateralized at the population level, in marked contrast with humans. However, individual variation in the anatomy and leftward asymmetry of the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus is associated with individual variation in the use of both communicative gestures and communicative sounds under volitional orofacial motor control. This indicates that the arcuate fasciculus likely supported both vocal and gestural communication in the chimpanzee/human last common ancestor, 6–7 million years ago. Here, authors reveal the anatomy of the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus predicts use of intentional, communicative gestures and sounds. The chimpanzee arcuate is not left-asymmetric at the population level, but more leftward tracts are associated with more communication.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The evolution of human tool use and technology

  Evolution of Nervous Systems · 2025-10-09

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Influence of early life adversity and breed on aggression and fear in dogs

  2025-05-15

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Among the animals on this planet, dogs are uniquely adapted for life with humans, a status that exposes them to risks of human-mediated traumatic experiences. At the same time, some lineages of dogs have undergone artificial selection for behavioral phenotypes that might increase risk or resilience to stress exposure, providing an opportunity to examine interactions between heritable and acquired traits. In a large-scale study (N = 4,497), English-speaking dog guardians reported on their dogs’ life histories, current living environments, and provided observer ratings of dog behavior using the Canine Behavior Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). Our analysis revealed that adverse experiences in the first six months of life, such as abuse and relinquishment, were significantly associated with increased aggression and fearfulness in adulthood, even when accounting for factors such as acquisition source, sex, and neuter status. Additionally, effects of adversity on fearful and aggressive behavior systematically varied at the breed level, suggesting heritable factors for risk and resilience for developing particular phenotypes. Our findings establish that breed ancestry and individual experience interact to show fear and aggressive behavior in pet dogs, confirming that socioemotional behavior is shaped by gene-environment interactions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Brain–Behavior Differences in Premodern and Modern Lineages of Domestic Dogs

  Journal of Neuroscience · 2025-05-22 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Although domestic dogs were the first domesticated species, the nature of dog domestication remains a topic of ongoing debate. In particular, brain and behavior changes associated with different stages of the domestication process have been difficult to disambiguate. Most modern Western breed dogs possess highly derived physical and behavioral traits because of intense artificial selection for appearance and function within the past 200 years. In contrast, premodern dogs, including primitive/ancient breeds, village dogs, and New Guinea Singing Dogs, have undergone less intensive artificial selection and retain more ancestral characteristics. Consequently, comparisons between modern and premodern dogs can shed light on brain and behavior changes that have occurred recently in the domestication process. Here, we addressed this question using a voxel-based morphometry analysis of structural MRI images from 72 modern breed dogs and 13 premodern dogs (32 females). Modern breed dogs show widespread expansions of neocortex and reductions in the amygdala and other subcortical regions. Furthermore, cortical measurements significantly predicted individual variation in trainability, while amygdala measurements significantly predicted fear scores. These results contrast with the long-standing view that domestication consistently involves reduction in brain size and cognitive capacity. Rather, our results suggest that recent artificial selection has targeted higher-order brain regions in modern breed dogs, perhaps to facilitate behavioral flexibility and close interaction and cooperation with humans.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• What Should Dogs Look Like? Welfare Consequences of Canine Morphology

  Preprints.org · 2025-06-11 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  The domestic dog has been intensively selectively bred since the Victorian era for morphological traits. Questions about the implications on canine welfare of some of those traits have been asked since that time. More recently, legislation has been proposed and enacted in several countries to guide selection for specific morphologies. We describe common canine phenotypes with associated disorders and the biological mechanisms driving those disorders. We additionally describe opportunities for further study identifying which ranges of morphologies support robust canine health while still preserving the uniqueness of different breeds. Focusing on morphologies with a range of expression, rather than focusing on harmful characteristics prevalent in particular breeds, is a new perspective on canine welfare which we expect to support evidence-based efforts to set future breeding goals, and to increase awareness of these issues by the people who purchase (and love) dogs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Influence of early life adversity and breed on aggression and fear in dogs

  2025-10-02

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Among the animals on this planet, dogs are uniquely adapted for life with humans, a status that exposes them to risks of human-mediated traumatic experiences. At the same time, some lineages of dogs have undergone artificial selection for behavioral phenotypes that might increase risk or resilience to stress exposure, providing an opportunity to examine interactions between heritable and acquired traits. In a large-scale study (N = 4,497), English-speaking dog guardians reported on their dogs’ life histories, current living environments, and provided observer ratings of dog behavior using the Canine Behavior Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). Our analysis revealed that adverse experiences in the first six months of life, such as abuse and relinquishment, were significantly associated with increased aggression and fearfulness in adulthood, even when accounting for factors such as acquisition source, sex, and neuter status. Additionally, effects of adversity on fearful and aggressive behavior systematically varied at the breed level, suggesting heritable factors for risk and resilience for developing particular phenotypes. Our findings establish that breed ancestry and individual experience interact to show fear and aggressive behavior in pet dogs, confirming that socioemotional behavior is shaped by gene-environment interactions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Influence of early life adversity and breed on aggression and fear in dogs

  2025-05-07

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Among the animals on this planet, dogs are uniquely adapted for life with humans, a status that exposes them to risks of human-mediated traumatic experiences. At the same time, some lineages of dogs have undergone artificial selection for behavioral phenotypes that might increase risk or resilience to stress exposure, providing an opportunity to examine interactions between innate and acquired traits. In a national study (N = 4,497), English-speaking dog guardians reported on their dogs’ life histories, current living environments, and provided observer ratings of dog behavior using the Canine Behavior Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). Our analysis revealed that adverse experiences in the first six months of life, such as abuse and relinquishment, were significantly associated with increased aggression and fearfulness in adulthood, even when accounting for factors such as acquisition source, sex, and neuter status. Additionally, effects of adversity on fearful and aggressive behavior systematically varied at the breed level, suggesting heritable factors for risk and resilience for developing particular phenotypes. Our findings establish that breed ancestry and individual experience interact to show fear and aggressive behavior in pet dogs, confirming that socioemotional behavior is shaped by gene-environment interactions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Individual variation, plasticity, and learning in human brain evolution

  NSF · $235k · 2019–2020

• NIH Grant F31MH086179

  NIH · $87k · 2013

• CAREER: Integrating brain-behavior evolution with real-world science impacts through neuroscience of working dogs

  NSF · $1.3M · 2023–2028

Frequent coauthors

• Todd M. Preuss

  25 shared

• Lisa A. Parr

  Emory University

  19 shared

• Dietrich Stout

  16 shared

• David A. Gutman

  Emory University

  12 shared

• William D. Hopkins

  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

  8 shared

• Courtney L. Sexton

  Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine

  8 shared

• Sophie A. Barton

  Harvard University

  7 shared

• Patrick R. Hof

  Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

  7 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Neuroscience

  Emory University

  2012

• B.S., Cognitive Science

  University of California San Diego

  2006