How Petting Your Dog Stimulates Your Brain
It’s well known that our four-legged friends can assist us humans in a variety of ways. They help us to cope with stress and depression, they get us outside in the fresh air for walks, and they can act as therapy dogs for a wide array of ailments and conditions. But what does research show about how spending time with dogs impacts the brain? This post will discuss an exciting study performed at the University of Basel in Switzerland that used neuroimaging techniques to find out just that, so keep on reading.
The study
The study took place in October 2022 and involved a dedicated team of researchers at the university, led by Rachel Marti.
What did they do?
During the study, researchers monitored the prefrontal brain activity of the 21 healthy participants using non-invasive near-infrared spectroscopy. This method saw them measure the “oxygenated, deoxygenated, and total hemoglobin and oxygen saturation of the blood in the frontal lobe/frontopolar area.”
There were six sessions in total. During half of the sessions, the researchers used a real dog, and during the other half, they used a plush toy lion. The stuffed lion, ‘Leo’, was even fitted with a hot water bottle to be as close to the weight and temperature of a real dog as possible.
The researchers split each session into five distinct timed sections, gradually increasing the levels of contact between the human and the toy, or the real dog, each time.
What did they find?
The researchers predicted that they would measure higher activity in the prefrontal cortex when the real dog was interacting with the humans than when they were with the stuffed animal. And they were right.
Their results also showed that the participants’ greatest level of brain activity was measured during the moments when they were most closely interacting with the real dog, i.e. petting it.
What’s more, their prefrontal activity remained high for a considerable period of time once the interaction with the dog was over. This complements the belief that the prefrontal cortex is strongly involved in the regulation of our social and emotional interactions.
They also noted that after each interaction with the real dog, prefrontal activity continued to increase, whereas brain activity remained the same no matter how many times the participants interacted with the plush toy. This could furthermore suggest brain responses associated with social bonding or familiarity, although more studies are needed to explore this.
What else can dogs help our brains with?
Research has also shown that interacting with dogs can:
Lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol
Lower blood pressure via reduced cortisol and increased levels of oxytocin
Reduce loneliness and depression by boosting ‘feel-good’ hormones, such as dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin.
So, if you needed any more reasons to spend time with a human’s best furry friend, then this should provide you with more than enough!